If you have ever felt at home in more than one place — or in none at all — you belong to a rare and beautiful tribe. You might be a Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK), a Third Culture Adult (TCA), a military BRAT, a missionary child or someone who has woven together multiple cultures into one vibrant identity.
This upbringing is a gift — it stretches perspectives, deepens empathy and builds adaptability. But it also carries a quiet question: Where do I truly belong?
TRUE EDUCATION
True Education — the kind that shapes character, cultivates wisdom and anchors the mind in timeless principles — offers an answer. It gives you a home, a place of inner rootedness that no relocation or changing passport can take away. It anchors you in the Self beyond culture, where belonging is no longer questionable, because it lives within you.
When we hear the word education, most of us think of schools, universities, textbooks and exams. We picture degrees framed on the wall and letters added after a name. Society often tells us this is the measure of an educated person.
But is that truly education?
If our years of study only earns us qualifications or improves our livelihood, it is incomplete. If it equips us with technical know-how, but leaves us unprepared for emotional challenges, health crises, identity questions, relationship struggles or unexpected life events — have we truly been educated? When education only helps us make a living but not a life, something is missing.
Rethinking Education
True education is that which prepares us for life. It teaches us how to:
- Maintain physical and mental health.
- Navigate difficult emotions without being consumed by them.
- Respond to unexpected events with calm resilience.
- Build and nurture healthy relationships.
- Find peace within and know our life-purpose.
Most importantly, true education shows us that happiness is not something we chase outside ourselves — it is already within.
An education that doesn’t address these life skills falls short of its true purpose. After all, what is the point of being well-informed yet internally restless, financially secure yet mentally imbalanced?
The Inner Dimension of Learning
We live in a time where information is abundant, but wisdom is rare. It is entirely possible to hold multiple degrees yet be unable to handle stress, resolve conflicts peacefully or sustain inner happiness.
Happiness is often mistakenly sought in external achievements — promotions, possessions, praise. Yet, all these are fleeting. True happiness comes from recognizing that it already resides within us. Education should help us stop chasing what is outside and start uncovering what is already within.
Life Skills Over Paper Degrees
Imagine someone who never attended formal school. They can read, write and speak, but have no degrees in their name. Yet they understand how to breathe deeply, eat consciously, maintain balanced habits, nurture relationships and align their life with timeless values. They can handle life’s ups and downs without losing their inner equilibrium. Would we not call this person truly educated?
The Yogic Approach to Education
This is where the authentic Yogic lifestyle becomes relevant as a complete system for living. The ancient enlightened masters of Bhaaratam (India) designed Yogic science — a framework for reaching our highest human potential while remaining in harmony with the world around us. They have preserved this knowledge for thousands of years, offering practical tools to fulfil the purpose for which we are born.
In the Gurukulam tradition, students didn’t just memorize scriptures or learn rituals from their Gurus.
They learned:
- Waking early and starting the day with gratitude and clarity.
- Moving the body in such a way to keep it and the mind healthy and strong.
- Eating in moderation and choosing nourishing foods.
- Sleeping and working in alignment with natural rhythms.
- Working with full potential, without attachment to results.
- Practicing Ahimsa (non-violence) in thought, word and deed.
- Speaking truth with kindness.
- Taking time for silence and reflection.
- Engaging in selfless service.
- Controlling the mind and senses.
- Cultivating contentment and inner joy.
- Realizing their oneness with all of existence.
- Ending the day with self-review and rest.
These were not “extra-curricular” activities — they were the curriculum. The Yogic tradition does not separate education from life — it integrates them. Every day is a classroom. Every action is an opportunity to learn. Every breath is a lesson in presence.
In Part 2, we’ll explore the E.D.U.C.A.T.E. framework — a guide to true education that goes beyond classrooms, degrees and borders.
