What I wish to leave with you for contemplation is this: given that the human lifespan is short, the more time one spends toiling for one’s livelihood, and the more time one expends in pursuit of surplus and excess beyond what one truly needs, the fewer opportunities one will have to train and cultivate oneself.

The opportunity to observe oneself, to examine oneself, and to correct oneself will gradually slip away — while unwholesome habits and the defilements that flood the heart will only continue to expand, until they take complete hold of the mind and render one utterly unable to call goodness to mind. That, indeed, is one of the most sobering things to be feared.

April 30^th, 2014

1. Educational curricula that emphasize theoretical knowledge while lacking practical character development

The national education system of the present age is oriented toward producing people of knowledge, yet pays little regard to cultivating people of good character. When such knowledge falls into the hands of the unscrupulous, it inevitably brings ruin and devastation upon society and the environment — for those of corrupt character habitually allow their minds to remain clouded, and are therefore unable to distinguish right from wrong or good from evil. When they apply their knowledge, they are capable of conceiving only of personal gain and the benefit of their own associates.

It is for this reason that the various troubles and conflicts of the world continue to escalate in severity, and may reach a point of destruction so sweeping as to be entirely beyond anyone’s expectation.

2. The Academic Curriculum Remains Incomplete in Its Methods of Imparting Knowledge on the Alleviation of Suffering in Daily Life

Contemporary education is directed primarily toward equipping individuals with the means of earning a livelihood. However, it is deficient in addressing the goal of education as it pertains to the cessation of the four forms of suffering inherent in daily life, namely:

1. Suffering arising from physical health afflictions
2. Suffering arising from the difficulties of living in community with others
3. Suffering arising from the challenges of sustaining one’s livelihood
4. Suffering arising from the defilements of the mind

As a consequence, those who have completed their formal education find themselves ill-equipped to meet suffering in its fullness. When difficulties beset them from every direction, they are without the means to address suffering with wisdom and composure. They thus resort to expedient and heedless ways of self-preservation — acting in whatever manner is most convenient, without regard for the harm that may follow in its wake.

It may rightly be said that this deficiency in the setting of educational goals is yet another contributing cause of the disorder and turbulence that afflicts the world in the present age.

3. The Academic Curriculum Lacks the Essential Foundational Knowledge for the Prevention and Resolution of Suffering

The knowledge that currently abounds and overflows throughout the world is, in truth, incapable of genuinely preventing or alleviating suffering. The knowledge that is truly capable of doing so is the knowledge of moderation. For a person to possess moderation as an ingrained disposition, they must be educated and trained to discern accurately and in accordance with reality: which material things constitute genuine necessities of life (Need) — that which one cannot do without; which things are merely wants (Want) — that which, if lacking, one can nonetheless endure; and which things are wasteful extravagances (Extravagant) — that which one must resolutely relinquish, for beyond causing needless expenditure, such things consume the time that ought to be devoted to living virtuously.

If a person is still unable to distinguish these fundamental aspects of daily living, it will be all the more difficult for them to discern correctly and in accordance with reality the various matters pertaining to everyday conduct — namely: what is right and what is wrong; what is good and what is evil; what is meritorious and what is sinful; what is beneficial and what is harmful; and what is appropriate and what is not. This inability will bear a direct and lasting impact upon the quality of one’s life, and will, through unwitting ignorance, continue to be a root cause of ever-growing turmoil in the world.

The endless proliferation of turmoil throughout the world stems from these three causes as described. Should they be left unaddressed and not remedied by proper means without delay, the problems will spread and intensify — erupting into a conflagration that engulfs the entire world. This would bear out the ancient adage used as a cautionary reminder: “Knowledge overflows the head, yet the self cannot be saved” — or, rendered in terms more fitting to the present age: knowledge overflows the world, yet humanity cannot save itself.

“What is worthy of contemplation is this: despite the fact that the world of this age has become an age in which knowledge overflows, why has the world never known even a single day of peace?”

In the context of a sage or a wise person (Pandit), “keeping oneself safe” or “survival” means delivering oneself from harm and all forms of evil. It does not mean fleeing for one’s own safety while abandoning others to suffer—an act characteristic of a narrow-minded person.

Source: Jataka Tales, Volume 2 (Phadet Dattajeevo)

To develop a person in worldly knowledge alone, while neglecting knowledge of the Dhamma, is to leave their mind vulnerable to being compelled into gravely harmful behavior.

It is therefore essential that the development of a person encompasses both the cultivation of worldly knowledge and the simultaneous development of the mind in sound morality and virtue — so that they may be fully prepared to contribute to the advancement of society.

From the book Singālakovāda Sutta (Phadet Dhattajeevo), page 70