Education and Learning: A Buddhist Perspective

Transcription

1 Educatin and Learning: A Buddhist Perspective Dr.Ch Venkata Sivasai, Assistant. Prfessr, Schl f Buddhist Studies and Civilizatin, Gautama Buddha University, Greater Nida Gautama Budh Nagar Dist. U.P. India. INTRODUCTION I am pleased that I was asked t write abut educatin and learning frm a Buddhist perspective rather than A Buddhist Philsphy f Educatin. Hw culd ne persn encapsulate the entire Buddhist cann and histry and its many different paths int ne definitive statement n educatin? This authr culd nt, s a mre mdest and less presumptuus title is apprpriate. One culd structure this article in a hst f different ways and part f the challenge in taking n a task such as this is t find a way in which thughts can be marshaled int sme semblance f rder which makes sense t Buddhists and nn-buddhists alike. I have chsen t identify tw key cncepts: citta which translates as heart r mind ; and the fur divine abiding r mental states - the Brahma Viharas which many Buddhists try t develp and which are a very imprtant part f my wn practice. These tw cncepts present ne way, a skilful means, by which this large and difficult questin can be addressed. There are, n dubt, many thers. Citta I think it was n the fact that in English we talk abut learning by heart. We dn t talk abut learning by mind r learning by brain, but by heart. It pints t a very significant fact abut learning and therefre abut educatin as a whle. Real learning is transfrmative and it changes us as peple, deep inside ur hearts and minds, and this is why the Pali wrd citta is s imprtant in cnsidering a Buddhist apprach t educatin. It lies smewhere between mind and heart and thus cmbines what we have smetimes called in educatinal jargn the cgnitive and the affective. N such dichtmy exists within Buddhist thinking: there is rather smething which is whle and cmplete and which des nt give primacy t ne rather than the ther. The primacy f mind and reasn has dminated western thinking since the (Eurpean) Enlightenment, resulting in the relegatin f the heart and emtins t a lwer rder. It is nt s and we knw it! The Buddha was perhaps the riginal pst-mdernist wh prvides a mdel fr educatin in which the heart and mind are rightly inextricably jined. It is the basis fr a truly hlistic philsphy f educatin. If we put this int practice in ur schls the acquisitin f knwledge and skills wuld nt be mre imprtant that the develpment f attitudes and values, they wuld have equal status. Then areas f scientific learning wuld nt be separated frm the ethical questins they raise; histrical facts wuld nt be acquired withut full cnsideratin f their impact and their 143

2 cntinuing significance n ur lives and ur culture; there wuld be time fr reflectin right acrss the curriculum and ultimate questins wuld n lnger be the preserve f the RE (and perhaps the English) department. There wuld be a deep understanding f the whleness f the child and emtinal and spiritual intelligence wuld be rated as highly as gd SATs results. The jy f teaching in such an envirnment! The Buddhist path is abut the cultivatin f the mind bhavana - and, as the Dhammapada says in its pening verses: Yur life is the creatin f yur mind. The develpment f wisdm (ne f the three parts f the Nble Eightfld Path) is the intended utcme f Buddhist practice and it is nurtured thrugh mindfulness, that paying f bare, nnjudgemental attentin t what the mind is ding. Cncentratin (the secnd f the three parts) and mindfulness are the basis f meditatin practice, the purpse f which is the develpment f wisdm thus the Nble Eightfld path perpetually nurtures and reinfrces itself, cmbined as it is with the third part, mrality (f which mre later). It is, I hpe, self-evident that all f this mind and wisdm - is the philsphical basis frm which a Buddhist view f educatin can be articulated. Mindfulness and wisdm enable insight and understanding f the true nature f reality which means that gradually delusin begins t fade. Frm a Buddhist perspective the nature f reality is summed up in the three essential elements f all cntingent existence: unsatisfactriness (dukkha), impermanence (anicca) and insubstantiality r nn-self (anatta). Children and yung peple and their teachers knw plenty abut unsatisfactriness and impermanence; what is harder is understanding insubstantiality but, again, frm a Buddhsit perspective, this is nt merely cgnitive; it is, rather, a deepening understanding f ne s wn mental frmatins that cmes thrugh the practice f meditatin. This brings us back t the key cncept f mental cultivatin - bhavana. Buddhism is quite clear that fr all human beings there is the pssibility f self-transfrmatin thrugh mental develpment and that resnates clearly and prfundly with what educatinists believe abut the pwer and significance f the learning prcess. The Brahma Viharas - mental states There are fur mental states which Buddhists try t develp thrugh their practice. They are knwn as the brahma viharas and they are: metta r lving kindness; karuna r cmpassin; mudita r sympathetic jy; and upekkha r equanimity. Each f these, it seems t me, has smething imprtant t say abut the purpse and meaning f educatin and the principles that shuld underpin that prcess, wherever it is practised. Metta lving kindness Lving kindness is the fundamental attitude that underpins all behavir, speech and thught in Buddhist teaching and stands diametrically ppsite t anger. This is nt just lving kindness twards ne s fellw human beings but, imprtantly, twards neself hw that wuld raise ur pupils self-esteem! and twards all living beings. It implicatins and applicatins are endless: it is abut ur relatinships, ur respnsibilities twards thers and since, in Buddhist teaching, everything is intercnnected, ur relatinship with the whle f the natural wrld. 144

