KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ – LEARNING for LIFE by Paul Wedel
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KING BHUMIBOL ADULYADEJ – LEARNING FOR LIFE By Paul Wedel Reviving a legacy of learning In education, perhaps more than any other aspect of his work, King Bhumibol’s thoughts and actions have been based on his early personal experience and his family history. His strong- willed mother was particularly important, but the royal legacy of interest in learning began far earlier. The king’s great grandfather, King Mongkut, Rama IV, engaged in learned discussions with foreigners that “ranged from theology to science and mathematics, from political science to foreign languages.”1 King Mongkut established the first palace schools and brought in Western teachers to teach his sons and daughters. His eldest son, King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, set up the first public schools and sent students abroad for education. His son, King Vajiravudh, Rama VI, carried on his father’s efforts to encourage education by proclaiming the Compulsory Primary Education Act requiring all Thai children to attend at least four years of school. His brother and successor, King Prachadipok, Rama VII, continued efforts to improve education with the first National Education Scheme that guaranteed access to education regardless of ability, gender or social background. King Prachadipok also introduced the royal tradition of presiding at university graduation ceremonies. His abdication in 1935, and the long absence of King Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, in Europe put a halt to royal education initiatives for more than a decade. World War II caused further disruption to education in Thailand. “Our educational system was in disarray as never before,” former education minister ML Pin Malakul wrote.2 “Schooling was interrupted as people fled the war to seek refuge somewhere else. A large number of school buildings were devastated by the bombs of the occupying army. Destroyed with them was much of the country’s educational equipment and teaching materials. Worse yet, teachers were forced to find other jobs in order to survive.” At war’s end in 1945, it was difficult to repair the infrastructure and bring teachers back into the system. Academic standards had plunged, and many students were unable to complete the four years of mandatory schooling. The weaknesses in the system were still readily apparent in 1950 when King Bhumibol finally returned home from his own liberal, European-style education in Switzerland. Among the first public duties of the young king was presenting diplomas at military academy and university graduations, emulating his uncle, King Prachadipok, and his brother King Ananda 3 Mahidol, who presided over diploma ceremonies at Chulalongkorn University in 1946. The degree ceremonies were formal and protracted, with the king sitting in a stiff, upright position for hours on end to personally handing diplomas to thousands of university graduates. According to Pol. Gen. Vasit Dejkunjorn, who worked in royal security for 12 years, the king drew on meditation methods to maintain the same position for so many hours. “He is aware of 1 bodily aches and discomfort, but lets those feelings go, as if detached from them,” Vasit wrote in his memoirs. By the 1990s, the task of presenting diplomas was far beyond the capacity of any one person. There were nine national research universities, 22 public universities, 41 provincial level universities, nine technological universities and more than 50 private colleges and universities with tens of thousands of graduates each year. For the larger universities, graduation ceremonies often extended to two or three days. King Bhumibol resisted changing his schedule for many years, apparently worried he might disappoint graduates, for whom a photograph of that moment of contact with the monarch is an honored symbol of achievement. With advancing age and the overwhelming numbers, he delegated responsibilities first to other members of the royal family, and high-ranking royal representatives. Teaching values Although arduous, these ceremonies gave students the opportunity to hear the king’s views on education—often quite different those commonly held in Thailand. King Bhumibol downplayed the importance of paper degrees and exam results. He knew that for most students, their parents and teachers, the main purpose of an education was to obtain a credential leading to an economically secure position. “What advantages are there to getting diplomas or awards?” the king once asked students at the Chitralada Palace School. “Instead, as young people, you must realize that this is your time to gain knowledge, not a time to get grades for their own sake. It is your time to prepare yourselves for the future, to benefit your society, not just to impress your parents.”4 Graduates, he often said, should base their learning on experience, think for themselves and put their learning to the service of national development. This was necessary, the king said, to become the “good quality citizens” needed to help the country “be 5 rapidly and effectively developed” The