불교 ‘분별지’의 교육적 의의

The Educational Significance of Vijñā for attaining Prajñā

The paper has tried to demonstrate the educational significance of Vijñā for attaining Prajñā in the Buddhist context of arguments where the former is obviously contrasted with the latter. While the idea of Vijñā is seen as the differentiating apparatus of wisdom, that of Prajñā is as the integrative apparatus of wisdom beyond any kind of differentiation. Thus the Buddhist teaching has shown us that Prajñā is the goal that we ought to attain through ascetic practices, whereas Vijñā is the kind of obstacles to remove. But this teaching is to have a different story in the educational situations where we have ordinarily experienced so that this Buddhist maxim can virtually introduce us to the nihilist position and moral anarchy and whatsoever. By analysing the idea of Vijñā has its own roles for Prajñā, the three kinds of Vijñā has been drawn: the source of worldly desires and wild fancy harassed, the necessary means for Prajñā, and the self-similarity of Prajñā. The arguments taken so far, however, shows us that kinds of differentiating operation of mind are to be required for attaining Prajñā. Although the physiological eye should be given up for removing any kinds of obstacles to the real wisdom, the epistemological eye for the outward differentiation of mind should be required for attaining the inward eye of mind for the inward integration of mind seen as Prajñā. The fact that the differentiating operation of mind should be required as an necessary means for attaining Prajñā as the real wisdom, examined in the paper, is supported and also justified by the teachings in the Buddhist Sutras such as the Prajñā Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the Sixth Great Mentor's Precepts. The points demonstrated in the paper have also been justified in the education situations as such: the developmental, the epistemological, the practicable, and the moral aspects. In a word, two Buddhist conceptions of wisdom have the peculiar characteristics of self-similarity, where we never fail to ignore the significance of Vijñā for attaining Prajñā in the educational practices. This can be, as well-known metaphor in the Diamond Sutra, understood as the allegory of raft that should be eventually lay down for Nirvana, and still works in all sorts of educational situations as well.