3 Practicing lving kindness twards thers entails behaving mrally and the five precepts f Buddhism give simple guidance n what hw this can be dne: Avidance f destrying living creatures Nt taking that which is nt given Avidance f sexual miscnduct Nt using incrrect speech Abstaining frm drugs and alchl These are nt cmmandments but rules f training t develp ne s practice further. Mrality (sila) is at the heart f Buddhist practice and it is, therefre, als at the heart f any philsphy f educatin that stems frm it. The cmbinatin f mrality and lving kindness is immensely pwerful and is ptentially transfrmative in the ways in which we structure ur schls and the relatinships and eths that exist within them. Karuna cmpassin It is well knwn that the recgnitin f unsatisfactriness r suffering was the catalyst that inspired Siddhartha Gtama t begin the search that led ultimately t his enlightenment and thus t the frmatin f the religin we nw knw as Buddhism. In Buddhism the apprpriate respnse t suffering is cmpassin, which is withut limit r cnditin. The causes f suffering are greed r desire, hatred r anger and delusin nne f us is free frm these (unless we have already achieved enlightenment) and thus we are all n the same cntinuum. This is nt a fixed state - we all mve alng that cntinuum perpetually as we make apprpriate r inapprpriate respnses t ur circumstances. A simplistic dualism f gd and evil is entirely absent frm Buddhism; there is rather a recgnitin that all beings are engaged in a difficult struggle, and easy judgments f thers behaviur are inapprpriate. It might seem that the utcme f this wuld be t adpt an indiscriminating, relativistic tleratin f anything and everything but this is nt the case in Buddhist thinking, fr, as I have already said, mrality is the heart f the practice. Here there is anther immensely pwerful cmbinatin f mrality with cmpassin; its ppsite is hardness f heart. This can frm the fundatin f explratin f issues that arise acrss the curriculum: in Citizenship, in plitical educatin, in glbal educatin, in RE and PSHE and in the questins that are raised thrugh studying histry and literature. At an individual level it is als the basis fr cunseling and listening t pupils. Mudita sympathetic jy Mudita is abut ur ability t enjy the achievements f thers, their talents, theirskills and their qualities; its ppsite is jealusy. It is abut everyne within a schl participating in and celebrating the well-being f each ther and it applies t all areas f schl life. A schl that practises mudita wuld be a schl where cllabratin, rather than cmpetitin, is central t activities and where praise fr sme des nt alienate thers. At the heart f mudita is lve and that shuld be at the heart f educatin. It isn t always easy t lve ne s pupils (r ne s clleagues) but that is the ideal and a schl where pupils are genuinely lved and affirmed is always successful. It is als happy - and what is mre imprtant than that? 145

