The Humanistic Vision of the Ten Pāramīs (Perfections) and Their Educational Implications for Sustainable Development

Abstract This article aims to construct a paradigm of Dhammic Humanism grounded in the ten pāramīs (perfections) as a philosophical and pedagogical strategy for integrating them into Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and global citizenship. The author identifies and responds to the psychological, fragmented, competitive, individualistic, morally unmoored, and ecologically collapsed state of crisis, arguing that sustainable transformation requires an extreme shift from mere knowledge transmission to the formation of character and consciousness. Utilizing the teachings of Buddhism throughout the ages, South East Asian Buddhist Ethics, and Global Humanistic Theory, the author describes the pāramīs as sustainable virtues that develop ethically resilient and socio-emotionally responsible relational intelligence. This contribution positions the pāramī model in a positive interaction with the eudaimonist approaches of Damien Keown and Martha Nussbaum, and with UNESCO's transformative agenda for SDG 4.7. The author suggests that incorporating wisdom (paññā), compassion (karuṇā), and interdependence (paṭiccasamuppāda) into the construction of whole-person competencies to be fully functioning persons, ethical agents, and planetary stewards, pāramīs implement transformative ESD. The article discusses how contemplative pedagogy, community-engaged learning, value-oriented curriculum reform, and peace-building education can be applied institutionally across school, university, monastic education, and public policy settings. It suggests that the pāramī path offers both pragmatically and philosophically a way to reframe and revitalise education as a transformative process of an individual’s self-centeredness to the compassionate global citizenship. The study believes that a sustainable civilization must be constructed with both structural and inner transformations. It posits that humanity’s reliance on technological advancements for its future will be eclipsed by the development of virtue, universal (as opposed to national) responsibility, a civilizational outlook of compassion, and interdependence.