Curriculum+Guide-Foreword

=Dharma School Teacher's Guide=

Forword by Rev. Toshio Murakami

Guiding Principles of Buddhist Education
The purpose of Buddhist education is revealed by the Buddhist analogy of a "pointing finger" of the teacher, who helps students really see and enjoy the moonlight shining upon them. In Dharma School education, //pointing fingers// are materials created by teachers and ministers for teaching different age levels of students.

These materials, coordinated by Mrs. Etsuko Steimetz, will reinforce Dharma School education of the Buddhist Churches of America, and be conducive to the attainment of the ultimate goal of Jodo Shinshu education of nembutsu teaching, through the following guiding principles of Buddhist education:
 * 1) The first principle is that //Buddhist Education should start with the// //individual//. It is a truism that any education which neglects the needs, abilities, and the interests of the individual is no education at all. Relevant education is that which is personally relevant to the individual. This applies equally to the teacher and the student. Buddhist education recognizes the principle //of Jishin Kyonin-shin//, which translates into the following meaning: "In order to teach others the Nembutsu way of life, I, myself, must be a person //of// shinjin or a practicing Nembutsu person." In essence, the Buddhist teacher observes the concept //of Zenchishiki//, which literally means, "good spiritual teacher or friend who will lead the person to the Nembutsu way of life or enlightenment."
 * 2) From this first principle emerges the second principle//. Buddhist Education is democratic//. The teacher and the learner are of equal status striving together on a joint venture to discover the Dharma, which in Buddhism has been described //as Ondogyo-Ondobo//, meaning, "fellow travelers who tred the same path of the Nembutsu." However, Buddhist have recognized that fellow travelers also have different abilities, interests, and needs. The principle of //Taiki// Seppo recognizes these individual differences and holds that the teaching of the Dharma must be in accordance with unique needs, interests, and the abilities of each individual. Therefore, the cornerstone of Buddhist Education is the concept of //Hachiman Yonsen Homon//, literally meaning, "There are 84,000 Dharma Paths."
 * 3) The third principle in Buddhist Education is also concern for others. It reminds us that even as the individual gains enlightenment, he is not expected to enjoy the fruit of his own enlightenment. It assumes that the individual also serves others-our family, the fellow travelers seeking the Dharma. But more explicitly, the spirit of //Shakai// Hoshi- meaning service to the community- urges us not to limit our concerns to self, or to family and (the) immediate Buddhist community, but to further extend our concern to the larger communities and our society and environment, finally transcending beyond them to the universe. This concern flows from the awareness of the interdependent existence of all of us and frees us from the ego of the lesser self within us. This concern flows naturally into a feeling of unity, with all beings thus giving rise to the feeling of compassion for all.
 * 4) The fourth principle is that //Buddhist Education is experiential and// //affective// and can be naturally understood within the context of the preceding principles. Our society is characterized by alienation, dehumanization, and over-rationalization. In this kind of society, intellectual process has been overemphasized, thus depriving even more of the human qualities in individuals. Buddhist Education stresses the affective and experiential learning to counter-balance the depersonalized kind of education so prevalent in our society at the present time.
 * 5) The fifth principle follows that Buddhist Education is integrative and comprehensive. It recognizes that education and learning are not limited to formal places of learning, but instead take place in our family, our Temples, our media, in the streets, and in every activity individuals are engaged in. Therefore, Buddhist Education must also reach out to demonstrate its relevance and significance to all beings in all places for all time.