BUDDHIST EDUCATION SYSTEM
Buddhism
rendered the people the freedom to obtain education and to practice their
religion themselves. Lord Buddha imparted a system into the which was in a
perfectly practicable form. Consequently a practicable region and a practical education
system became available to the common people. Buddhist system of education was
monastic. All castes were admitted to Buddhist sangh.
CHARACTERISTICS OF BUDDHIST
EDUCATION
The Core – the
core of the Buddha’s teaching was discipline, meditation and wisdom. Discipline
practiced by observing the guidelines is the basic to achieve deep meditation.
Practicing discipline leads to gaining concentration, which in turn help in
practicing deep meditation which results in the achievement of wisdom
The goal - Attaining
wisdom is the final goal of Buddha’s teachings. Buddhism belived that everyone has the potential to realize the
state of ultimate wisdom because it is not something that is obtained from
external resources but it is an
intrinsic part of our nature. The Buddhist education system aimed at reviving our
intrinsic nature. Buddha considered everyone as equal and that every living
being possess this innate wisdom. Buddha‘s teaching focuses on realizing the innate,
perfect, ultimate wisdom which helps an individual to solve all his problems
and turn suffering into happiness.
Admission: The
centers for imparting education in the Buddhist period was Monasteries. The
process of admission was simple. The student had to present himself before the
teacher with the request to give him education. The complete responsibility of educating
the student was vested on the teacher of his pupil even though the student was
also expected to behave in a responsible manner.
Duration:
The total Duration of education was 22 years which was split into two levels.
The first 12years was known as Pabbajja and the next 10 years Upasampada.
Curriculum: The curriculum
was divided into two levels, Primary and higher education. Reading, writing and
arithmetic were taught in Primary education. Higher education included religion philosophy
Ayurveda and military training. Every student had the freedom of choosing the
subject of his interest without any restriction.
The teacher: To
become a teacher a person should have lived as a monk for at least ten years and
inevitably they should have the qualities of a teacher which according to
Buddhism was purity of character, purity of thoughts and generosity. The
teacher and was fully responsible for education, clothes, food, residence of
the student and treatment of the student whenever they fell ill.
Student’s Routine: The
students have to wake up early in the morning and arrange everything that is
essential for the daily routine of the teacher. The students have to cook food,
clean utensils and wash the cloths of the teacher. He would present everything
he gets by begging, before the teacher. The student should obey only the
teacher. The student had to maintain the cleanliness of the monastery and its
surroundings. The student had to be prepared to receive education at any time that
is convenient for the teacher.
Boarding and Lodging: Education
was imparted through monasteries and viharas where the teacher and the students
lived together. Most of the Buddhist Viharas were well furnished. The activities
such as dining, bathing, sleeping, reading, studying and discussions were all
carried in the rooms which were provided for the specific purpose.
Content : The
Buddists adopted Astang Marg which was focused on the attaining perfection in
the eight important areas of life. Attaining Samma meaning 'proper', 'whole',
'thorough', 'integral', 'complete', and 'perfect' in the eight areas was the focus of
education. The Result of education was expected to be
1. Samma-Ditthi
— Complete or Perfect Vision
2. Samma-Sankappa
— Perfected Emotion or Aspiration,
3. Samma-Vaca
— Perfected or complete Speech
4. Samma-Kammanta
— Integral Action.
5. Samma-Ajiva
— Proper Livelihood.
6. Samma-Vayama
— Full Effort, Energy or Vitality.
7. Samma-Sati
— Complete or Thorough Awareness.
8. Samma-Samadhi
— Full, Integral or Holistic Samadhi.
Buddhist
education imparted training for moral and psychological development of the
student resulting in attainting purity of character. The final stage to one had
to attain on completion of their education was the the stage of bodhisattva
which is attaining the state of Buddhahood or nirvana.
METHODS OF TEACHING
Verbal: verbal
communication was the primary mode of teaching. Teachers communicated the
lessons by verbal mode and the students memorized them, Following which there
was a question answer session by the teacher to evaluate the level of
comprehension by the students. Even though
the art of writing had been well developed during this period it was not
adopted due to the non availability of writing material
Discussion: Discussion
was also used as a methods of teaching because it impressed the general public.
Scholars discussed the important questions and discussion continued till all
the doubts irrespective of what is was cleared
Testament: Eight
kinds of proof the theory, cause, example, parallelism, contradiction, evidence,
argument and induction were supposed to presented if any scholar wanted to
establish his idea whenever there were disputes regarding any existing theory
Prominence:
Buddhist education encouraged the logical approach in learning and
comprehension and controversial matters could not be decided without logical
arguments.
Tours: tours were an
integral part of the Buddhist education system. After completion of the
education the student had to undertake long tours to gain the real and
practical knowledge. One more purpose of these tours was to propagate Buddhism
Conferences: Periodical
conferences were a part of the education system. Conferences were conducted on
the first day of the month the full moon day in Buddhist sangh. Conferences
were the platforms in which discussions happened in a open and free manner
among the monks from different sangh. The monks were free to put forward their thoughts
and doubts which was taken for discussion and the discussion continued till a
logical answer was arrived at. The attendance was compulsory. The sanghs also
conducted an annual conference in which a well-renowned monk would challenge
the whole sangh to disprove his purity.
Meditation:
The Buddhist monks also had the option of doing spiritual meditation are in
isolated lonely forests and caves. The monks who had fully renowned the worldly
attraction and had spent enough time in the Sanghs and gained the efficiency
for solitary meditation were only considered fit for lonely meditation
MERITS OF BUDDHIST EDUCATION
Meticulously structured centers: Buddhist education
was imparted in , monasteries and Vihara which were well planned and structured
centers
Broad-based: Buddhist
education was free from communal narrowness.
Simplicity: Aausterity
and simplicity was the life style of every Buddha bikshus
Wholistic : Buddhist
education laid much emphasis on the physical mental and spiritual development
of the students.
Discipline: both
the teachers and students led disciplined life.
Ideal student teacher relationship.
Global recognition: Buddhist
education system help in gaining the attention and acknowledgement of the
quality of ancient Indian educational system and it helped in developing cultural
exchange between India and other countries of the world.
DEMERITS OF BUDDHIST EDUCATION
Buddhist
education did not give the proper attention to the occupational, industrial and
technical education.
It
created obstacles in social development because it never gave importance to the
strengthening of family relationships.
Woman
did not get opportunities to pursue education.
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