Education for Awakening
An Eastern Approach to Holistic Education
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- Description
- Contents
- Reviews
- About
Eastern thought has significant potential for holistic education, providing rich ideas and various practices. However, integrating holistic education with Eastern thought has not been seriously considered in education. This work attempts to build an Eastern view of holistic education.
Education for Awakening draws on diverse sources from Japanese philosophy (Zen Master Dōgen, D. T. Suzuki, Nishida Kitarō, and Izutsu Toshihiko), Hinduism (the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavad Gita, and Advaita Vedānta), Buddhism (the Buddha’s teachings, Mahāyāna philosophies, and especially Zen), and Taoism (Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu). It also discusses critical ideas from Confucianism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Sufism. Furthermore, it addresses Eastern sages such as Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Ramana Maharshi, and Jiddu Krishnamurti. This work also tries to combine Western theories with the Eastern perspective.
The Eastern view of holistic education has theoretical and practical aspects. Part I (Chapters 1-6) examines theoretical issues such as Eastern ways of thinking, five dimensions of reality, communication and communion, ecological and Buddhist views on relational reality, Hindu philosophy of liberation and the path of self-inquiry, and Taoist and Buddhist views on nature, language, silence, unlearning, and development. Part II (Chapters 7-10) explores four essential ways relevant to holistic education—awareness (mindfulness), action, compassion, and art. Education for Awakening brings insights into the nature of the self, states of consciousness, enlightenment, nondualism, and the wholeness of being.
Part I:
- Chapter 1. Eastern Ways of Thinking: Four Japanese Philosophers
- Chapter 2. Multidimensional Theory for Holistic Education: An Overview
- Chapter 3. Communication and Communion: A Philosophy of Education
- Chapter 4. Relational Reality: Ecology and the Buddhist Perspective
- Chapter 5. Eastern Pedagogy I: Education for Liberation and Self-Inquiry in Hinduism
- Chapter 6. Eastern Pedagogy II: Nature, Silence, Unlearning, and Development
- Part II:
- Chapter 7. The Way of Awareness
- Chapter 8. The Way of Action
- Chapter 9. The Way of Compassion
- Chapter 10. The Way of Art
Education for Awakening was the first book-length discussion of Eastern approaches to holistic education and this revised edition presents an even more integrative landscape. Combining the wisdom of the East and contemporary embodied pedagogies, Nakagawa shows what a truly integral educational vision looks like—a vision that will inspire both teachers and students to unpack the spiritual depths of learning and re-engage education with greater meaning, compassion, and wonder
In this stimulating and illuminating book, Dr. Nakagawa draws upon his deep understanding of Western, Asian and indigenous paths to full human development to demonstrate that they are complementary elements in a comprehensive holistic philosophy. This is a work of ambitious and impressive scholarship, describing a holism that is truly whole.
Education for Awakening is remarkably “nutrient dense”; like a perfect food, it provides rich, comprehensive, accessible nourishment. With a vast reach of Eastern and Western thought, it grounds Holistic education in a multidimensional reality that engenders an expansive view of both education and of the human being. It brings clarity to worldview and contemplative direction for world presence–helping to open self to world. This is a rare and outstanding resource that understands the potential for education to transform consciousness and culture.
Yoshiharu Nakagawa is a professor of education at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.