Trauma as the turning point in opening up self-education: Embracing sorrow and this world through no-self realisation

Abstract

Life is ever-changing and unpredictable. Because of drastic changes in our society, numerous people are under pressure from various sources at school, in the workplace, or in their families. People need a therapeutic pedagogy to develop the capacity to heal from their traumas. Conventionally, education is assumed to enhance learners’ self-realisation. This article proposes another viewpoint of self-realisation, or rather its reverse, from the spiritual aspect as a manner of self-realisation without the self, called no-self realisation. The idea is developed from both the Buddhist and Daoist perspectives on the wisdom of the no-self. This article suggests that no-self realisation is a therapeutic approach that supports one to turn direction from seeking for extrinsic value to exploring inner wisdom while meeting with misfortune. It can be applied as a manner of self-education for equipping positive attitude to cope with human trauma. No-self realisation can be attained by achieving freedom from releasing self-consciousness. It deconstructs the narrow idea of the ego-self. When the ego is out of mind, the capacity of the human self is able to broaden its scope. This creates a realisation—a no-self realisation—for completing a mature life with a no-self mind that opens up the capacity for unlimited tolerance. One is thus able to embrace this world and the harm caused in the world.