CHAPTER TWO：BUDDHISM AS AN EDUCATION

《Buddhism as an Education》

Venerable Master Chin Kung (淨空法師）

CHAPTER TWO：BUDDHISM AS AN EDUCATION

Buddhism officially came to China in 67 AD.  The Emperor had sent special envoys to India to invite Buddhist   monks to come to China to teach Buddhism, which in that period, was regarded as an   educational system, and not as a religion. Regret fully, about two hundred years ago, the practice of   Buddhism had taken on a more religious facade.   Therefore, the purpose of this talk is to correct this   misunderstanding, by leading us back to the original   form of Buddhism as taught by Buddha Shakyamuni.

The Goal of the Buddha's Teaching 

Buddhism is Buddha Shakyamuni's educational   system, which is similar to that of Confucius for both   presented similar viewpoints and methods. The goal   of Buddhist education is to attain wisdom. In Sanskrit（ 梵文）,   the language of ancient India, the Buddhist wisdom   was called "Anuttara-samyak-sambhodi" meaning   the perfect ultimate wisdom. The Buddha taught us   that the main objective of our practice or cultivation   was to achieve this ultimate wisdom. He further   taught us that everyone has the potential to realize   this state of ultimate wisdom, as it is an intrinsic part of our nature, not something one obtains externally.

However, most of us have become confused   through general misconceptions and therefore, are   not able to realize this potential. Therefore, if we   break through this confusion, we will realize this intrin sic part of our nature. Thus, Buddhism is an educational system aimed at regaining our own intrinsic nature. It also teaches absolute equality which   stemmed from Buddha's recognition that all sentient   beings possess this innate wisdom and nature.

Therefore, there is no inherent difference among   beings. Everyone is different now because we have   lost our true nature and have become confused.   The degree of wisdom exhibited by individuals depends on the degree of delusion and has nothing to   do with the true nature of the individual. The Buddha's teaching helps us to realize that innate, perfect, ultimate wisdom. With wisdom, we can then   solve all our problems and turn' suffering into happiness. Due to our lack of wisdom, we perceive, view   and behave foolishly, and thus suffer the consequences evoked by our incorrect actions. If we   have wisdom, our thoughts, viewpoints and behavior   will be correct; how then can we suffer when there   are no ill consequences to suffer from? Of course,   we will be happy. From here, we can see that suffering is caused by delusion and the source of happiness is our own realization of wisdom.

The Core of the Buddha's Teaching

The Buddha's teaching contains three major   points: discipline, meditation and wisdom. Wisdom is   the goal and deep meditation or concentration is   the crucial process toward achieving wisdom. Discipline through observing the precepts, is the method   that helps one to achieve deep meditation; wisdom   will then be realized naturally. Buddha's entire   teachings as conveyed in the sutras never really depart from these three points. Buddhism encom passes the entire collection of works by Buddha   Shakyamuni and is called the Tripitakad（三藏：經、律、論佛典）. This can be   classified into three categories: sutra, vinaya (pre
cepts or rules), and sastra (commentaries) which    emphasize meditation, discipline, and wisdom respectively.

The Buddhist Educational Organization in China

Buddhist education is based on filial piety（孝）, as is   the Chinese culture. Prior to the introduction of Buddhism to China, filial piety was the pillar of society   and was supported by the wise men of ancient China. When Buddhist monks from India came to   China and started to discuss Buddhism with government officials, it was immediately apparent to every one that Buddhism shared numerous similarities with   the indigenous Confucian traditions. Consequently,   the government embraced them and requested   that the monks stay in China permanently.

The first two monks, who came to China, Moton   and Chufarlan, were received by the "Hong-Lu-Si"   which is equivalent to our present Foreign Ministry or   State Department. "Si" was designated as a ministry   of the government. The Chief of Hong-Lu-Si is   equivalent to a foreign minister or Secretary of State.   However, Hong-Lu-Si could only receive foreign   guests temporarily. In order to allow them to stay   permanently, the Emperor added another ministry,   "Bai-Ma-Si（白馬寺）," to take charge of Buddhist education.  

Originally, the "Si" had nothing to do with a temple,    but merely denoted a ministry of the imperial court,   now it denotes a temple in contemporary Chinese.   So, there were two ministries in charge of education.
The "Li-Bu," managed by the Prime Minister, was in   charge of the traditional Confucian educational system. This organization served the same function until   the early 1900's. As the Emperor had given enormous support to the "Bai-Ma-Si," Buddhist education rapidly spread throughout China. In many instances,    it had even far exceeded the efforts to educate   people than the traditional education system of "LiBu."

Consequently, there may not have been a   Confucian or Manfucian school in every village, but   there was a "Si" everywhere. Again, the Buddhist   "Si", or temple, used to be an educational institution   and did not perform religious ceremonies at all, unlike what often takes place in contemporary temples   nowadays.

Another important mission for the original "Si"   was sutra translation. The scale of the translation effort is hard to imagine today. During the seventh   century, the famous monk Xuan-Tsuang（玄奘） had supervised six hundred scholars in sutra translation. Prior to   this, a monk named Kumaraja（鳩摩羅什） had a translation   team of about four hundred scholars. Therefore, the   "Si" was a large governmental organization. Unfortunately, it was completely transformed into a place   to deal with superstition and spirits around two hun dred years ago. Its educational characteristics totally disappeared, which was truly regretful.

The Four Current Types of Buddhism

Today, there are four types of Buddhism being practiced. First, there is the religious Buddhism, which   can be witnessed in temples throughout Taiwan.   However, this does not represent the real Buddhism.   Second, there is the academic Buddhism being    taught in many universities today, where we see   Buddhism being treated purely as philosophy, an   academic pursuit, especially in Japan. This is not exactly Buddha's  education either. Third, and the most   unfortunate of all, is the total degeneration of Buddhism into a cult.

This third type of Buddhism is much   more damaging to the public than the first two   types. Finally, there is the traditional Buddhism, the   teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni in its true essence,   which is very rare in our day and age.