Buddhist Articles

Buddhist Education: Learning is more important than being Taught

Ven. Bangladesh Souraba Nanda (B.A., M.A.)

In general, education comes in two different forms: formal and informal. The formal education is the knowledge a student receives from the pre-school system to achieving of higher degrees at universities. The beauty of informal learning is that it flows with one's life, not a contest among participants but a self-study process with no rules and regulations being imposed, done for the fulfillment of personal taste and needs.
It involves processing of knowledge using inspiration, visionary ambitions, creativity, risk, ability to bounce back from failure, and motivation. The spiritual teachers like the Buddha(s), the Noble Disciples and many other sages who make the world a paradise, have not attained their wisdom by attending schools or institutions, instead through self-mastery, understanding the inner potentialities and putting them action. Many scholars and philosophers like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and many other super achievers never finished grade school. They succeeded because they knew how to research, collect information for a selected project and process knowledge.
Undoubtedly, formal education has become a means to secure a financial condition. If a financial stability is not secured, one is forced to live only in a lower rank of society, as homeless people do. In order to secure a materialistic life, one must, therefore, compete in school and in the workplace. One must work harder and longer hours; often one is forced to play a "corporate game" in order to keep the job. However, sadly, the more one competes for material gain, the less time he has for himself; as a result one loses a chance to develop his inner-self that has capacity for compassion, understanding, and love. In the eyes of Buddhism, the student nowadays is an expert on finding the faults of others and society in general, but fails to reevaluate his self. The modern educational system fails to educate students to learn to be sensitive, caring, and even-minded individuals. In effect, modern education has become a mere process, rather than a transformation of one's humanity.
Though the aim of Buddhist education, as a whole, is to attain the final liberation, i.e. Nibbāna, yet the Buddha did not neglect the mundane way of life of worldly people. His teaching was not limited merely to monks, but to kings, ministers, traders, householders, Brahmins, servants and all the category of people in that society. Thus, one would find that the system of Buddhist education is a huge field. The entire system of Buddhist education must be rooted in faith (saddhā). The Buddha advocates that the best wealth of a human is faith (Saddhãdha vittaü purisassa seññhaü). Here faith is not mere blind devotion but the rational faith through direct understanding, without being subservient to outside authority. 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 (sīla) by following the moral guidelines spelled out by the Five Precepts (pa–casīlāni). They must come to know the precepts well through rational faith, 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 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 (cāga), so essential for overcoming selfishness, greed, and the narrow focus on self-advancement that dominates in present-day society. To strive to fulfill 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 Buddhist education mainly focuses two basic factors, the spiritual growth and the mundane social welfare. In the Alavakasutta, the Buddha gives a valuable advice to both monks and laity that the life guided by wisdom is the best. Buddhism advocates various degrees of wisdom and the final goal as the highest wisdom that one attains by realizing Nibbana. In another instance, the Buddha points out five objectives of Buddhist education, namely, for the attaining of Enlightenment (bodhāya), for the taming of tamable (damathāya), to be peaceful (samathāya), for the crossing (taranāya), and attaining of final liberation (parinibbanāya). To his first five disciples, the Buddha in Dhammacakkhapavattana Sutta, admonished that a monk should avoid two extremes, namely, the self-mortification (kāmasukhallikamatānuyoga) and the self-indulgence (attakilamatānuyoga) and adopt the Middle Path (majjhima pa ipada) promulgated by the Buddha. The Buddhist Middle path consists of eight practices that are categorized into three trainings, i.e., morality (sīla), concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (pa––ā). The clear-cut goal of Buddhist Path or education, is, therefore the attainment of highest wisdom.

The practice of the dhamma which is also highlighted in the process of Buddhist education can also be highly useful to the modern educational system. In this regard the following statements found in the Canki Sutta (95) of the MN are of vital importance: Filled with faith the student visits the teacher (Saddhàjàto upasaïkamati), pays respect to him (upasaïkamanto payirupàsati), having paid respect to him, he gives ear; (Payirupàsanto sotaü odahati), when he gives ear, he hears the Dhamma; (Ohitasoto dhammaü suõàti), having heard the Dhamma, he memorizes it (Sutvà dhammaü dhàreti), memorizing he examines the meaning of the teachings he has memorized; (Atthaü upaparikkhato dhammà nijjhànaü khamanti), when he examines their meaning, he gains a reflective acceptance of those teachings, zeal spring up; (Dhammanijjhànakkhantiyà sati chando jàyati), when zeal has sprung up, he applies his will; (Chandajàto ussahati), having applied his will, he scrutinizes; (Ussahitvà tulayati), having scrutinized, he strives; (Tulayitvà pahadati), resolutely striving, he realizes with body the supreme truth and sees it by penetrating it with wisdom. (Pahitatto samàno kàyena ceva paramasaccaü sacchikaroti Pa¤¤àya ca naü ativijjha passati).

In conclusion, the Sigalovada Sutta reminds us that before the parents embark on educating their children, they should discipline them by pāpā nivāreti (refrain from evils) and kalyāne niveseti (indulge in good) before sikkhaµ sikkhāpeti. The Buddha reminds the teachers that they should discipline the pupils well (suvinitaµ vinenti) before they teach what they know to the students (suggahitaµ gahapenti). The Buddha wants the monks to discipline those who come to the temple first (pāpā nivāreti kalyāne niveseti) before they take measures towards teaching (assutaµ sāventi sutaµ pariyodapenti). Overall, Buddhist education aims at producing an individual with all good human qualities, using inspiration and motivation, applicable to himself and the society as a whole, to bring about the peace and harmony here and hereafter.