It may be said that many boys could not be managed in this way.  The answer is that such boys have been already spoiled by bad treatment.  Even so, they must be slowly improved by greater patience and constant love.  This plan has already proved successful when tried.

Living in this atmosphere of love during school hours, the boy will become a better son and a better brother at home, and will bring home with him a feeling of life and vigour, instead of coming home, as he generally does now, depressed and tired.  When he, in turn, becomes the head of a household, he will fill it with the love in which he has been brought up, and so the happiness will go on spreading and increasing, generation after generation.  Such a boy when he becomes a father, will not look on his son, as so many do now, from a purely selfish point of view, as though he were merely a piece of property—­as though the son existed for the sake of the father.  Some parents seem to regard their children only as a means of increasing the prosperity and reputation of the family by the professions which they may adopt or the marriages that they may make, without considering in the least the wishes of the children themselves.  The wise father will consult his boy as a friend, will take pains to find out what his wishes are, and will help him with his greater experience to carry out those wishes wisely, remembering always that his son is an ego who has come to the father to give him the opportunity of making good karma by aiding the son in his progress.  He will never forget that though his son’s body may be young, the soul within is as old as his own, and must therefore be treated with respect as well as affection.

Love both at home and in the school will naturally show itself in continual small acts of service, and these will form a habit out of which will grow the larger and more heroic acts of service which makes the greatness of a nation.

The Master speaks much on cruelty as a sin against love, and distinguishes between intentional and unintentional cruelty.  He says:  “Intentional cruelty is purposely to give pain to another living being; and that is the greatest of all sins—­the work of a devil rather than a man.”  The use of the cane must be classed under this, for He says of intentional cruelty:  “Many schoolmasters do it habitually.”  We must also include all words and acts intended to wound the feelings of the boy and to hurt his self-respect.  In some countries corporal punishment is forbidden, but in most it is still the custom.  But my Master said:  “These people try to excuse their brutality by saying that it is the custom; but a crime does not cease to be a crime because many commit it.  Karma takes no account of custom; and the karma of cruelty is the most terrible of all.  In India at least there can be no excuse for such customs, for the duty of harmlessness is well known to all.”