Reestablishing the Analytical Thinking of Students: A Buddhist Solution to the Modern Educational Crisis Kustiani, Ph.D 1 Problems of Lacking Analytical Knowledge in Modern Education Education is important aspect for human beings. Education can be done formally or informally. In Buddhist point of view, education should be done as long as the life of a person. It is done throughout the samsaric journey until someone becomes an enlightened one, a non-learner (asekha). When someone is not enlightened yet, he or she is called a learner (sekha), someone who needs to study. The focus of education in Buddhist point of view is about how to train and develop someone s mind, and about how to change someone becomes a better person. In the modern education, various facilities are provided to produce a very good graduate. There are books, nice school, beautiful classes, and full with internet access. Even, some schools are providing free internet access for students. If schools do not provide free internet access, students usually go to communication shop to get internet access. Unfortunately, internet is not used wisely by some students in the modern education. Have we ever seen the students of Junior or Senior High School going to the internet café or a communication shop in order to browse the data from internet for doing their homework from school? The answer is positive. We often see the mentioned above fact, and it is becoming the common thing. Due to the habit of doing homework by copying and pasting data from internet, students are not trained to think analytically. They just copy paste the answer from internet. Not only that, they just copy and paste the answer from internet without reading it carefully. The habit of copy and paste the data from internet is a disaster for modern education. Why Do We Care of the Development of Analytical Skill? The habit of copy and paste the data from internet should become a matter of reflection by many people in educational circle. The solution should be found because it creates the lack of analytical thinking of students. The lack of analytical skill makes student become unproductive in many aspects. As the result, they don t demonstrate the ability to think comprehensively, and don t have the ability to raise a new idea or to solve the problem correctly. That is why many students are just keeping silent in the class without able to rise or to answer questions. On the other hand, the Buddha gave advice that some signs of wise one was a person who was able to raise questions and able to answer questions carefully. 2 A human is a being with a higher mind than any animal. A human being is called manussa in Pāli. Literally, manussa means higher mind. It means that a human being has special ability to understand matter relating to the past, present and future by comparing and contrasting everything well. 3 This definition also indicates that the mind of human can be developed until its maximum capacity, intellectually or spiritually. Intellectually speaking, the human mind can be developed in very large and broad aspect creating many innovations and new findings. In spirituality, human mind can be developed into its peak level, the so called enlightened mind, Arahat. 1 Graduated from PGIPBS, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2013 2 Bhikkhu Bodhi: The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha a translation of the Aṅguttara-Nikāya. Somerville: Wisdom Publication. 2012. pp. 202-203 3 Buddhist Philosophy Education, pg. 24
When the mind of young generations is just addicted with internet, it is a bad reality for the development of intellectuality and spirituality. Intellectuality will not be developed as they just copy and paste whatever is said by the people in the internet. They become lazy in doing thinking, and in analyzing something. This condition will become worse when young generations are addicted with online games, on the internet. They will spend more time in playing game online than in doing study. When it happens, the development of spirituality also cannot be hoped from them. Their spiritual quotient will not be trained well. They will not have time to learn the spiritual teaching and to do meditation. Generally speaking, in order to develop all qualities and to make someone can become a dependent one, become a person who is able to stand on his or her own feet, he or she have to possess analytical knowledge. Hence, it is true when a statement says a person cannot be helpful to someone else, if they do not have the intellect to perform; if someone doesn t know their own mind, they cannot really solve issues troubling another person s mind. 4 In Buddhist point of view, there are four types of human beings based on the quality of their mind. They are mannussa nerayika, manussa petta, manussa tirachana and paramatho manussa. 5 Manussa nerayika is a person belonging to hell. It is indicative of people who indulge in evil actions such as stealing, killing, and lying. People who live in suffering in this life; not getting enough food and shelter is categorized as manussa petta. Manussa tirachana is a life of people who are leading the menial life. An ideal person is called paramatho manussa. This type indicates a human being who is able to differentiate good from bad, and develops the mind well. Based on the above categorization, the educational purpose should be done for achieving the so called paramatho manussa. The young generation who has bad habit in copying and pasting the answer from internet, a game addict, and one without analytical skill is not a part of paramatho manussa. Hence, creating paramatho manussa should be used as the main agenda by teachers and by policy makers in educational activities. Paramatho manussa in the modern educational context is a young generation who is able to develop an old idea, analyzing, criticizing it and finally become able in creating new idea. Māha Kassapa: Great Disciple in Analytical Knowledge In the Buddhist texts, it is stated that the foremost disciple of the Buddha in the analytical knowledge is Ven. Māha Kaccana. 6 In many instances, he shows the ability to explain the short teaching uttered by the Buddha in very detail explanation and in the exact meaning just like the Buddha s own exposition. Madhupiṇḍika Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya, is one example. This famous discourse is showing the analytical skill of Ven. Māha Kaccana in giving explanation. Before giving detail explanation, Ven. Māha Kaccana is praising the Buddha as a teacher and as an enlightened one. It shows that Ven. Māha Kaccana is a humble one though he is the foremost student in analytical knowledge. From this case, students in the modern time should learn how to become humble person though we have a huge knowledge. It is a part of character education that should be emphasized in modern time. In giving explanation, Ven. Māha Kaccana quotes a brief statement that has been spoken of the Buddha. Then, he gives further and detail explanation based on this brief statement. In the Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, it is clear that Ven. Māha Kaccana is able 4 Peoples, Dion Oliver. Advanced Analytical Assessment of Buddhist Critical Thinking Skills and Additional Philosophical Concerns or Perspectives for the Field of Critical Thinking. 2014. Bangkok. MCU. 5 Vimanavatthu, 23 or see Buddhist Philosophy of Education, pg. 25-26 6 Great Disciples of the Buddhas, pg. 241 ff.
