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II. The Department of Education

Education in Buddhism – of the kind that gives proper knowledge conducive to the prosperity of the religion – is of three sorts, as follows:

A. Sutamaya-paññā: Discernment acquired through study.

People who are learned (bahusuta) – who have studied and memorized a great deal – fall into two groups. The first group contains those who have studied in line with the curriculum of the Department, i.e., the official textbooks known as Nak Dhamma [literally, Dhamma expert] levels l, 2, and 3; or the Pali courses, levels 3-9. Whether or not one passes the examinations is not important. What is important is the knowledge gained. This sort of education gives rise to one level of understanding, termed sutamaya­-paññā – discernment acquired through study.

The second group contains those who study on their own – listening to sermons, reading textbooks, studying the Vinaya, Suttas, and Abhidhamma; discussing questions with one another (dhamma-sākacchā), which can lead to understanding on a higher level, so that one may apply one’s knowledge to training oneself.

Both groups are classed as being on the elementary level of education in the study of memorized doctrine.

The study of memorized doctrine (pariyatti dhamma) is of three sorts – ­

1. Studying like a snake (alagaddūpama-pariyatti): This refers to a person who has studied and is thoroughly knowledgeable, but who makes himself venomous. The deadly venom of a monk is sensual defilement, which includes rāga – passion and delight in sensual objects; dosa – irritation, displeasure, a strong mental poison that makes the heart murky, annihilating whatever merit is there, destroying its own goodness. When this happens, the really deadly poisons appear: kodha – anger; and moha – delusion, confusion about one’s own good and evil, seeing right as wrong and wrong as right, being unreasonable and misguided in one’s views. All of this is classed as delusion, a poison buried deep in the heart.

Thus to gain an education without then conducting oneself in line with the Dhamma can be called studying like a snake. Such a person makes himself into a cobra’s head, spreading his venom into anyone who comes near. To consort with such a person is to consort with a fool and can poison the mind, drawing it into evil and unskillful ways, such as searching for well-being with reference only to this lifetime, without looking for what is more worthwhile – one’s well-being in future lifetimes – or for highest well-being: the liberation of nibbāna.

2. Studying for the sake of emancipation (nissaraṇ’attha­-pariyatti): When we have studied the Dhamma and Vinaya and learned what is good and evil, right and wrong, beneficial and unbeneficial, we see that we shouldn’t do whatever is wrong or harmful to ourselves and others. Instead, we should develop whatever is gracious and good, benefiting ourselves and others in any of the following three ways: Having learned the factors that promote well-being in the present life, we should give rise to them for ourselves and others. Having learned what is necessary to bring about our well-being in future lifetimes – going to a good destination or the heavenly realms in the next life – we should conduct ourselves accordingly. As for the supreme well-being – nibbāna – when we have learned what sort of person it will appear in and how to behave so as to be worthy of it, we should foster the qualities within ourselves necessary to bring all these forms of well-being about.

The qualities leading to these forms of well-being are four –

When we do this, we will reap two sorts of results: iddhiriddhi – the power that arises from being established in these four qualities; and puññariddhi – the influence that arises from our own inner virtue. Iddhiriddhi is authority; puññariddhi is kindness. To have these two qualities is to be a person with two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two arms, two legs – puriso, a complete human being, who can help others become complete in their hearts as well.

This is what it means to be a person who studies for the sake of emancipation.

3. Studying to be a storehouse keeper (bhaṇḍāgārika-pariyatti): This refers to the education of a person who has already finished the training – i.e., an arahant, one who has gained release from all defilements. Why does such a person have to study? For the sake of the work of the religion, so as to be of assistance in helping Buddhism to prosper. When was it ever the case that a person had to be thoroughly acquainted with all aspects of formulated Dhamma and customs before doing away with mental effluents (āsava)? Some people are born in lower-class families, others in upper-class families. Some have a great deal of social sophistication, others don’t. Still they are able to free their minds from the effluents by means of the practice, for in practice it isn’t necessary to know a great deal of formulated Dhamma. Even a person who knows only a fair amount can still put an end to the effluents.

So when such a person sees that he can be of help to people and Buddhists at large, he must educate himself. His study is for the sake of gaining a sense of the differences in societies, in communities, and in types of individuals; to gain a sense of time and place; to know the varieties of beliefs and customs that people adhere to in different regions. When he becomes thoroughly and properly acquainted with all customs and conventions, he can then deal effectively with other people for their benefit. This is why he must study and take an interest in such things. Education of this sort is thus called studying to be a storehouse keeper, and is an aspect of the Department of Education.

These, then, are the three forms of studying memorized Dhamma.

B. Cintāmaya-paññā: Discernment acquired through reflection .

When we have studied – in whichever way – we mustn’t stop there. We should take all the Dhamma we have learned and chew it over with our own discernment. To chew things over in this way – thinking and evaluating – may give rise to a flavor different from that of our previous education. We think things through, exploring on our own, instead of simply believing what other people say or what is written in books. We believe our own sense of reason, discovered within ourselves and termed paccattaṁ – individual and personal. This sort of education grows out of the earlier sort, in the same way that a person who has learned how to read and write the letters of the alphabet can then go on to use that knowledge to read textbooks and gain knowledge more valuable than the alphabet on its own.

