The Opportunities and Challenges for Buddhist Education

Professor Senshō Kimura

President of Otani University，Japan

Introduction：　the Location of the Problem

In the contemporary world，　human beings have become a problem globally。 Humans have become problematized and have become a question mark for themselves。 In contemporary society，　it is becoming more and more difficult for human beings to ascertain who they are。　“What is a human being？”　“What is the proper role　（bungen 分限）　of human beings？”　“How should we live as human beings？” These issues have become extremely uncertain for contemporary humans。 The fact that people are unable to understand themselves，　is the new aspect of the problem of human beings in contemporary society。　

The characteristic feature of this contemporary society is，　above all，　that it is　“scientific。” It is increasingly becoming a society in which religion is absent。 Humanistic education based on religion has broken down and disappeared，　and its place has been taken by scientific views and patterns of thought as represented by the natural sciences。 Although knowledge about human beings have increased through the use of scientific methods such as observation and experiments，　such knowledge are all fragmentary pieces of information dealing with different aspects of human beings。　It is becoming difficult to gained unified knowledge of humankind。 Although，　on the one hand，　knowledge concerning human beings in general has increased，　on the other hand it is impossible to understand one’s own self any more。 This is the state of present society。

The Opportunities for Buddhist Education　

A characteristic feature of the scientific standpoint is that it observes things from the　“outside。” Instead of understanding the problem of human beings from the　“inside，” as a matter of the mind，　scientific technology looks at it from the　“outside” and seeks to make the human environment more convenient，　efficient and comfortable。 This is considered the rational thing to do。 Moreover，　humans are treated as　“human resources” for realizing this。