to expound how the mental proliferation (papañca) is the main cause for getting proliferated and deluded mind. The mind that is afflicted with papañca will always wander in the cycle of samsaric. Hence, a brief statement from the Buddha becomes guideline for his explanation and therefore, he will not run far away from the main topic. It is because the brief statement of the Buddha is the core and a guideline for Ven. Māha Kaccana in giving analysis and explanation. Ven. Māha Kaccana can do such analysis because he is able to give explanation in detail (vitthārena), able to think broadly (nidessa), and able to think effectively (udesa). All of this gives the moral for the student that in doing study must be based on a theory, then student should analyze in detail, broadly, and effectively in order to get the real meaning of a theory. Finally, student will be able to master a theory clearly. Based on the Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, it can be seen that Ven. Māha Kaccana is having the ability to relate the beginning and the conclusion of his explanation very well (niggamana). Before giving conclusion, he mentions once more the brief statement of the Buddha, to remind the audience about the beginning of their topic of discussion. Then, he makes a conclusion by emphasizing the real meaning of brief statement that has been used as the main topic of his explanation. Hence, beginning and the end of conclusion is related to each other s. Not only that, after giving conclusion, Ven. Māha Kaccana gives a freedom for everybody to verify what has been explained by him. And also, he asks the audience to verify what he said by bringing it to the Buddha and ask the Buddha s correction if there is any mistake. It gives the moral to the student to be an opened minded scholar, welcoming the criticizing of others to our theory. The other discourse explained by Ven. Māha Kaccana is Bhaddekaratta Sutta. This discourse teaches the importance of living in the present moment. The analytical skill of Ven. Māha Kaccana is once again shown in this discourse. In giving explanation, he cites the first two lines of the teaching given by the Buddha. Then, he analyzes each of the sentences in very detail. 7 He links the explanation of first sentences let not a person revive the past with the six sense doors and theirs objects. Hence, the audience will understand that thinking the past can be created through six sense doors when they do contact with their objects regarding the past. If just remember the past, it will not create a big danger. But when remember the past and it is followed with desire and lust, it becomes a great danger for the development of mind. The person who is able to give such explanation is really an analytical one. There are many other discourses taught by Ven. Māha Kaccana. Generally speaking, all these discourses show the analytical skill of Ven. Māha Kaccana. In the modern education, could Ven. Māha Kaccana be used as role model for young generation in developing analytical knowledge? How to Develop Analytical Ability for Young Generations? Modern education should come back to the core teaching of education, i.e. increasing the quality of human beings mind. The habit in copy and paste the answer from internet and game addiction should be reduced and eradicated. It will decrease the analytical thinking of students. When they just copy and paste the answer from internet, and addicted in playing game, they will never study well. It is the starting point of the degradation in modern education. How to build the willingness to study, willingness to read carefully and willingness to analysis something thoroughly in modern education? In modern theory, the analytical thinking can be built up by generating purposes, raising questions, using 7 Great Disciples of the Buddhas, pg. 260
information, utilizing concepts, making inferences, making assumptions, generating implications, and embodying a point of view. 8 Accordingly, point of view or an idea that is argued by a student should pass many kinds of pondering in his or her mind. A point of view should be based on the analytical thinking. In Buddhist point of view, analytical thinking could be built by train the student to explain a theory in detail (vitthārena) using their own words. In making sure that students are trained in this matter, students should write the explanation using hand writing. This trick is to make student avoids copy and paste from internet. Reflecting the case of Ven. Māha Kaccana s explanation, in building the student s ability to explain a theory in detail should be done little by little. First, student should be trained to explain an important word in a sentence. After student is able to explain in correct way, then he or she is asked to explain a sentence. This ability will increase and finally, student will be able to understand the real meaning of paragraph and will understand the meaning of a full text. The development of analytical thinking will make students become able to think broadly (nidessa), and able to think effectively (udesa). When student have these abilities, cheating or taking the answer from others in doing examination will not happen anymore. Every student will use their analytical mind as best as they can. Hence, the increasing of the equality of education can be hoped for the betterment of human race. Conclusion The purpose of education is increasing the quality of human mind. The success of education is not solely measured by the mark of students in their report books. The success in education can be seen in the process of education itself. Hence, everybody who is engaging in education should be careful with the process of education than with the result. Be aware about how students do get the answer and do not let them fall in the trap of copy and paste from internet. Therefore we can see that to train students in analytical thinking is a must; otherwise they will become parasitically uncreative for the world. 8 www.criticalthinking.com (accessed on January 28 th 2015)
References: Bhikkhu Bodhi. Middle Length Sayings of the Buddha. Kandy: BPS. 1995 Bhikkhu Bodhi: The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha a translation of the Aṅguttara-Nikāya. Somerville: Wisdom Publication. 2012. Havanpola Ratnasara. Buddhist Philosophy of Education. Sri Lanka: Tharanjee Prints. 1995 Nyanaponika Thera and Hellmuth Hecker. Great Disciples of the Buddhas. Kandy: BPS. 2007 Peoples, Dion Oliver. Advanced Analytical Assessment of Buddhist Critical Thinking Skills and Additional Philosophical Concerns or Perspectives for the Field of Critical Thinking. 2014. Bangkok. MCU. www.criticalthinking.com (accessed on January 28 th 2015)