Jain Digest 2007 11 1

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 10

JAIN DIGEST.Winter 2007
Dharma Gnän
Step towards Enligheted Education
-Samani Sanmati Pragya One of the key characteristics of every living organism is its ability to learn and/or adapt in some form or another. Humans can not only learn but they have the ability to be educated. As per the dictionary meaning "education" is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. While most of us are educated in some form or another, the question we need to ask is, are we ready, prepared, or even capable of Enlightened Education? To answer this question we need to first understand the basic concept of Enlightened Education and Enlightened Knowledge, and how it differs from what we generally understand as education and knowledge. Why should one pay attention to education? The link between education and individual economical success has been well documented. Studies have also shown that societies that have laid emphasis on education have prospered. Yet, history has also shown that even these very successful societies have stumbled and managed to self-destruct. Even after having the wisdom to realize the impending dangers, human greed and ego has many times clouded the wisdom leading the society towards its ultimate self-destruction. For example, today we have sufficient scientific data to know the potential dangers and the calamity that can result from global warming. Nevertheless, having tasted the luxuries of excessive consumption, we are not prepared to sacrifice even a little to reduce the production of carbon dioxide. Instead, our society is more consumed in maintaining its economic and military might, and willing to spend trillions to maintain its dominant position. Modern education has helped us to realize some of our potential, it has also warned us of the impending dangers, but has failed to restrain us from misusing the knowledge. The example of American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer best depicts the dilemma of modern education. Oppenheimer is best known for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project, the World War II effort to develop the first nuclear weapon, at the secret Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico. On July 16 1945, when Oppenheimer observed the 22 kiloton fireball, he could not help but quote the Bhagavad Gita "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One..." and continuing "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." After the war, he was a chief advisor to the newly created United States Atomic Energy Commission and used that position to lobby for international control of atomic energy and vehemently opposed the development of the Hydrogen bomb. Today, Oppenheimer is known colloquially as "the father of the atomic bomb", even though he deeply lamented the weapon's killing power and did whatever was in his control to restrain the use of nuclear power, the
damage was done. Knowledge has been given lot of importance in the Jain Tradition, and the disciples of Mahavir took a lot of care in passing the knowledge from one generation of monks to the next. However, about two centuries after Mahavira's salvation, a dreadful famine that lasted for twelve years took a heavy toll on the Jain monks and effectively the knowledge perpetuated by them. Finally, after the conditions improved, the monks gathered in Patliputra (present day Patna) and tried to compile the scriptures still retained in their memories. As per the tradition in those days the scriptural knowledge was not written but was passed orally generation to generation. Unable to compose all the Jain scriptural knowledge, the congregation decided to send a group of five hundred monks to Acharya Bhadrabahu - the only saint who at that time had the full knowledge of all the Agamas. Of these five hundred monks, Muni Sthulibhadra was the only monk in the group who could sustain the intensity of the learning imparted by the Master Acharya. While staying with the Acharya in Nepal, Muni Sthulibhadra had completed the studies of almost ten Purvas. After this point, Acharya Bhadrabahu went to Patliputra along with Muni Sthulibhadra with the intent of teaching the remaining four Purvas in Patliputra. In Patliputra Muni Sthulibhadra's seven sisters, who were also initiated in Jain asceticism, decided to pay their respects to the Acharya and visit their learned brother. Instead of seeing Muni Schulibhadra at the spot where they expected to see him, they spotted a lion. Scared of the lion the seven sadhvies rushed to the Acharya and narrated what they had seen. Acharya sent them back to the same place saying it was an illusion created by Muni Sthulibhadra. When Muni Sthulibhadra approached Acharya for his next lesson, he was refused as the Acharya felt Muni Sthulibhadra was not capable of internalizing and properly utilizing such vast and deep knowledge. Muni Sthulibhadra pledged to keep himself away from futile exhibitions and experimentation by not repeating the mistake again. The master was convinced by Muni Sthulibhadra's earnestness but he was worried that the future generation may not exhibit the same restraint. Acharya agreed to complete the remaining training with the firm condition that Sthulibhadra would not teach or transmit certain aspects of knowledge to any one else. The difference between the two above examples is that in the first case, the intellect (Oppenheimer), in his zcal towards achieving his scientific goal, was blinded, and could not foresee the after-effects of his pursuits. In the case of Acharya Bhadrabahu and Sthulibhadra, the spiritual master was fully aware of the potential of the knowledge and could foresee the danger of certain knowledge in the hands of a wrong person. The knowledge being provided by Acharya Bhadrabahu was not simple intellectual knowledge but the knowledge that went hand-in-hand with sadhana (spiritual endeavor). This is one hans of tenets of Enlightened Education. Students of Enlightened
Jain Education Intemational