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TEACHINGS | EASTERN HORIZON 15

Basic Elements of

Buddhist Education

By Venerable Ajahn Jayasaro

Venerable Ajahn Jayasaro was born on the Isle of Wight, England in 1958. He
joined Ajahn Sumedho’s community for the Rains Retreat as an anagarika
in 1978 and in November of that year he left for Wat Pa Pong in Northeast
Thailand where he ordained as a novice and then as a Bhikkhu in 1980 with the
Venerable Ajahn Chah as his preceptor. From 1997 to 2002 Ajahn Jayasaro was
the Abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. He is now living alone in a hermitage at the foot
of the Khao Yai mountains.

He is the author of several books in English and Thai, including the authorized
biography of Ajahn Chah, and is considered an expert in Buddhist Pedagogy in
Thailand, receiving an honorary PhD from Mahachulalongkorn University in
2011 and a “Chao Khun” title from the King of Thailand in 2015.

On Buddhist Wisdom: Its Meaning in learn in schools are out of date by the time they start
Buddhist education working, and because in a knowledge-based economy,
freshness of vision, creativity and innovation are given
Rather than an education system which is geared to the highest value.
testing and to competition and to preparing people
for a particular livelihood, the emphasis of Buddhist In order to flourish in the world, it is not then a matter
education is on teaching children how to learn, how of merely accumulating a body of knowledge, so much
to enjoy learning, to love wisdom for its own sake. It as cultivating a strong but supple mind and the ability
teaches them the emotional maturity enabling them to develop life skills such as skillful communication,
to make use of their knowledge to create a happy the ability to work in a team, patience, resilience
life for themselves and their family and to contribute (the ability to bounce back after disappointments),
positively to the society in which they live. It in no way the ability to manage one’s moods, and to protect
compromises on the work of preparing children to make the mind from pride, arrogance, greed, hatred,
a good livelihood, but it lets them see that life is deeper depression, anxiety, and panic. These abilities are
and richer than working in order to consume. being increasingly recognized as being more useful and
necessary in the long run to a successful working life
It seems that these days more and more employers are rather than having a particular degree under your belt.
not looking so much for people with proficiency in a It’s becoming clear to what extent a lack of emotional
particular area as much as smart, intellectually flexible maturity and self-knowledge amongst people in
people who know how to learn new things and can positions of authority undermines the advantages that
adapt to the changes in new technologies and changes they should derive from a cultivated intellect.
in society. This is because many of the things people