To make a comparison with food, this second form of education has more flavor than the first. The first sort of education is like taking food, arranging it according to type – main-course dishes in one group, desserts in another – ­and then finding delight simply in seeing it arranged. The second form of education – thinking, evaluating, reasoning things through – is like arranging the food and then tasting it. The person who does this gets much more use out of the food than the person who arranges the food and simply sits looking at it: He can suffuse his body with nourishment and know whether or not the food tastes good, whether it’s sour or sweet, very sweet or just a little sweet – all on his own. This is what it means to pursue this second form of education properly. To study in this way gives rise to the flavor of the Dhamma, which can then be used to suffuse the heart with nourishment. When the heart is suffused with the nourishment of good qualities, it gains energy and strength in the area of the Dhamma, termed – ­

Discernment acquired through reflection can give rise to the flavor of the Dhamma through the act of thinking, but for thought to be truly nourishing and energizing, we must go on to the next level, developing discernment through meditation, so as to be complete in our practice.

C. Bhāvanāmaya-paññā: Discernment acquired through meditation.

Coming to know ourselves: We should study and investigate ourselves so as to gain knowledge exclusively within by centering the heart in concentration. To study ourselves by ourselves means to study by means of our own inner alphabet – the various parts put together out of the four properties (dhātu) within the body, the five khandhas, and the six sense media (āyatana). To study on this level means to study with and within the mind, investigating the inner alphabet:

All five are things that a contemplative should study. Usually, before we become ordained, we don’t even know our own inner ABC’s, much less how to spell. So our preceptors, out of concern for us as their sons in the monkhood, teach us these five things even before we become monks and novices. But if we neglect them after our ordination, it shows that we have no respect for education and no reverence for the teachings of the Lord Buddha. This is the cause for degeneracy in the Department of Education. To be able to read all 32 parts in one’s body, and to teach others to do the same, is to qualify as a member of the Saṅgha, or as a true disciple of the Lord Buddha.

We should study all four or all six of the properties within us – earth, water, wind, and fire – as a basis for tranquility meditation, giving rise to jhāna in the mind by thinking about and evaluating the parts of the body until we gain an understanding of earth, water, wind, and fire, together with space and consciousness, the overseer of the house. Study the five khandhas – body, feelings, labels, mental fabrications, and consciousness. Study the six sense media – eyes and visual objects, ears and sounds, nose and smells, tongue and tastes, body and tactile sensations, intellect and thoughts – by keeping careful restraint over them. The mind will then enter the jhānas, beginning with the first, which is composed of directed thinking, evaluating, rapture, pleasure, and singleness of preoccupation. Such a person thus goes on to a higher level of education, comparable to high school or secondary education. When the heart becomes quiet, a cool and refreshing sense of pleasure called rasa, the flavor and nourishment of the Dhamma, will appear in it. Attha: We will realize the aims of the Dhamma and our own aspirations as well.

Studying on this level will give rise to a higher level of knowledge termed liberating insight (vipassanā-ñāṇa) – clear comprehension in terms of the four noble truths – enabling us to go beyond suffering and stress. This is termed the skill of release. We will gain a special knowledge that is apart from all of the mundane things we have learned: This is transcendent knowledge that, beginning with liberating insight, enables us to escape one after another the fortress walls of the citadel of Death.

The citadel of Death has ten walls – ­

All ten of these factors are walls in the citadel of Death. No one who lacks discernment will be able to destroy them, which is why the Buddha was especially insistent on this level of education, teaching the monks to study it from the very day of their ordination so that their education would be complete.

To summarize, there are three aspects to this third level of education –

1. Learning the alphabet: Studying in line with the labels we have for the various parts of the body, such as hair of the head, etc.

2. Learning to spell: Taking the consonants – such as the four properties of earth, water, wind, and fire – and then adding the vowels – feelings, labels, mental fabrications, and consciousness – so that there is awareness of the six sense media, enabling us to know that there are good sights, good sounds, good smells, good tastes, good tactile sensations, and good ideas in the world, and that sometimes things that are not so good can also come in through the six sense media. The awareness that enters in and interacts in this way can be called paṭisandhi-viññāṇa – consciousness connected with physical phenomena, interacting with physical phenomena, enabling us to know all levels of good and bad. When we are able to evaluate and choose what is good and bad within ourselves, we qualify as being able to ‘read,’ knowing thoroughly all the ways our inner alphabet works in practice.

3. Learning to make sense of it all: The word ‘sense’ (attha) here has two meanings:

Whoever has duties in the area of education, then, should attend to them. Otherwise, Buddhism is sure to degenerate because of our own lack of education as contemplatives. If this happens, the Department of Education established by the Saṅgha authorities will be futile and worthless because we don’t clearly understand its meaning and aims.