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The Buddhist Maritime Silk Road (1)
Professor Lewis R. Lancaster is the founder and Director of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI). With over 20 years spent on the “Atlas of Maritime Buddhism” research, Dr. Lancaster has recently entrusted his writings The Buddhist Maritime Silk Road to the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism for translation and publication. The book comprises five chapters, to be published chronologically in this journal.
Reflections on Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Temple-Building Endeavor between 1988 and 2000
The Buddhist Maritime Silk Road (2): Origin and Spread of Buddhism
The Buddhist tradition can be traced back to its founder Sakyamuni, a wandering ascetic, who traversed the Ganges River basin, teaching and attracting a group of followers. It was a significant time for the history of social and economic developments in the basin, which was covered with what can be called a “rainforest.” One part of the area, at the delta, was made up of the largest mangrove forest in the world. Along the embankments of the Ganges and its tributaries, some settlements have been characterized as the “Second Urbanization” of the subcontinent. Archaeological remains show that the “First Urbanization” of the Indian region had occurred along the Indus River as far back as the third millennium BCE. The “Second Urbanization” was in full bloom by the 6th century BCE, composed of cities and towns spread throughout the Ganges basin. The economy was based on active trade between the population centers.
A Letter to Dharma Protectors and Friends in 2019
“In every home a new day dawns; old peach wood charms are replaced anew.” 2019 is the Year of the Pig. Of the twelve zodiac signs, the pig symbolizes a way to round up the year and start a new beginning of life. For this year’s One-Stroke Calligraphy spring couplet, Venerable Master writes “Always Well-rounded and Auspicious,” wishing everyone perfect ease in body and mind. Under the care of his Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital medical team, Venerable Master has recovered well from his craniotomy two years ago. At 92 years old, Venerable Master says, “I am not in pain, nor am I sick. I am only slightly inconvenienced.” Concerned about Cross-Strait peace and the development of Humanistic Buddhism, Venerable Master says, “I need to work harder.” As it is rare to encounter the Buddha’s teachings and have such a great Dharma teacher, both monastic and lay disciples should strive vigorously to follow in Venerable Master’s footsteps of propagating Humanistic Buddhism.
Greed, Desire, and the Universal Need for Master Hsing Yun's Humanistic Buddhism: A View from the United States
Greed. We all know greed is a problem. U.S. citizen Bernie Madoff’s successful investment fund attracted wealthy investors. Every year his returns on investment were much larger than those of other funds. In the end it turned out that he was not investing his customers’ money at all. Instead, he was running a Ponzi or “pyramid” scheme, paying off the investors who withdrew their money with the money he was taking in from new investors. While the Ponzi scheme was going strong, he was the toast of New York City and highly admired by others in the finance world. When thousands of his customers lost large sums of money, he became the poster boy of greed. Yet of course his customers were greedy too.
Humanistic Buddhism: A History of the Future A Report on the “Holding True to the Original Intents of Buddha” Panel
The annual Fo Guang Shan Monastic Seminar, held at Fo Guang Shan Headquarters in Taiwan, serves the purpose of reinforcing its 1,200 members’ grasp of the Order’s philosophy and spirit of Humanistic Buddhism, strengthening intercontinental networking, as well as participation in strategic planning of the Order’s global developments.
A Study of Gender Equality in Humanistic Buddhism
Since Humanistic Buddhism was first proposed by Master Taixu, the issue of gender equality has gradually kindled widespread discussion in the field of Buddhism. During the Republican Era, Master Taixu and the female Buddhists of the Pure Bodhi Vihara have actively expressed their views on gender equality. Eventually, they reached a consensus of respecting a woman’s character, protecting her rights, and advocating equal status between men and women. After 1949, under the impetus of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, Venerable Yin Shun, Venerable Sheng Yen, Venerable Chaohwei, thoughts on gender equality in Taiwan have made great strides. After 1980, the rejuvenation of Humanistic Buddhism in Mainland China in turn developed thoughts on gender equality. As a result, the overall status of female Buddhists in Mainland China has remarkably improved.
Sacred Secularities: Ritual and Social Engagement in a Global Buddhist China
Surrounded by greenery and build on a quiet hillside in an unincorporated suburban community of Los Angeles County lies a brightly colored Chinese Buddhist temple. This Temple, Hsi Lai Temple xilai si 西來寺 or ‘Coming West Temple’ in English, is one of the biggest Chinese temples in the US and serves as the North American headquarters of the modernist Han Buddhist order Fo Guang Shan 佛光山 (Buddha’s Light Mountain). The Buddhist tradition promoted by Fo Guang Shan is renjian 人間or Humanistic Buddhism.1 It is a modern Buddhist tradition with its roots in late 19th and early 20th century China that has become Buddhist mainstream in Taiwan today (Long 2000). Fo Guang Shan is one of the biggest promoters of this tradition, not only in Taiwan but on a global scale, and while different groups have adapted different interpretations of renjian Buddhism, one of the primary characteristics of this modern tradition is a new esteem for society, or, in other words, the sphere of ‘the secular’.
Humanistic Buddhism: Plurality and Humanistic Buddhism in the Context of a Buddho-Christian Comparison
On the morning of July 27, 2015, Venerable Master Hsing Yun met scholars and other devotees attending the Third Symposium on Humanistic Buddhism on the third floor of the Dharma Transmission Center, during which he gave a speech “How I Realized Humanistic Buddhism,” (originally titled “The Causes and Conditions that Guided Me to Humanistic Buddhism”).1 I had the great fortune of personally listening to this speech, during which Venerable Master responded to doubts (eight of them) on Humanistic Buddhism raised by those who do not quite understand it, covering topics such as tradition and modernization, laity and monastic, transcendence and engagement, origins and contemporary, spiritual cultivation and activities, etc.
Buddhist Economics: A Cultural Alternative
Watching weeds grow in the garden turns out to be a powerful lesson outside the classroom. First, the weeds look innocently beautiful until they start invading the space of the expensive grass that is fighting for survival. Alarmed, the gardener moves into action with industrial-strength weedkiller. Before long, the herbicide poisons both the weeds and grass. Alas, weeks later, it is the weed that manages to survive the new level of toxicity in the soil and springs back to life ahead of the grass. The battle resumes with the weeds ahead.
