CHAPTER FIVE：THE INTEGRATION OF CONFUCIANISM AND BUDDHISM

《Buddhism as an Education》

Venerable Master Chin Kung (淨空法師）

CHAPTER FIVE：THE INTEGRATION OF CONFUCIANISM AND BUDDHISM

Buddhism successfully merged into Chinese culture；they became inseparable. The basic concept   that they share is to give up one's own interest for the   sake of others.Confucianism and Buddhism advocate the enhancement and glorification of filial piety, the respect and devotion of an individual for   their parents and teachers. Filial piety is a major   element in accomplishing world peace.

What is education? It is the meaning and the   value of human life, the relationships between human beings as well as those between humans and   the universe. Confucian teaching encompasses   three main points. First, it is important to understand   the relationship between humans, once this is understood we will learn to love people. Second, it is important to understand the relationship between humans and heaven, once this is understood we will   learn to respect heavenly beings and spirits. Third, it   is important to understand the relationship between   humans and the environment, once this is understood we will learn to take care of the environment   and to appreciate every single thing around us.

There are four studies within Confucian teachings:

virtue, speech, skills for earning a living and the arts. （德行，言語，政事，文學）

The teaching of virtue is the core of Confucianism; it   is absolutely crucial, for without morality and proper   conduct we become selfish and concerned only with ourselves  at   the expense ofsociety. Such be havior can result in world chaos.Today, our education has lost that emphasis. Schools only teach skills   that are superficial and not the root of education.  When   the root is rotten, it shakes the foundation of   society and causes the chaos that we are experiencing today. Elementary schools are like the root of   education: junior highs, high schools, and colleges   are the flowers and leaves. Teachers can start   teaching filial piety to our children as early as possible.

By looking at the way Chinese characters were   created, we cannot but admire our ancestor's high   level of wisdom. We thank them for having given us   something that is so valuable and exquisite. The Chinese character "piety" embraces the spirit of Buddhism and the foundation of education as it is acombination of the characters for "old" and "son."   

Nowadays, people talk about the generation gap    between parents and children, which is something   traditional families did not have. In the Chinese tradition, not only are father and son one unit; grandfa
thers and grandsons, etc. are all part of the same   continuum. This is a unique concept. Westerners often ask why Chinese people pay respect to ancestors since we barely know them. The remembrance   of our ancestors is the foundation of Confucianism   and Buddhism, which is the source of harmony in society and peace in the world.

Today everyone longs for world peace, but we   need to start from the foundation of filial piety to obtain it. Buddhism emphasizes unconditional compassion for all sentient beings in the universe and beyond; in the past, present and future. The continuum   of time and space is inseparable from oneself, for We    Are All One Entity. One does not find this extensive   concept in religion. "Thus Come One", one of the   ten names for Buddha, stands for an enlightened   being, which is our basic nature, and also the essence of the universe and human life. This concept is   embodied by the Chinese character "piety" and the   name of Amitabha Buddha in the Pure Land School.   The names may be different but the meanings are   the same: unconditional love for all beings that surpasses space and time.

The Five Human Relationships

Confucian teachings are based on five human   relationships that are founded on moral principles.   The five human relationships include those between    husband/wife, parent/child, siblings, friends, and political leaders and the public. Husband/wife represents the smallest and the most intimate circle of   human relationships.   Outside the small circle is the   extended family, which includes the relationships between father and son and those among the siblings.     Outside the family there is society which includes   additional relationships between the individual and   his leader and circles of friends. We now often talk   about the need to unite people.

In ancient times,   the Chinese had no use for the word "unite," for the   five human relationships define rhe union of all peo ple. Everyone on this earth is our brother. Each is responsible for the other; parents being compassionate, sons and daughters being filial to their parents,   siblings and friends being respectful to each other.   In this way, the country and its people are already aperfect union. The relationships between people

also define responsibilities from one to the other.Everyone has his own duty and responsibility to fulfill.

