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Editor's Preface：Humanistic Chan Buddhism
Volume five of Studies on Humanistic Buddhism contains eight articles translated from Chinese, one article that was written in English, and four student papers. The theme of the articles is Chan Buddhism, particularly Fo Guang Chan as developed by Venerable Master Hsing Yun. Chan is the Chinese version of what in English is often known by the Japanese pronunciation— Zen.
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism I: Foundational Thoughts
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism I: Foundational Thoughts
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism III: Glocalization of Buddhism
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism III: Glocalization of Buddhism
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism IV: Human Life
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism IV: Human Life
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism V : Humanistic Chan Buddhism
Studies on Humanistic Buddhism V : Humanistic Chan Buddhism
Humanistic Buddhism in Singapore
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Ten Great Contributions to Buddhism
Since the nineteenth century, Humanistic Buddhism has been the most powerful school of thought in Chinese Buddhism. I recently proposed that while Taixu was distinguished as an advocate of modern Humanistic Buddhism, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, as the founder of modern Humanistic Buddhism, has been an exceptional proponent. Venerable Master Hsing Yun proposed using the concept of the “three greatnesses” from the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna as the basic principle of the Humanistic Buddhism: greatness of essence, greatness of attributes, and greatness of function. He profoundly influenced the essence, the attributes, and the function of Humanistic Buddhism.
On the This-Worldly Emphasis of Humanistic Buddhism
As an aspect of social life, religion has the adaptive function of helping humans overcome psychological and daily obstacles, attaining inner stability and peace of mind; the integrative function of consolidating group cohesion through common beliefs, bringing out the organizational power of human communities; and the cognitive function of solving the enigma of ultimate meaning, answering fundamental questions on life, the universe, existence, and morality for humans. These three functions of religion imply its capacity to meet the three essential needs of survival, community integration, and addressing the ultimate concern in life, hence its importance cannot be understated.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Perspective on Humanistic Buddhism’s Life Education
Venerable Master Hsing Yun is the most important practitioner promoting the development of the contemporary Humanistic Buddhism movement. After arriving in Taiwan, he devoted himself to various causes aimed at maintaining the Dharma in the human world. This has entailed extensive practical efforts for its realization, focused specifically on six aspects: 1. popularizing Buddhism 2. propagating Buddhism 3. Buddhist education 4. establishing culture 5. building Dharma centers and 6. charitable works.
The Buddhist Nationalism in Master Fafang’s Thought
As is well known, in the nineteenth century, China faced a severe national crisis due to the invasion of Western powers. In particular, the import of Western ideologies had a big impact on the idea of “Huaxia-centrism” (Huaxia zhongxin zhuyi 華夏中心主義), which caused Chinese intellectuals to have a strong sense of crisis concerning the status of Chinese national-cultural identity. It was in this context that “nationalism” as a modern concept was introduced to China from Europe and Japan in the late nineteenth century.
