LITTLE THEOSOPHISTS AT SCHOOL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 36, 6 November 1907, Page 3

LITTLE THEOSOPHISTS AT SCHOOL.

QUEER IDEAS IN AMERICA,

"When an American magazino some time age. published an account pf the child-life at the Theosophist settlement at Point' Lonia in California, English readers probably congratulaed themselves oil the fact that' the idea of this settlement, was "so American" that it would nover be likely to. take root in England. 1 And now tho "Daily. Mail" .report's, that a similar settlement is. to 'bo planted in the. Now Forest; under the direction of Mrs. Katherine Tingloy ' the Chief Theosophist.

The Hon.; Nan Herbert''is adapting tho buildings on her estate at Old House, Ringwood, for the purpose. ' The principles upon which it will,,be run entail the almost complete separation of children from their parents, under a kind of communal Utopian system. They aro brought up in groups according to age, '.under expert educationists; fear as a motive is eliminated from their lives, music is used as a means of education, the children having their first "lessons.at the sn»'o time as Wrn thf'" letters. The children are paid for in accordance with thoir parents' means.

Xivelvo years ago Point ijoma was ba'rrep land inhabited by rabbits and rattlesnakos. It stretches along four and a half mile's on the Pacific coast. A long, high point of land juts into tho Pacific; on the,cast it' is .washed by the bay of San Diego, and the Sierra Madre Mountains fill the background to the skios. '. '

To-day the estate on which tho.-Philoso-phical Educational: Institute stands can' only be compared to a vast semi-tropical garden. Access to. the grounds is gained by passing through an Egyptian gateway. 'Here; 1 you see an Aryan temple with an amethyst clonic; there, a' homestgad with a dome of ygreen. The. academy for girls, tho amphitheatre whoro drills and calisthenics.-are'daily practised, the, Raja Yoga School—'an. institution which professes, to. give .tho children'an'equal balanco of mental, physical, and ; spiritual education—and tho many . othor buildings, fifty 111 number, all suggest a chapter' from the Arabian Nights.

At Point Loma thero are millionaires, authors, actors, students, day .labourers] pilgrims from many lands; to-da'v some distinguished man from Japan; to-morrow an engineer from Egypt. They all come to Point Loma- hoping to lincl in Theosophy relief from the pangs and pains oi life. ' '

The, educational advantages which Point Loma . offers include the lino arts'of .'music, painting, sculpture, and languages. . ■ Very special attention is given to diet, which is based on the simple life system ;■ and to physical training in general. Education at- Point Loma is not so much to acquire a store , of facts, it mainly consists in practical instruction for the proper regulation of trio whole life. As soon as a child is capable of .leaving, its mcthcr it enters the Point Loma nursory, where experienced nurses and doctors attend to its welfare. ■

It will grow up at, the nursery, and ns soon as it can walk will enter tho first group. Its entrance to the other groups will -entirely depend upon its progress. Tho day-begins eaily at Point Loma; ovoryon'o- is 'mado to rise at- six.

After the bath the children .and. students are compelled to stay indoors half an hour before going out, for fear of catching cold. Then the student sgo to drill in the Greek

Tl eatre, an outdoor amphitheatre; the girls are dressed in white, the boys in white blouse ana dark bluo trousers. .

Drilling generally lasts for about threequarters of an hour, and then breakfast, at which mill; is largely taken. During breakfast, as at all the other meals, there is. music.- Indeed, music is a part of the daily life at th; Point, and is practised at stated times rind seasons. Thus the very first thing a child learns at I'oint Loma, before reading and writing, is music. Littk children are brought daily to the academy and made to listen to music for half an hour. \

Punishment'is a thing unknown at the Theosophist school: Pupils are made to understand thoir own responsibilities. If a pvpil, for instance, misbehaves himself, everything is done to make him understand hi-' error and a strong appeal made to his 01 her sense of right and wrong. It is tlio c.'crvday duty of 'ho teachers to instil in their pupils' minds a strict sense of bebc! aviouiy which docs away with a punishment-. -

Next to music, the drama plays a groat pail in the educational life of Point Loma. 1- is mado to enter largely into *-,he instruction of the children. The facilities foi dramatic work at tlio Point arc unsurpassed in California. Tho gigantic open-air amphitheatre is'capable of seating three thousand pcoplo, and is equipped with every up-to-date necessity and convenience. ' Art "comes after the drama, and at the Raja Yoga Academy, the academy's dome is surrounded with numberless little studies, each fitted with all requisites.

When' a student has grown to tho ago of about eighteen or nineteen, the organisation endeavours to find him a place, or*if ho prefeis and has passed tho necessary examination. he is appointed a teacher, for which, however, he receives no pay. Ho may also 'lind work in one of the many industries connected with Point Loma—such, for instance, as tho horticultural gardens, the silk industry, tho printing press, at which all the literature of tho society is printed. Not only at the New Forest School which it is'proposed t-o establish, but at Vissingoo, in Sweden, every instruction will lie issued from Point Loma, and though on a small scale, yet everything, both social, financial, and educational, will be based on the Point Loma institution.

There will bo a school for the poor and ono for tho ricli: there will be homesteads and playing grounds—in fact, it will bo a model I'oint Loma, a. sort of small autocratic State under the'leadership of Mrs. Tingley, who is vested with the privilege of nominating, her successor. . "'The children will not bo taught Thcosoph.v," ?aid Mrs.' Tingley to an interviewer, "but the school will differ from others in that we \shall have a' code of high moral fetching.

"Tlicro will bo no punishment- of any kind. Pupils will bo put on their honour and taught responsibility. Whipping will not ho allowed in the. placo, and tho old saying, 'Spare tho rod amTspoil the child,' will loso its meaning, so far as we aro concerned.

"For instance, if a pupil is naughty wo will appeal to his or her sense of'right and wiong. 'This idea is not, an experiment. Anyone would he surprised to seo the results of our schools at Santiago, Cuba, and Point Lonin, California. "Our teachers will work not for pay, but fo- love. How many pupils wo will provide for. ultimately, or just how we will get them, I cannot say yet. But wo will not he political or sectarian."