Superare e gestire i conflitti educando a un mondo di pace: la lezione della maestra indiana Vimala Thakar

Abstract

In a society marked by violence, wars, clashes between different cultures and by a process of dehumanisation, pedagogy today needs to discover new educational strategies and methodologies for the construction of a peaceful world where the protagonist is a new man. A valuable contribution comes from the East, where many teachers have pointed to spiritual education as the way to peace; one of them is the Indian teacher Vimala Thakar, a militant of peace and non-violence in the twentieth century, who teaches that in order to resolve and overcome conflicts, it’s necessary to start a spiritual journey through an educational relationship where both, teacher and disciple, learn together and share a path of awareness aimed not only at the inner reality but also at the outer one. As a militant activist for non-violence, Vimala Thakar doesn’t invite her disciples to an ascetic life; her vision is relevant today and can be described as ‘practical and social mysticism’, where the spiritual path is aimed at creating a peaceful world.