Author: Beloo Mehra
Release Date: June 28, 2025
Publisher: The Healing Circle, Bengaluru
In April 2025, Dr. Beloo Mehra, Director, BhāratShakti, was invited to write a Foreword for an upcoming book titled ‘A Child’s Journey’. The book authored by Jayashree Ashok, published by The Healing Circle, Bengaluru, was launched on June 28, 2025 at Creative School, Bengaluru, the educational wing of The Healing Circle.
Jayashree Ashok, the author is one of the co-founders of Creative and currently serves as its Director. For her teaching and parenting constitute a most sacred trust, and this is reflected throughout the book. It is a must-read for all those in charge of caring for children – as parents, teachers, caregivers, – especially those who aspire to become more conscious of the sacred work given to them.
Excerpts from the Foreword
Children, in fact, we all, blossom to our fullest potential in an environment of freedom and joy and love and beauty and harmony – but all that is possible only when the Light of the Soul guides our outer movements, instead of the mixed-up half-light of our unrefined mental and emotional parts. One of the often-neglected areas in mainstream education is that of the vital part of one’s being. The vital part in us is concerned with emotions, feelings, impulses because it is truly the seat of the life-force. Children need proper education in sublimating the lower vital impulses, and also in refining and purifying the different instincts of the vital. This is important if the vital part of the being has to become a true instrument in one’s overall growth and development as a human being. In the present book, readers will find great practical application of how this is being done at Creative School.
Going through the book, readers will be able to clearly see what a good vital education may look like. First, it must emphasise gradual cultivation of a sense of discernment by giving learners opportunities to develop the capacity to choose and adopt what is beautiful and harmonious, simple, healthy and pure. At the same time, equal emphasis must be given on the cultivation of an aesthetic sensibility, because it is recognised that beauty and harmony of the sensations leads to better psychological health. How this may be done in an age-appropriate manner, the author outlines this remarkably well in the present book.
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This brings me to the crux of the matter, or rather the very soul of the present book, the child. To make it more specific, how to see the child. Weaving together deep insights gained from years of inner and outer work, the author has put together a remarkable practitioner-friendly book which will be a valuable and contemplative read for all those truly curious to learn how to ‘see’ the child fully and how to grow as educators and parents so they can authentically facilitate the overall blossoming and integral growth of a child.
Moving from one chapter to the next, following a child’s journey from infancy to young adulthood, a key learning that will slowly dawn upon the mind of a reflective reader is that organic growth and evolutionary progress happen gradually – often at a pace unique to each individual child. This is so because an individual is not a single entity, but rather a complex being with different parts intermixed and interacting with one another.
Indian yogic psychology speaks of the double nature of human beings. Ordinarily human beings primarily live in their outer nature and know themselves only through the ego-self. But behind the surface or frontal consciousness of the outer being there is an inner or subliminal consciousness. And behind the inner being is the true, inmost being, which is a spark of the Divine Presence within the individual. This inmost part is often called soul, but in Sri Aurobindo’s terminology is referred to as psychic entity, or psychic being when fully developed.
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BhāratShakti department has had a long association with the Creative School. It was a joy and privilege to write this foreword. Read more about our work with Creative School.