為什麼僧伽應投身教育
從恒心精持戒律而來的德行，使得他成為孩子們理想的老師和道德的典範。
The virtuous conduct that accumulates from constant vigor in cultivating the Sila, the monastic code of disciplinary rules, makes the monk or nun an ideal teacher and moral role-model for children.
教育學上的研究結果疾聲告訴我們，教師本身，他的人品及價值觀就是一個在教授的無形課程。換言之，孩子從老師的行為品格上與他們從課本上所學到的一樣多，甚至還更多。僧人作教師的獨到與行之有效之處在於他的人品。從恆心精持戒律──佛門清規──而來的德行，使得他成為孩子們理想的老師和道德的典範。
戒律始立於佛陀，為南傳北傳之比丘比丘尼皆尊之必不可少的行為準則。比如，北傳僧人在預備受具足戒時，頂受諸戒：沙彌（尼）十戒、比丘二百五十戒、十重四十八輕菩薩戒。概言之，這些戒律都強調自律與品德培養。戒律者，旨在灌輸善的觀念；旨在為菩提道上邁進之僧人提供言行舉止的規範。一個人對智慧研求越深，他的戒行也就必須越精嚴。佛陀所立之最上品戒律為菩薩戒，其中染淨之楚河漢界，盡在人微妙心念中的動機所在。
如此一來，依傳統受戒者，其所受之戒行訓練應足以使他在課堂上為人道德之師表。由於全身心全意依照智慧慈悲俱足之戒律修行，比丘比丘尼的德行就能感化學生向善，培養良好品行。耶魯大學校長諾亞‧波特說：課室中，道德教育最有影響之處，在於教師本身的人品。（註四）”
學生從模仿中學習。道德差的老師宣說道德，學生很快會察知其虛偽。因此老師所教的，不是遭譏諷，就是遭冷淡。更糟的是，他們會模仿虛偽的道德行為。所以，為了使學生立德，為人師者，先當立德。出家眾特別適合當老師，就是因為他們修行首先要精通戒條，外具威儀，內淨戒行。大乘佛教中，新戒子需依戒師的教導培訓。如中國南山律宗之道宣律師，力勸新修行者頭五年專修戒律；五年之後，再去誦經與修禪。
覺音在他的名著《清淨道論》中，將修戒德列為一切心地行持展開的第一步，也是最崇高的一步。歷史上，於日常生活之中，戒行精嚴的出家人，就能成就身為教育者的目標：塑造有識有德之士。有人曾以教育之價值問題來問難柏拉圖，柏拉圖是這樣回答的：
如果你問教育有什益處，答案很簡單：
教育造好人；好人做好事。
注四：摘自「哈佛雜誌」第一九九八年五/六月期四十一頁，徳瑞·巴克著《道德·大學·社會》。
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Why Sangha Members Should Teach
Educational research strongly indicates that the teacher himself, his character and values, makes up the ‘hidden curriculum’ in the classroom. In other words, children learn as much or more from the personality and behaviour of the teacher as they learn from books and lessons. The unique value and effectiveness of a monk as a teacher lies in his personal virtue. The virtuous conduct that accumulates from constant vigor in cultivating the Sila, or Vinaya, the monastic code of disciplinary rules, makes the monk or nun an ideal teacher and moral role-model for children.
First taught by the Buddha, the precepts of the Vinaya have been the sine qua non of monks and nuns in both Theravada and Mahayana traditions since that time. For example, Mahayana monks, as they prepare for full ordination, receive sets of moral rules: the Ten Precepts for novices, the two-hundred and fifty Bhiksu Precepts, and the Ten Primary and Forty-eight Subsequent Bodhisattva Precepts. In general, the rules stress self-discipline and character development. They are meant to intill wholesome viewpoints and provide ethical guidelines for a Sangha member’s behaviour in dealing with himself and with the world, along the Path towards Bodhi, or spiritual enlightenment. The further one goes in search of Wisdom, the more intense grows the demand for strict morality. The most sublime of the Buddha's prescriptions for virtue are the Bodhisattva Precepts, in which purity or defilement is determined by the subtlety of intention alone: i.e. the thoughts in one’s mind.
Thus, a traditionally ordained Bhiksu or Bhiksuni (monk or nun), should qualify by the moral strength of this training in Precepts, to provide a sound model of ethical behaviour in the classroom. By his full-time cultivation of a wise and compassionate code of rules, the monk or nun’s personal example of virtuous conduct can influence students towards wholesome ethical standards, and help shape the character of young people towards the good. Said Yale University President Noah Porter:4 “The most efficient of all moral influences in classroom are those that proceed from the personal character of its intructors.” Children learn by imitation. If an immoral teacher preaches virtue, the students will soon spot the hypocrisy. They may ridicule or ignore the lessons. Worse, they may learn and imitate the false virtue. Thus, those who teach, must actually practice virtuous conduct, for the teachings on morality to go home. Monks and nuns are especially fit to teach, precisely because their first job is to master the Sila-rules, to display awesome deportment externally, and to observe stern Vinaya conduct within. In the Mahayana tradition, novices in their early years of training meet the injunctions of Vinaya Masters such as Venerable Tao Hsuan of the South-Mountain School in China, who urged young cultivators to spend the first five years of Sangha-life studying the precepts, and only then go on to practice meditation and study scriptures.
教育造好人；好人做好事
Education makes good men, and good men act nobly.
Buddhaghosa, in the famous Visuddhimagga (“Path of Purification”) lists virtue [sila] as the first, and most noble step to all spiritual growth. A monk or nun whose daily conduct embodies the Buddha's high standards of ethical practice, can realize the goal of educators throughout history: informed and wholesome individuals. Plato answered a challenge to the value of education in this way:
“If you ask what is the good of education, the answer is easy: that education makes good men, and that good men act nobly.”
Note:
4. Derek Bok, “Ethics, the University, and Society”, Harvard Magazine, May-June 1988, p.41
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