Parents and Children
January 2009
Banner photo: © Frans Lemmens/Getty Images
Nurturing Others: The Art of Human Education
Our world is in chaos. From mundane affairs to the world of ideas, we live amidst disarray and confusion. Concerned and intelligent people are searching for some direction that will offer clear guidance as to how human beings should live.
The "Expedient Means" (second) chapter of the Lotus Sutra states that Buddhas appear in the world for "one great reason alone," to open the door to the Buddha wisdom for all people, to show it to them, to cause them to awaken to it and gain entry to it.
Living beings already possess the Buddha wisdom inherent in their lives; they are originally Buddhas, worthy of supreme respect. The goal of the Lotus Sutra is to bring the enormous potential of each human being into fullest flower.
The pioneering Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) wrote: "All pure powers of benediction brought forth by humanity are not gifts of skill or chance. They lie in the inner nature of all human beings, along with other inherent qualities. The development of these powers is the common necessity of all humankind."
True religious commitment and the true spirit of education are actually two manifestations of the same ideal, that of the complete liberation of the human being.
Some years ago, I had an interview with Professor Robert Thurman, chairman of the Department of Religion of Columbia University. I began the interview by asking Dr. Thurman how he viewed the role of education in society, and what had influenced his thinking on the subject. He replied, "I think the question should rather be: What is the role of society in education? Because in my view education is the purpose of human life."
Dr. Thurman's profound view is that education is not an offshoot of society; it is an inherent part of human beings and their most fundamental endeavor. Human beings cannot exist apart from education.
When Dr. Thurman declares, "Education is the purpose of human life," he is of course using the word "education" in its broadest and deepest sense, not simply as referring to an education system or instruction. We might ask, "For what purpose are human beings born? What are their lives for?" And the answer would be "to develop their lives to the fullest possible potential through education."
To the second part of the question, Professor Thurman replied: "Of course, what influenced me in that [i.e., my view of education] is the teaching of the Buddha, which I perceived to be an educational teaching in the truest sense . . . Buddhist practice really is to transform the individual, and is thus part of the process of educating." Human education and Buddhism are two aspects of the same reality.
Buddhism is an educational movement with a dual aim: first, to unlock and develop our inherent Buddha nature, and at the same time to bring forth diverse wisdom and help others tap their Buddhahood. This development of the potential of both oneself and others is the noblest path a human being can pursue.
In the "Expedient Means" chapter, Shakyamuni states:
"At the start I took a vow,
hoping to make all persons
equal to me, without any distinction between us."
The Buddha vows to elevate all people to the same state of life as his own. This is the basis of the spirit that seeks to raise capable people, that seeks to enable people to develop their fullest potential. This is also the spirit underlying the mentor-disciple relationship.
The famous Chinese writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) once said: "In life, it is a joy to nurture others, even though one knows that in doing so, shedding one drop of blood at a time, one grows weaker and frailer." I am convinced that this is the way for a person who believes in the Lotus Sutra to live.
