Our Buddhist Approach 

Selected extracts from teachings by Phra Dharma Bajranyanamuni (Phra Ajahn Jayasaro).

It seems that these days more and more employers are not looking so much for people with proficiency in a particular area as much as smart, intellectually flexible people who know how to learn new things and can adapt to the changes in new technologies and changes in society. This is because many of the things people learn in schools are out of date by the time they start working, and because in a knowledge-based economy, freshness of vision, creativity and innovation are given the highest value.

In order to flourish in the world, it’s not then a matter of merely accumulating a body of knowledge, so much as cultivating a strong but supple mind and the ability to develop life skills such as skillful communication, the ability to work in a team, patience, resilience (the ability to bounce back after disappointments), the ability to manage one’s moods, and to protect the mind from pride, arrogance, greed, hatred, depression, anxiety, and panic. These abilities are being increasingly recognized as being more useful and necessary in the long run to a successful working life rather than having a particular degree under your belt. It’s becoming clear to what extent a lack of emotional maturity and self-knowledge amongst people in positions of authority undermines the advantages that they should derive from a cultivated intellect.

This is why Buddhist education is not at all idealistic. It is not meant to produce unworldly people, virtuous but unable to cope in the so-called “real world''. It is rather based on the conviction that the Buddhist developmental process which can in its fullness take someone all the way to enlightenment, on a scaled-down level provides the best possible kind of education for ordinary people.

At Panyaden, we follow the Buddhist view that education must develop both the cognitive skills and focus on inner values connected to the workings of the mind and emotions. At Panyaden, a ‘holistic’ education in the Buddhist sense refers to the Bhavana Sii, or four areas of development: physical, moral, intellectual and emotional. Two of these relate to one’s interaction with the external world and the other two with one’s internal qualities. By supporting children, as well as members of the Panyaden community, to reach their potential in both these spheres, and across all four areas, we believe that we are providing them with the best possible education. 

Our vision is that all community members — students, staff and families — are working towards the Panyaden Profile which uses the Bhavana Sii as its guiding principles. The Panyaden Pathway, our reflection guide for students,  provides the journey towards the Profile across all four areas, whilst the 12 Wise Habits form the daily tools used to guide everyone’s progress. You will see your child’s development in these areas documented within the Panyaden Pathway reflections, found in their digital portfolio.

When these four types of development outlined in the Bhavana Sii are carried to the highest level, the result is enlightenment - the attainment of ultimate peace, wisdom, and compassion. Panyaden International School strives to create an atmosphere, a learning environment, and a curriculum which are in harmony with the Buddhist path to enlightenment and adapted appropriately to the needs and capacity of school children. To guide community members along the way, the Panyaden Profile was created to remind us of the milestones pertaining to each area of development. 

Content: Kaya Bhavana entails learning about the physical world in which we live, and developing a wise and balanced relationship towards it, starting from one’s own body.  Kaya Bhavana develops the competencies for:

• • A healthy relationship with the body, including and understanding basic physical needs (food, shelter, clothing, and rest )   

  • Responsible use of possessions including  money, tools, and technology

  • Responsibility towards the natural environment

A Panyaden student understands that:

• • Consuming things that keep the body fit and healthy also keeps the mind calm and clear. 

  • Showing care and respect for the environment enhances the quality of our lives. 

  • Needs and wants are different and understanding them helps us bring balance to our lives.

Content: Sila Bhavana entails developing a wise and balanced relationship to the social world. It includes teaching the foundations of Buddhist morality as a scheme for living together wisely with trust, integrity and social responsibility. Sila Bhavana develops the competencies for:

• • Not harming others

  • Right speech 

  • Acting with integrity

  • Responsibility for one’s own learning and development

  • Responsibility towards family members, place of work, and society

A Panyaden student understands that:

• • Choosing the right words at the right time and right place leads to healthy relationships. 

  • Being open to other people’s views helps us grow. 

  • Good teamwork yields results richer than the sum of the parts. 

Content: Citta Bhavana entails developing the mind, including developing skillful ways for dealing with negative emotions while cultivating and maintaining positive ones. Citta Bhavana develops competencies for:

• • Emotional balance and regulation

  • Love of learning 

  • Patience, effort and resilience

  • Concentration and mindfulness

  • Kindness and compassion 

A Panyaden student understands that:

• • Being kind and compassionate generates positive effects for oneself and others. 