king emphasized the importance of creativity, logical thinking and problem analysis. “You should not think that you are studying in order to pass an entrance exam, because our existence doesn’t depend on whether you marked down the right multiple choice answer on your exam,” the king told students at Srinakharinwirot University. “Our existence depends on working and 6 analysing various problems.” King Bhumibol discouraged the idea education was simply the accumulation of facts. Education, he said, was learning to think, and much better thinking was needed for national development. Real learning needed to go beyond memorizing facts from books. “Life experiences are a well from which to draw knowledge and wisdom,”7 he said. “You should not get stuck with text book or theoretical knowledge too much…Or else you will get confused and be unable to work when 8 you find out that practice is not in line with theory.” 2 The king saw education in a broad context that included knowledge, thinking, ethical behavior, perseverance, and the ability to apply knowledge to practice.9 “In order to develop the nation, one should have not only knowledge but other necessary qualifications,” he advised in 1979. “These include being ashamed to commit a sin, honest in thought and action, grateful to the country and 10 benefactors, unselfish, unwilling to exploit others, but being good hearted and kind to others.” Although the king recognized a role for theoretical knowledge, he felt its value was limited without practical application. “Only those theorists who practice are successful as they have proved that they really know what they are doing,”11 the king said in 1974. He explained that facts without an understanding of theory left the student without the foundation for further learning, but theorists who cannot put their theories into practice are in danger of becoming “irrelevant, 12 unproductive, and unwanted.” Although King Bhumibol delivered hundreds of speeches on education over a period of more than 40 years, his main themes were consistent: Scientific knowledge from books must always be tested by application. The ability to analyze what has been learned and relate it to what happens in reality is more important than memorizing facts. To be useful, education must include ethics and mindfulness. These give the learner the self-control needed for ethical behavior so knowledge can be used in ways that genuinely benefit both the person and society. In addition to academic training, students should learn the diligence and perseverance needed to overcome obstacles The objective of education is to find ways to solve problems, whether in the individual lives of the students or in the development of the nation King Bhumibol’s words carried added weight because he clearly took his own advice. He based his efforts to solve development problems on learning, analysis and practical application. For students, the king’s own lifelong learning and dedication gave him credibility. High ethical standards, especially in comparison to Thai other leaders, meant that idealistic students keenly attuned to adult hypocrisy could not easily dismiss his exhortations to work for the public good. Buddhist thought A key element of the king’s thinking on education and his approach to life was his understanding of Buddhism. “Education can be divided into two kinds,” he once remarked. “One is academic education, which will be useful to the country after [you] graduate. The other is the knowledge of dharma [Buddhist ethics]. [That] is how to think and behave in order to benefit oneself. One who 3 has both academic and dharma education will have wisdom. But those who have only knowledge 13 but lack dharma cannot be called intellectuals.” Although King Bhumibol spent only 15 days as a monk at Wat Bovornivet Vihara, the royal temple where his great grandfather, King Mongkut, had once been abbot, the experience had a lasting effect. The king continued to meet with Phra Yanasangworn, the abbot who had guided him, for dharma studies. The venerable monk extended King Bhumibol’s religious education from knowledge to practice by introducing him to vipassana, a form of meditation. Vipassana aims to help the practitioner gain a clearer understanding of reality and achieve liberation from attachment and thus from suffering. The practice requires disciplined focus on physical sensations, such as breathing, walking, or the speaking of a particular phrase, to explore the connection between mind and body. By carefully observing that connection, the practitioner is supposed to gain deeper awareness of physical and mental processes, greater self-control, insight into the nature of reality and a feeling of peace. King Bhumibol’s meditation and dharma studies have continued throughout his reign and the king listens regularly to taped sermons from the library at Wat Bovornivet. His interest in meditation has been the theme of many consultations with senior monks known for meditation practice. Showing his practical interests, King Bhumibol once asked the Venerable Kasem Khemako: “Can the time be shortened from one hour or half an hour to ten minutes or five minutes, with the same results achieved?” he asked.