The Practice of Confucianism and Buddhism

Human beings differ from animals by adhering to   human relationships and basic moral principles. The
practice of Confucianism is based on having sincere   and proper thoughts, correct behavior, a well-organized and harmonious family and country, and   peace for all. This is identical to the views of Buddhism, which also emphasizes practicing and learning. It all starts from generating the Bodhicitta mind（菩提心）.   "Bodhi" is a Sanskrit word meaning enlightenment.   Enlightenment means an "awakened" mind. It is   similar to the sincere thought and proper mind advocated by Confucianism.

A Chinese government   official defined sincerity very well. He noted that   "Sincerity means having no single thought." There   will be no sincerity as long as there are corrupted   thoughts, wandering thoughts, or even the rise of a   single thought. His definition is identical to that of   Buddhism.

The Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng（六祖慧能）once said "...(the pure mind) contains nothing therefore collects no dust" （本來無一物、何處惹塵埃）However, people in general have a   lot of wandering thoughts. How can one be rid of   these wandering thoughts? The Confucian answer is   "...to fight against uprising desires and achieve wisdom."   This practice was stressed in the elementary   school of the Confucian system. Buddha said, severing all desires is to stop all worries and troubles.

The Confucian Elementary School System

In the past, the Chinese elementary school students were well trained to guard against the uprising   of desires. Schools emphasized training in student's   concentration and wisdom. Students started school   at the age of seven. They stayed with their teachers   and only went home during holidays. They were   taught the correct way to interact with everyday life   and the proper manner to attend to their teachers   and elder  schoolmates. This was called the education of moral principles based on human relationships.

When the children went home, they would   then treat their parents and siblings with filial piety   and respect.
From the ages of seven to twelve, students were   required to memorize and recite fluently the ancient   texts. The teacher would first select materials which   contained the profound wisdom of sages and saints   and then encouraged the students to read and recite the material up to one or two hundred times a   day. Children would have scattered thoughts if they   were not assigned any tasks to do. The purpose of reciting was to focus their mind so that they would   eventually obtain a pure mind, concentration and   wisdom; even though, they may not have understood the meanings.

However, the current educational system, in existence since the Revolution of   1911, eliminated this two thousand-year-old tradition   and adopted the western educational system. This   change, upon close examination, leads one to the   root of modem China's social problems.

The Confucian Tai School System

At the age of thirteen, children were sent to Tai   school, as there were no junior or high schools in ancient China. Tai school emphasized the analysis and   discussion of the materials students had already   memorized in elementary school. The teachers were   experts in their fields and would concentrate on that   field throughout their entire career. Each of them   taught a small class with ten to twenty students and    the lectures were not necessarily given in the class room with textbooks.

During that period, all the text   books were printed in the universal format: twenty   words per column and ten columns per page, with   no space in between. The format was standard for   the entire country regardless of the publisher. Both teacher and students memorized the textbooks so   well that they even knew exactly where the study   materials were located. Since everything had been   memorized earlier, there was no need for books after   elementary school.

Teachers often took their students on field trips to   broaden their knowledge and experience. As they   traveled, knowledge was imparted to them along   the way. Thus, the trips were without textbooks or restraints but accompanied with wine and food and   filled with joy. The students would attend to the   needs of the teacher. Therefore, as they concluded   their travels to the many beautiful places, the course   would close as well. For many, attending Tai school   was the most joyful time of their lives.

In Taiwan, those who are in their eighties or nine  ties may have experienced this kind of education.   My late teacher, Mr. Lee, then in his nineties, could   still apply materials he had memorized in elementary   school when writing articles; no reference materials   were needed. This was the method he used to acquire the original wisdom that comes from the pure   mind. With the pure mind, true wisdom arises. Having true wisdom is to know a person's past and future   and also to understand the laws of cause and effect.

One should not judge things by their appearance, but know and understand how events came about.   The wisdom of knowing nothing emphasized in Buddhism is the original wisdom. Only when one has a   pure mind, which contains nothing, will he also know   everything when he is in contact with the external   world. Therefore, the practicing and studying of   Buddhism begins with eliminating all thoughts in order
to obtain a pure mind.

