How I’m Building My Community Inspired By Nalanda University

Welcome to the Freedom Business Podcast. Your host, Siddharth Rajshekhar here. Great to have you here. This is where we are going to be talking about how we can redefine our education system by building vibrant learning communities. Take your knowledge out to the world and be awesome. Let's get in.

I have been hugely inspired by Nalanda University. As some of you know, 1500 years ago this was the epicenter of learning in the world and people used to come here and learn from all parts of the world. There were more than 2,000 teachers, more than 10,000 students, and possibly one of the first. In fact, it is one of the first universities in the world with the kind of infrastructure that they had. In fact, I made a list of 13 different aspects about Nalanda that I want to share with you first and then I will walk you through how I'm trying to build my community. Inspired by that because at this point, as I speak, my top 100 students have 3 have impacted 3 lakh students totally came. So my top 100 students have inspired and trained so many more people. Now we are looking at not in the physical realm, the digital realm, the reach and the impact is so much more. And personally, I've have more than 30,000 students in my community alone who are not the 99 rupees, the 199 rupees students. I'm talking about people who have paid me minimum 5,000 and above to be a part of my premium community, to actually learn in this. So coming back to Nalanda, the first thing is the word Nalanda. It means it's a combination of three words, na, alam and da, which means no stopping of the gift of knowledge. So the word Nalanda is a Sanskrit word which means no stopping of the gift of knowledge. That's the first point. The second point is Nalanda had a massive library known as a Dharma Gunj, which is known as a mountain of truth, as well as Ratno Dadhi, which is the sea of gems. So they had library ranging from Vedic texts, Buddhist texts, and just such an open kind of learning atmosphere. The third point I want to share is regarding Nalanda is the relationship between the teachers and the students was highly revered. Meaning the students not only learned from their teachers, but they also lived in close proximity imbibing their values and knowledge through daily interactions. That's what I'm trying to do right now is when I'm showing up every single week to my community, I want my students to understand how I'm living my life and not just be, you know, A very impersonal kind of a digital teacher. But I'm very personal in what I share in my session so that my students are able to connect with me as a human being first. And I'm also able to share my personal life with my students so that we're able to exchange and imbibe our the values. The fourth aspect of Nalanda is it was a hub for international students and scholars. People from all different parts of the world, including China, Korea, Japan and Central Asia. They came to study and teach at this particular university. The fifth aspect I learned about this is that this internationalism, it promoted cultural exchange and a global perspective on education. Number six is that Nalanda was known for its inclusive and secular atmosphere. It was welcoming students and scholars from diverse religions and cultural backgrounds. And that's exactly what even I want to do with my community. And it's already happening right now. We have people from different religions, different backgrounds, different cultures. But when they come in over here, we have a very common and grounded and rooted value system for each one of them. Number seven, what I learned is that this open minded approach in Nalanda, it contributed to the rich tapestry of ideas and perspectives. It was not a very narrow minded approach. It is a very open minded approach. And number eight, the point is that Nalanda's impact, it actually went beyond its historical period. It influenced the later educational institutions and contributing to the intellectual foundation of Asia, if Asia is what it is today. A huge aspect of of what Asia is today is because of Nalanda University. Number nine is that Nalanda, it had a vibrant artistic community that produced exquisite sculptures, paintings, manuscripts and it really brought about the creative art. It was not just about academics and stuff. Number 10 is the spirit of tolerance and inclusivity allowed for co existence of different philosophical and religious traditions, which is such an important factor, especially if you're building vibrant learning communities. Number 11 is that this university had a self sustaining economic system, meaning that the endowments, the donations and agricultural lands provided they provided resources to support the academic and residential needs of the community. This is so amazing. You know, it's like a self sustaining community which is, you know, which was running with a solid economic system, endowments, donations and multiple others. Number 12, what I came to know about Nalanda is that the envoys, diplomats and emissaries from different regions of the world, they visited Nalanda to engage in intellectual discourses and negotiations. So it was such a beautiful hub of learning. And when I actually, you know, coined my community as Internet lifestyle hub, I did not really understand the essence of the word hub. I mean, I knew what it meant, but when I was reading more about Nalanda, Nalanda was truly a hub. I mean it was people who are coming here for everything that they wanted, you know, when it comes to their knowledge. And number 13 is Nalanda likely incorporated yoga and meditation practices into their curriculum and it promoted physical and mental well being alongside academic pursuits, which is what is missing in our current education system. Our current education system is all about only the mental realm, but it never gets into the physical, emotional and spiritual realm because we are all four dimensional beings. So now that I've shared what all I learned about Nalanda, let me talk about how I plan to bring about.