  • Love of learning is created through effort and perseverance. 

  • We are the only ones who can control our emotions and reactions.

Content: Panya Bhavana entails developing wisdom by training the mind to think with reason and without bias, to think creatively, constructively and to be able to reflect on experience and learn from it. Through Panya Bhavana, students develop competencies for: 

• • Right understanding (of right and wrong, of what has value and what does not)

  • Right intention (making decisions based on good intentions: logical, beneficial, practical)

  • Development of wisdom at three levels: (reading and listening; creative thinking; learning from experience)

A Panyaden student understands that:

• • Life is more meaningful when we skilfully reflect on what we experience and carefully filter information.    

  • A wise decision is one that is logical, practical and beneficial to both oneself and others.  

  • Our intentions, words and actions create our own future. 

The 12 Wise Habits serve as a key tool to develop a Buddhist way of life. Developed by Phra Ajahn Jayasaro based on Buddhist principles, the 12 Wise Habits guide our community members towards achieving the Panyaden Profile. Opportunities to practise, develop, and reflect upon these are integrated into the daily life of the school for both students and staff. To help us all work in harmony towards achieving our mission, parents are encouraged to embrace these habits and implement them at home. Attending our assemblies and reading the school newsletters can help families in their partnership towards this goal.

Not harming: Avihimsa is not harming any form of life, from ourselves, to other human beings, to animals and plants.  Avihimsa helps us see the distinction between pain, which is created objectively, and suffering, which we add to it through clinging or aversion.

Knowing the right amount: Mattanuta is knowing the right, leading to a healthy balance in life. It is the quality of understanding that, whatever goals we set ourselves, there is an optimum amount of material and non-material things that we need. It is the ability to assess what is enough, and to know when we are being over-demanding on ourselves, others or our environment.

Intrinsic motivation: Chanda is having an intrinsic motivation or being enthusiastic without concern for the result, and instead focussing on the quality of the action in the moment.

Persevering: Viriya can be defined as an attitude of gladly engaging in wholesome activities and staying with them in order to accomplish the desired results. It is the mind intent on being unshaken and not giving up. 

Being patient and tolerant: Khanti is ‘patient endurance’ or forbearance. As with otherwise habits, it starts with patience with ourselves and extends to everything around us.  It is the ability to tolerate provocation, hardship, pain and all obstacles in your life, and the voluntary control of mood and temper by the training of the mind.

Being mindful and alert: Sati is most commonly translated as presence of mind, awareness or mindfulness. To have sati is to be fully present, not lost in daydreams, anticipation or worry. It is being alert and attentive to everything as it is, and limiting the impact of unconscious biases.

Being calm and focussed: Samadhi is usually translated as ‘concentration’ or composing of the mind. It is the mind that does not waver, does not scatter itself and is focused on the task at hand despite being disturbed, persuaded or provoked. When we achieve samadhi we attain the calm and collectedness needed to make wise choices and decisions.

Being truthful: Sacca is a Pali word meaning ‘real’ or ‘true’. It means to uphold integrity by speaking and acting according to the truth and to keep one’s word. The opposite of sacca is false speech or action.

Using the senses wisely: Practising indriya-samvara is to develop the ability to exert some level of restraint over senses to make sure that following them still leads to harmony within ourselves and with the world around us. 

Being kind and compassionate: Metta, often translated as loving-kindness, is perhaps better defined as goodwill or benevolence. It is a strong, sincere wish for the happiness of all beings without discrimination. Karuna is compassion, the empathetic understanding of the suffering of others and the genuine wish to relieve them of that suffering.

Being generous: Caga is delighting in giving without expectation of something in return,  whether time, energy, forgiveness, or willingness. 

Applying the mind skilfully: Yonisho-manasikara means to apply the mind skillfully, or wise reflection. It is thinking in terms of causal relations, such as the consequences of thoughts and actions, or by way of problem-solving, in order to help us to see things as they really are, leading to wiser decisions. Ultimately, it is the conscious use of thought to bring the mind to peace.