All this made me think of our children, who are so   pure, so innocent and uncontaminated in their   thinking which is why it is best for our children to start  learning Buddhism early in childhood. With little effort, children can truly and easily benefit from it. The   experiences of a person with a pure mind are so different and profound that no ordinary person can   truly appreciate them.

World Peace Can be Achieved if the Mind and Body   are Well-trained, the Family is Well-run and the Country is Well-governed.

A true practitioner will keep himself from being   greedy, angry, ignorant and arrogant toward others   and his environment. If one has any of the elements   just mentioned, then he is neither sincere nor proper.   Sincerity and proper thoughts and viewpoints are the basis for training the mind. A person with a pure   mind and body will not become ill. We suffer from   illnesses because our minds are filled with wandering   thoughts and worries that are derived from greed,   anger, ignorance and arrogance.

As mentioned earlier, sincerity and proper   thoughts and viewpoints are the basis for purifying   one's mind. A purified mind leads to a purified body   and naturally, a person will become immune from   illness; thus, a realized practitioner would never get   seriously ill. Moreover, if a person is determined to   follow the path of Buddha, he or she will not die in   the conventional manner. A conventional death   means a person does not know exactly when they   will leave this world, nor where they will go after wards.

On the other hand, true practitioners with   confidence in themselves and in Amitabha Buddha,   who cultivate in accordance with Buddhist teachings, will be capable of controlling both the time of   leaving this world and of being born in the Western   Pure Land. This is neither unusual nor a fairy tale, but   the simple truth, and can be achieved by cultivating   the pure mind and vowing to reach the Western Pure   Land. Therefore, one needs to understand how important it is to be free of worries and attachments.

Every Buddhist should maintain a pure mind and body at all times, treating everyone and everything   with equality and composure. Only then would the   family be in harmony, the society in unity and the    world at peace. No longer would we have feuds,   conflicts or wars. The peace and happiness, which    we all wish for today, would no longer be a dream.   World peace can be achieved if we combine Confucianism andBuddhism into our educational system.

The Eight Basic Confucian Moral Principles

Loyalty, filial piety, compassion, love, trust   worthiness, responsibility, peace and equality（忠孝仁愛信義和平） are the   eight basic Confucian moral principles and are represented by four Bodhisattvas in Buddhism. Di Tsang   Wang（地藏王菩薩） (Earth Store /Kristigharba) Bodhisattva represents filial piety and therefore the Di Tsana Sutra（地藏經）is   known as the Filial Piety Sutra（孝經）.

This is because it    teaches filial respect for both parents and teachers,   who are both equally important in Buddhism and   Confucianism. To treat one's parents with filial piety   and to respect teachers are the innate virtues of   human nature. The goal of Buddhist teaching is for    us to realize the true nature of the mind,  which can   only be achieved by discovering its virtuous nature,   without which one will never become enlightened.

Guan Yin Bodhisattva（觀世音菩薩）symbolizes compassion   and represents kindness and love. Wen Shu Shi Li   (Manjusri) Bodhisattva（文殊師利菩薩）symbolizes wisdom and represents faith and loyalty. Pu Xian（普賢菩薩）(Universal Worthy/Samantabhadra) Bodhisattva symbolizes great   vows and putting the Buddha's teaching into prac  tice including filial piety, compassion and wisdom.   He represents peace and equality. With compassion   and wisdom, one can generate merits. To enjoy   merits is to build upon the foundation of equality and   purity - this is the greatest enjoyment for humankind.

To cultivate merits in childhood, generate merits in   middle age and enjoy merits in old age are described in Chinese as truth, virtue and beauty. One   who enjoys merit in old age is called the complete   person, which is similar to Buddha. We must under stand that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are not gods   but the most perfect and happiest beings for us to   learn from.

Wise ancestors in China long evoked these principles long ago before Buddhism was introduced   there.   Buddha Shakyamuni, Confucius and Mencius   never met, but they all had identical concepts and   teaching methods. That was truly a coincidence   and as is said in Chinese, "Heroes would have similar   views" or said in the West, "Great minds think alike".（英雄所見略同）