My community initiatives based around Nalanda University. So the first thing is whatever I'm teaching in Internet Lifestyle Hub is again to create more leaders who can create universities of the future. Because our current education system is outdated, it's kind of broken and it's really not catering to the needs. In fact, I've also had a chat with some of my cousins who are studying in, you know, Ivy Leagues and stuff like that. And so the whole culture has shifted. Maybe 10, 20 years ago it might have been different, but right now it's kind of messed up in every single way. Yes, you get the network over there, you have the brand of going and studying in a big university, but besides that, you know, the many of the universities do not address mental issues, emotional issues, moral issues of students. There's all kinds of unethical stuff that's going on in these universities. I'm talking about outside the classrooms, you know, drugs, all kinds of stuff that's not really conducive to the healthy progress of mental and spiritual progress of the child. Now as I think about this, it's not just about children, it's also about adult education over here. The way I'm building my community right now, inspired by Nalanda, is to keep a culture where there is strong values at the base. Now, values are not just as simple as we strive to be the best, we strive to have excellence or just put a set of vision and mission. It's not about that. It's about setting a bunch of rules that protect you from you, that protect the student from themselves, and to also have an aligned culture. So if anybody comes into the inter Lifestyle Hub, the first thing is I always talk about our code of honor and the six pillars on which this community stands, which Freedom, growth, clarity, efficiency, we have abundance and contributions. They're like the six codes of honor on which this community is Built on. And if you are building a community of your own, you need to have a set of rules, a set of codes that really people are able to connect with and that becomes a space for them to reflect on, to make sure that they're aligned in the community. And again, it's all about the way that I, you know, that you teach, that matters. My mentor, blessing, it always talks about this concept. He says it's not about what you teach, it's about the way you teach, which what makes a difference. So even once people come to the Internet Lifestyle Hub process, it is not about the subject matter knowledge. What I like to do the most through my hackathons and through my courses is to bring out the best of the student. Because my mentors always said, they said everybody is a genius, everybody has a genius in them. But it is covered by so many layers of, you know, stuff that has been built over years, the schooling system, family system, education system and multiple other things. So the way you teach has to be in a, in such a way that it brings out the best of the student, but they're able to realize that the genius that's already there inside them. And that's how I'm building my community. So as I'm wrapping up this podcast, I just want to tell all of you that if you're listening to this podcast on Sidharth Rajk.com on my blog, please share your comments below. As this is my second, my third podcast out of my 90 day challenge that I've started off this year and if you're already a member of the community, I would highly recommend that you go to sidzsids co diamond and jump into the true essence of what internal Lifestyle Hub is all about. Because that's going to be a three year intensive journey where I'm going to be tracking your your points. You have a point system, a gamification system, you have a team system, you have a hives. I put you all into groups and imagine this is like a true diploma in digital coaching and a degree in digital coaching that I'll be giving you in the next, between one to three years as you go through this process. So if you truly want to experience the magic of the Internet Lifestyle hub, go to sidzsids co diamond and be there for the next diamond showcase where I'll tell you more about this. And if you're not a part of the community, just go to Sidharthrajer.com or go to any of my websites, my YouTube channel, check out my videos and attend my next webinar and be a part of the new Nalanda, which I'm actually trying to build. And I'm inspiring all of my students to create Nalanda University of their own. My mission is to create universities of the future and to inspire you to do the same. Wish you all the best and catch you in the next episode.

Sam.