석가모니의 출가 이유를 말하는 사람은 누구나 자신이 알고 있는 대로의 불교―석가모니의 깨달음과 가르침―의 의미를 말하고 있다. 석가모니가 중생의 제도를 위하여 출가했다고 말하는 사람은 불교를 이타적 효용의 관점에서 이해한다. 여기에 대하여 자리적 향상의 관점에서 불교를 이해할 때, 석가모니는 ‘교육학을 공부하기 위하여’ 출가했다는 얼른 납득하기 어려운 대답이 불가피하다. 그의 깨달음과 가르침의 내용으로 미루어 석가모니가 6년 동안 대답을 찾으려고 한 질문은 ‘내가 살고 있는 이 세상은 어떤 세상이며 그 속에서 살고 있는 나는 어떤 존재인가’라는 것으로 규정될 수 있다. 이것은 본질상 교육이론이 대답하고자 하는 질문과 다르지 않다. 불교와 교육―그 점에서는 종교일반과 교육―은 세속적 삶을 살면서 그 속에서 종교적 삶을 구현해야 한다는 공통의 과제를 안고 있다.
In answering the question appearing in the title, one cannot but disclose his understanding of Buddhism―the meaning of Shakaymuni s teaching after his enlightenment. There can be two answers, corresponding to two ways of understanding Buddhism. The one that is most commonly given is that his renunciation was motivated by a compassionate desire to rescue all the sentient beings, and this answer comes from those who understand Buddhism, not without reason, in terms of the external utility, what it can do to others . In contrast with this view, Buddhism can also be understood in terms of the internal enlightenment, what it did to Shakaymuni himself and, by the same token, what it must do to each and every one of Buddhists who profess themselves to be his followers. In this line of understanding, Shakaymuni had to renounce the palace because he had an intellectual agony that could be quenched only when he found the answers to a question, a question which was not even clearly formulated. It is left for us to formulate the question in the light of what Shakaymuni taught after his enlightenment. One way of putting the question would be : What is the world like that we all live in, and what am I like who live in that world? This is exactly the question that the theory of education, in order to be properly so called, must raise and try to answer. Seen in this light, Shakaymuni s renunciation was motivated not so much by a compassionate desire as by an urge to study education . Education shares with Buddhism the task of helping each and every one of the sentient beings to realize the best of himself in living in this world. And today s students of education have all to their advantage to study Buddhism as a part of their professional career.