Moving schools - taking a child out of St James

Discussion of the children's schools in the UK.
Tom Grubb
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Postby Tom Grubb » Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:52 pm

Sam Hyde wrote:For those who have the skill, intelligence, application, self discipline and motivation, Vedic maths is a god send. It discovers patterns, laws and rules of arithmetic and employs them in such a way as to simplify the method. Now as a Vedic scholar, I know very little but this is how I understand it.

Sam, for the truth about Vedic maths just click here or here.

mm-
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Postby mm- » Sat Apr 29, 2006 9:00 am

All joking aside, no doubt you visited STJ open day and read up on the schools 'quirky' curriculum. So, may I ask, Why did you decide to send your children here if
1)You knew about the maths and nikilam
2)You knew about Sanskrit and
3)You knew about their ethos/principles....the pause blah blah blah


Obviously parents are aware of all of the above. However, the school also states that it follows a christian based tradition and that it is non-denominational. As parents you don't realise that actually this is untrue, in fact as we all know, a Hindu belief system with special emphasis on advaita vedanta permeates throughout their teachings...all the other major faiths are put to one side.

When I have personally questioned Sanskrit, the response was that it helps with the study of other European languages, that it helps with speech, grammar, art, discipline etc etc. Not once, throughout my time there was I given the real reason.

The principles of Vedic mathematics may be to some a good way to resolve mathematical problems. I have also asked teachers at the school why this system is used and have been told that it increases the mental agility of those practising it, that in fact many children become quicker than a calculator at working out mathematical formula. The teaching of Vedic mathematics for my own children has been a complete waste of time. Not only are they unable to solve simple mathematical problems but it has also served to completely confuse them. It has been suggested that actually Vedic mathematics is in fact another form of numerology and the magic of numbers.

The pause is something which at first I felt was rather nice. In this busy and stressful world, being still for a few moments can sometimes work wonders. We all know that meditation if done properly can be beneficial. Naively, I felt that the school, although somewhat different to other mainstream schools did actually cater for the spiritual side of things. The school did not at any point make clear, that actually, pausing and the meditation being done in the senior school was actually a form of mantra based TM meditation. I never consented or was made aware that the spritual beliefs maintained by the teachers at the school were being passed on to my children under the heading of philosophy. As a result I now have one child who has been adversely affected by the effects of TM and mind control techinques used at the school.

When one looks at a school for their children they do not for one minute think that they are entering into the world of a cult. Essentially parents are sucked in to the niceness of St James but are not aware of the underlying manipulation contained in the school. Like many parents I was sucked in to a cult without even realising it. In the prospectus that I still have (which goes back a couple of years) it states that the schools approach is non-sectarian. A really odd thing to quote when the school is regarded by many as a cult/sect.

Temporarily Duped
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Schools

Postby Temporarily Duped » Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:49 pm

MM

How can it be?
Last edited by Temporarily Duped on Tue Jul 31, 2007 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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bella
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Postby bella » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:17 pm

The school did not at any point make clear, that actually, pausing and the meditation being done in the senior school was actually a form of mantra based TM meditation.

I've been meditating for quite a few years, and nobody ever told me it was a form of TM meditation either. It was mantra meditation. The pause, a form of TM meditation? It's just a break in activity, encapsulated in a prayer to the absolute. Fundamentally, it's like finishing something, saying "Amen", and going on to something else.

Yeah, the school had traffic with the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi, and veered away from its totality. Same with the Gurdjieff/Ouspensky stuff. It was looking. Some parts of this site feed a victim culture that otherwise might not have flourished in this instance, and some parts are genuinely therapeutic and cathartic.

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Sam Hyde
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Postby Sam Hyde » Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:21 pm

Thankyou for your quality contribution Bella.

Sam xox
thats old now, like me, only 4 weeks to go!!!!!
"I've never let my schooling interfere with my education"

Free
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Postby Free » Sat Apr 29, 2006 7:01 pm

<delete>
Last edited by Free on Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mm-
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Postby mm- » Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:15 pm

Free Wrote:

The Pause and the Exercise can be misused and misunderstood, and often are used in the SES for "thought stopping"


...and which in turn produces episodes known as 'floating' in a young child, (where the child is physically there but his/her mind wanders elsewhere). I suppose a bit like daydreaming; only difference that this can happen without notice, midway through a conversation and can occur several times during the same conversation.