4 Upekkha equanimity It is with this mental state that Buddhism is perhaps mre recgnisably n hme territry. The develpment f equanimity is a lng and cmplex prcess fr mst peple and develps frm an understanding f the true nature f reality, including its impermanence and its insubstantiality. It requires silence and space fr its grwth and is ften linked in schls t spiritual develpment and stilling exercises. Hwever, we d nt need equanimity when we are cmfrtable and calm and still. We already have it. We need equanimity in the face f criticism and pain and lss and grief the dark side f spiritual experience that is all t ften frgtten in a quietist and pietistic view f the spiritual. Equanimity is nt uncaring r escapist; it is rather the ability nt t be swept hither and thither by the frces f life. The still, calm mind has depth and strength and, crucially, awareness f the true nature f what is taking place arund itself; its ppsite is agitatin. Enabling pupils (and urselves) t develp such equanimity wuld, I believe, have huge impact n the nature f schls their rush and bustle and frenetic activity being replaced by a mre reflective and quieter way f being. That is nt t say that there wuldn t be fun and laughter and friendship and all thse ther vital elements f daily life but there wuld be a recgnitin that they t are as they are just in that mment, impermanent and insubstantial. A Buddhist Philsphy f Educatin A Buddhist philsphy f educatin is based n a Buddhist scial philsphy. N sciety will manage educatin withut assciating it with beliefs in regard t justice, freedm and equality. The system f educatin will be ne f the systems relying n the scial systems. Buddhism and Educatin Buddhist educatin shuld teach peple t be gd peple and abandn any animal instincts and bad behavirs. Mrever, it teaches peple the path t attain mental freedm. One f the ways t carry ut Buddhist educatin is t establish the Buddha as the primary philsphy and t derive an educatinal philsphy frm that. The ther way is t teach Buddhism in schls and institutins s as t enrich the yuth with Buddhist teachings. This is a gd way t train the yuth t be gd persn and purify their mind with mral merits. But it desn t mean that we will make Buddhism as the basis f the system f educatin, but t reinfrce the existing educatin system. The Gal f Buddhist Educatin The critical gal f Buddhist educatin is t attain wisdm. Buddhism believes that the ultimate f wisdm is inherent in each persn s nature, stating that everyne has the ptential t achieve wisdm. Hwever, the majrity are distracted by misunderstanding and miscnceptins, therefre, are incapable f being aware f this kind f ptential. In this sense, Buddhism aims t teach us recgnize the intrinsic part f human nature. Buddhist wisdm varies frm individual t individual. It is related t the degree t which ne s delusin is and there is n inherent difference amng all human beings. Buddhism helps us remve delusin and regain the wisdm t remve cnfusins f individual ptential and achieve happiness. 146

5 Buddhism cnsiders deep meditatin and cncentratin as the crucial factrs in rder t attain wisdm. Buddhism teaches the way f meditatin and the mindfulness f cncentratin. Cnclusin Nw, yu might feel that all this is pie-in-the-sky philsphy that has n place in the real wrld. Bur defining the real wrld is Buddhist practice and living with equanimity and jy in the real wrld is what this is all abut. I am cnvinced that the key cncepts utlined abve can prvide a sund base frm which a mre humane, spiritual and effective educatin can be develped and sustained. But, I hear yu ask, what abut my SATs r GCSE results? What abut league tables? Well, what abut them? Of curse every respnsible prfessinal wrking in educatin is ging t enable their pupils t learn and achieve but what is mre imprtant is t recgnize a deeper and higher purpse in learning that ges beynd the utilitarian and the measurable t smething that is life-lng and life-enhancing in the fullest sense f the wrd. Buddhism helpfully recgnizes cnventinal truth, that there are ways f ding things that have t be dne while recgnizing simultaneusly that there is a higher truth that is there t be perceived. Lk back n yur wn educatin and what d yu remember and treasure? The tables yu learned in arithmetic? The spelling tests n Friday mrnings? Or the nature table and the Beethven symphny and the petry f the First Wrld War? I knw which I remember and I knw which have utilitarian value and which imprve the quality f my life, then and nw. An educatin that genuinely embraces a whle cncept f the child and that has at its heart lving kindness, cmpassin, sympathetic jy and equanimity is an educatin that can transfrm the lives f the children and yung peple in its care and ultimately increase the sum f human happiness. It might just help the prfessinals as well. NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. Buddhism and Wrld Peace, Amazn Publishers 2. Buddhism fr tday and tmrrw, Amazn Publishers 3. Buddhism in Mdern Wrld, (Religins in the Mdern Wrld) by David L. McMahan (Editr), Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Rutledge; 1 editin (January 3, 2012) Mtilal Benarsidas Publllishers 4. Buddhism in the Twentieth Century, Amazn Publishers 5. Buddhism Middle Way f Cmpassin, Amazn Publishers Buddhist Ethics in Thery and Practice, (Rutledge Curzn Critical Studies in Buddhism) by Peter Harvey, Hardcver: 240 pages Publisher: Rutledg neurns; 1 editin (January 30, 2007) Amazn Publishers 6. Buddhist Ethics in Thery and Practice (Rutledge Curzn Critical Studies in Buddhism) by Peter Harvey, Paperback: 240 pages Publisher: Rutledge Curzn; 1 editin (April 30, 2007) Amazn Publishers 7. Buddhist ethics: path t Nirvana, Amazn Buddhist Psychlgy : A Mdern Perspective, Amazn Publishers 8. Buddhist Psychlgy: The Fundatin f Buddhist Thught, by Lama Zpa Rinpche (Frewrd), Geshe Tashi Tsering, Paperback: 192 pages Publisher: Wisdm Publicatins (Octber 28, 2006) Amazn 147