- Aims of Buddhist Education
- Bhikkhu Bodhi
- Copyright © 1997 Buddhist Publication Society
Ideally, education is the principal tool of human growth, essential for transforming
the unlettered child into a mature and responsible adult. Yet everywhere today, both in
the developed world and the developing world, we can see that formal education is in
serious trouble. Classroom instruction has become so routinized and pat that children
often consider school an exercise in patience rather than an adventure in learning. Even
the brightest and most conscientious students easily become restless, and for many the
only attractive escape routes lie along the dangerous roads of drugs, sexual
experimentation, and outbursts of senseless violence. Teachers too find themselves in a
dilemma, dissatisfied with the system which they serve but unable to see a meaningful
alternative to it.
One major reason for this sad state of affairs is a loss of vision regarding the proper
aims of education. The word "education" literally means "to bring
forth," which indicates that the true task of this process is to draw forth from the
mind its innate potential for understanding. The urge to learn, to know and comprehend is
a basic human trait, as intrinsic to our minds as hunger and thirst are to our bodies. In
today's turbulent world, however, this hunger to learn is often deformed by the same moral
twists that afflict the wider society. Indeed, just as our appetite for wholesome food is
exploited by the fast-food industry with tasty snacks devoid of nutritional value, so in
our schools the minds of the young are deprived of the nutriment they need for healthy
growth. In the name of education the students are passed through courses of standardized
instruction intended to make them efficient servants of a demeaning social system. While
such education may be necessary to guarantee societal stability, it does little to fulfil
the higher end of learning, the illumination of the mind with the light of truth and
goodness.
A major cause of our educational problems lies in the "commercialization" of
education. The industrial growth model of society, which today extends its tentacles even
into the largely agrarian societies of South and Southeast Asia, demands that the
educational system prepare students to become productive citizens in an economic order
governed by the drive to maximize profits. Such a conception of the aim of education is
quite different from that consistent with Buddhist principles. Practical efficiency
certainly has its place in Buddhist education, for Buddhism propounds a middle path which
recognizes that our loftiest spiritual aspirations depend on a healthy body and a
materially secure society. But for Buddhism the practical side of education must be
integrated; with other requirements designed to bring the potentialities of human nature
to maturity in the way envisioned by the Buddha. Above all, an educational policy guided
by Buddhist principles must aim to instill values as much as to impart information. It
must be directed, not merely towards developing social and commercial skills, but towards
nurturing in the students the seeds of spiritual nobility.
Since today's secular society dictates that institutional education is to focus on
preparing students for their careers, in a Buddhist country like Sri Lanka the prime
responsibility for imparting the principles of the Dhamma to the students naturally falls
upon the Dhamma schools. Buddhist education in the Dhamma schools should be concerned
above all with the transformation of character. Since a person's character is molded by
values, and values are conveyed by inspiring ideals, the first task to be faced by
Buddhist educators is to determine the ideals of their educational system. If we turn to
the Buddha's discourses in search of the ideals proper to a Buddhist life, we find five
qualities that the Buddha often held up as the hallmarks of the model disciple, whether
monk or layperson. These five qualities are faith, virtue, generosity, learning, and
wisdom. Of the five, two-faith and generosity-relate primarily to the heart: they are
concerned with taming the emotional side of human nature. Two relate to the intellect:
learning and wisdom. The fifth, virtue or morality, partakes of both sides of the
personality: the first three precepts-abstinence from killing, stealing, and sexual abuse-
govern the emotions; the precepts of abstinence from falsehood and intoxicants help to
develop the clarity and honesty necessary for realization of truth. Thus Buddhist
education aims at a parallel transformation of human character and intelligence, holding
both in balance and ensuring that both are brought to fulfillment.
The entire system of Buddhist education must he rooted in faith (saddha) faith
in the Triple Gem, and above all in the Buddha as the Fully Enlightened One, the peerless
teacher and supreme guide to right living and right understanding. Based on this faith,
the students must be inspired to become accomplished in virtue (sila) by following
the moral guidelines spelled out by the Five Precepts. They must come to know the precepts
well, to understand the reasons for observing them, and to know how to apply them in the
difficult circumstances of human life today. Most importantly, they should l come to
appreciate the positive virtues these precepts represent: kindness, honesty, purity,
truthfulness, and mental sobriety. They must also acquire the spirit of generosity and
self-sacrifice (caga), so essential for overcoming selfishness, greed, and the
narrow focus on self-advancement that dominates in present-day society. To strive to
fulfil the ideal of generosity is to develop compassion and renunciation, qualities which
sustained the Buddha throughout his entire career. It is to learn that cooperation is
greater than competition, that self-sacrifice is more fulfilling than self-aggrandizement,
and that our true welfare is to be achieved through harmony and good will rather than by
exploiting and dominating others.
The fourth and fifth virtues work closely together. By learning (suta) is meant
a wide knowledge of the Buddhist texts which is to be acquired by extensive reading and
persistent study. But mere learning is not sufficient. Knowledge only fulfills its proper
purpose when it serves as a springboard for wisdom (pañña), direct personal
insight into the truth of the Dhamma. Of course, the higher wisdom that consummates the
Noble Eightfold Path does not lie within the domain of the Dhamma school. This wisdom must
be generated by methodical mental training in calm and insight, the two wings of Buddhist
meditation. But Buddhist education can go far in laying the foundation for this wisdom by
clarifying the principles that are to be penetrated by insight. In this task learning and
wisdom are closely interwoven, the former providing a basis for the latter. Wisdom arises
by systematically working the ideas and principles learnt through study into the fabric of
the mind, which requires deep reflection, intelligent discussion, and keen investigation.
It is wisdom that the Buddha held up as the direct instrument of final liberation, as
the key for opening the doors to the Deathless, and also as the infallible guide to
success in meeting life's mundane challenges. Thus wisdom is the crown and pinnacle of the
entire system of Buddhist education, and all the preliminary steps in a Buddhist
educational system should be geared towards the flowering of this supreme virtue. It is
with this step that education reaches completion, that it becomes illumination in the
truest and deepest sense, as exclaimed by the Buddha on the night of his Awakening:
"There arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and light."
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