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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 41
Transforming Buddhist
Education: Lessons
from Indonesia
By Dr. Edi Ramawijaya Putra, M. Pd
Are you born into a Buddhist family, or did you become a Buddhist
later in life?
I come from a Buddhist family as both my parents and ancestors were all
Buddhists. They believe in Buddhism not just as a religion but as a living
philosophy that guide their daily lives. As such they participate in a variety
of traditional Buddhist rituals such as paying homage to the Triple Gem, as
well as religious ceremonies when someone in the family is born, fell sick, or
pass away. Likewise, Buddhist philosophy guides them on the ethical aspects
of daily living, including right livelihood and earning money. I was fortunate
to have received Buddhist education from elementary school to the teritary
level by Buddhist teachers and lecturers. I also attended Buddhist Sunday
Edi is Assistant Professor at the school (called Sekolah Minggu Buddhis) where every child received an
Sriwijaya State Buddhist College informal Buddhist education.
of Tangerang-Banten, Indonesia.
He is also a Doctor of Applied How many Buddhists are there in Indonesia? Is Buddhism practiced
Linguistics in English. Edi is mainly by the Chinese community or by indigenous Indonesians?
an active Dharma worker too.
The following is an extract of According to Government statistics released in 2010, there are 1.7 million
a conversation between Benny Buddhists in Indonesia. It equals to 0.72% of the total population. There
Liow, editor of Eastern Horizon, are many different Buddhist traditions throughout the country. I would not
with Edi regarding Buddhism in say that the ethnic Chinese are the major followers of Buddhism because it
is also common to find indigenous Indonesians who are Buddhists, such as
Indonesia, with a focus on how
among the Javanese, Sasaknese, Balinese, Bataknese, Tobanese, Sundanes,
young Buddhists in Indonesia are
Betawi, and Papuans. If you travel through Indonesia you will find Buddhist
responding to Buddhism in the
temples (usually called Vihara/Wihara) bulit with local architectural
modern world. style and ornamented with cultural items representing different ethnic
entities. However, the Chinese Buddhists are mainly located in the cities.
Their exsistence has long been regarded as an integral part of Indonesian
Buddhist history and development. However, the Chinese Indonesian
Buddhists tend to be eclectic, as some of their practices are combined with
local Chinese beliefs and customs.
The future of any religion, including Buddhism lies with the youths.