Rather scary for a parent don't you think Bella, Sam?

leon
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Postby leon » Sat Apr 29, 2006 11:21 pm

bella wrote:
Yeah, the school had traffic with the Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi, and veered away from its totality. Same with the Gurdjieff/Ouspensky stuff. It was looking. Some parts of this site feed a victim culture that otherwise might not have flourished in this instance, and some parts are genuinely therapeutic and cathartic.


Traffic implies a two way flow which it wasn't. Ditto Ouspensky. Everything available in SES is found elsewhere, they had not a single original thought of their own. What I cannot understand is why pay for material that you can get free from any library?

AntonR
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Postby AntonR » Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:51 am

Post deleted
Last edited by AntonR on Wed May 17, 2006 9:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Ben W
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Postby Ben W » Sun Apr 30, 2006 3:42 am

Tom Grubb wrote:Sam, for the truth about Vedic maths just click here or here.


Tom - fascinating. Thanks.
Child member of SES from around 1967 to around 1977; Strongly involved in Sunday Schools ; Five brothers and sisters went to ST V and St J in the worst years

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Sam Hyde
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Postby Sam Hyde » Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:01 am

Or here,
http://www.vedicmaths.org/Introduction/What%20is%20VM.asp

thats a fair one, just to balance your links tom.

Sam xox

(its all still barmy anyway)
thats old now, like me, only 4 weeks to go!!!!!

"I've never let my schooling interfere with my education"

leon
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Joined: Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:13 pm

Postby leon » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:12 am

Sam Hyde wrote:Or here,
http://www.vedicmaths.org/Introduction/What%20is%20VM.asp

thats a fair one, just to balance your links tom.

Sam xox

(its all still barmy anyway)



"The ancient system of Vedic Mathematics was rediscovered from the Sanskrit texts known as the Vedas, between 1911 and 1918 by Sri Bharati Krsna Tirthaji (1884-1960)."

I posted on this before but here goes again.
I have the original Varanasi 65 print of Tirthaji's "Vedic mathematics' whose forward contains the following "The question naturally arises as to whether the sutras (the 16) exist anywhere in the vedic literature as know to us." Almost a disclaimer. There is of couse zero evidence for these sutras exisitng in any form before the 1900's.
Despite evangalising Vedic maths for 50 years Tirthaji was unable to move beyond simple tricks which are of course contained in western maths. Teach this stuff if you want, but be honest, tell your students and their parents it was invented this century up by a Swami who claims he was a Rsi in touch with god and fulfilling the attainments of ancient Indian seers. After all St James is nondenominational, one expects to be taught the opposing criticisms for a correct complete picture, right?


I am sure Tirthaji was a very able person and not "barmy", my problem is not with him, but those who claim his work is something other than it is.

(sorry for my clumsy english, been working through the last few nights...)

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Sam Hyde
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Postby Sam Hyde » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:26 am

Ok, it?s all getting a bit much now; you can NOT claim that the sutras came into existence this century. We do NOT know that and do NOT know ALOT, yet many of us CLAIM to know an awful amount about it. It is arrogance in the extreme.
I have stated MY opinion on it, and these are entirely my own beliefs.
I don't however begin to question the foundations of a religion that predates much of what we hold dear to our hearts as a Christian nation! Frankly, how dare you!
There seems to be a large group of people on this site arguing over matters which in fact they know very little about, JUSTICE, YOU IMPARTICULAR!
I might fall under this bracket from time to time but I am very aware of boundaries and making statements like that!

Sam xox
thats old now, like me, only 4 weeks to go!!!!!

"I've never let my schooling interfere with my education"

BoeingDriver
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:55 am

Postby BoeingDriver » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:39 am

Sam,

What on earth are you banging on about?

Just wondering. :?

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Sam Hyde
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Postby Sam Hyde » Sun Apr 30, 2006 11:41 am

reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaddddddddddd

sam xox
thats old now, like me, only 4 weeks to go!!!!!

"I've never let my schooling interfere with my education"


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