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Educational Philosophy in Humanistic Buddhism |
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| Author |
Chen, Nai-chen
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| Source |
Hsi Lai Journal of Humanistic Buddhism=西來人間佛教學報
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| Volume | v.4 |
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| Date | 2003 |
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| Pages | 13 - 22 |
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| Publisher | International Academy of Buddhism, University of the West |
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| Publisher Url |
http://www.uwest.edu/site/
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| Location | Rosemead, CA, US [柔似蜜, 加利福尼亞州, 美國] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Abstract | The Buddha himself was a great teacher. The perfect ideas and the truth of the world discovered and developed by the Buddha are invaluable and undoubtedly useful for modern people to apply in education. His teaching transcends time and space. It makes sense to organize his teaching in paradigm accessible and acceptable by modern educators, philosophers of education, and others who are interested in education.
The structure recommended in this article to organize Buddhist ideas of education is that of educational process, which begins with clarifying and defining the nature of education. From this the examination of educational aims, content and methods of education, personnel and premises and other facilities, and evaluation of educational effectiveness follows. Education itself is dynamic and changing rather than static and fixed. As implied by Buddhism, education is a concept and name created by sages to change people’s behavior for the better in order to benefit human beings individually and collectively through appropriate teaching and learning process. Education is selfless. It is used to benefit people but not to get attached to. Education should be always changed and improved. So are teachers, students, parents, educators and administrators.
Bodhisattvas and great teachers share many virtues and merits. Both contribute to guide students with enthusiasm and efforts to benefit them. Bodhisattvas practice the six pramits to benefit sentient beings on the one hand, and improve themselves on the other hand. Teachers who practice giving, observing precepts, forbearance, diligence, meditation, and perfect wisdom can also benefit students on the one hand and improve themselves on the other hand.
The ideal state education can assist people to achieve, according to Buddhism, is Buddhahood—perfection in intellectual and emotional development, in personality, wisdom, ability and compassion. One who becomes perfect in all these aspects becomes a Buddha. The path for one to follow and practice toward this ultimate goal is the practice of Bodhisattva Way. Therefore, like teachers, students and all others who want to learn should learn based on these six most effective ways, according to the Buddha.
Buddhism is by nature human. By Humanistic Buddhism meant Buddhist principles aim at saving human beings from all kinds of suffering and assisting them to attain happiness, freedom, compassion and wisdom through the practice of most appropriate and perfect ways of daily life. Individual and collective improvement are both emphasized and valued.
The research methods shared and unshared by Buddhist and Western scholars and philosophers were also mentioned and discussed in this article. It is through the use of logical analysis, synthesis, reasoning and generalization to clarify and redefine critical ideas and terminologies in education. It is also through the practice of samatha and vipasyana and other intuitive approaches to investigate the in-depth and ultimate meaning of education in order to establish an integrated system of educational philosophy based on Buddhism, e.g. Humanistic Buddhism. |
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| ISSN | 15304108 (P) |
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| Hits | 284 |
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| Created date | 2014.08.08 |
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| Modified date | 2020.04.09 |
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