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The Historic Position of Humanistic Buddhism from the Viewpoint of the Process of Sinicization of Buddhism
Buddhism was founded by Śākyamuni Buddha, and is both a religion and a philosophy. As a religion, Buddhism has a unique belief system, organizational structure, and way of embodying belief through practice (including religious services). Compared to other religions, Buddhism has distinctive characteristics. With the exception of Buddhism, religions believe in an almighty god who is the center of their faith and doctrine. This god is the focus of their worship, and the purpose of their faith is salvation from sin. In contrast, Buddhism has an underlying doctrine and practice of “non-self.” This doctrine rejects the existence of any extrinsic god. It also denies the presence of an intrinsic soul. Therefore, the purpose of its belief is not to receive deliverance from sin, but rather to realize liberation from life’s pain and hardship.
Humanistic Buddhism: Responding to Contemporary Developments
There are contemporary approaches to the use of Buddhist practices that can be considered revolutionary in terms of how we study and evaluate the tradition. Since these practices are directed toward the public domain, they are one type of “Humanistic Buddhism.” A challenge for Buddhist groups is how to respond to these developments. A similar challenge exists for the academic study of Buddhism. How can we understand and deal with the contemporary world that has emerged?
The Future of Humanistic Buddhism
In the late 1920s, to address the longstanding flaws present in traditional Buddhist practices since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Master Taixu (1889-1947) dedicated his life to Buddhism for human life, which puts an emphasis on and develops life. Since then, his disciples and those he has inspired proposed Humanistic Buddhism, which focuses on the realities of society. In the 1980s, Buddhists on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in other areas with ethnic Chinese population, actively advocated and practiced Humanistic Buddhism.
The Influence of Humanistic Buddhism in Deepening the Founding Ideals of Community College
As a result of government support at the city and county levels, there has been a significant increase in the number of community colleges in Taiwan, with nearly eighty schools added in recent years. However, education cannot be lacking in regard to its fundamental ideals. An issue of concern among the people preparing to establish community colleges was how to avoid turning the colleges into a disguised form of tuition, while maintaining the primary demand of developing civic consciousness by encouraging community participation.
Translating Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism: Building Online Collaborative Buddhist Translation Projects with Small Crowdsource Platforms
As a second generation Chinese immigrant in Australia, my parents provided well for us to grow up and to receive an education in the Australian language and culture. Nevertheless, on the weekends, they also brought us to the local Fo Guang Shan temple—the Nan Tien Vihara, so that we can reconnect with our Chinese roots through continued learning of the Chinese language and participation in the Chinese religious experience inside Nan Tien Temple. Certainly, we were very happy to have that opportunity to also witness the development of Humanistic Buddhism in Australia.
Tracking the "Human" in Humanistic Buddhism (Ⅰ)
Perhaps Buddhism's greatest strength has been its endless ability to adopt and adapt to new environments and cultural contexts. Buddhist practitioners down through the ages have been amazingly adept at applying Creative Hermen-eutics, that is, serving as effective messengers for the underlying meaning of Buddhist Dharma in innovative ways. As we seek to translate Buddhism into a fitting form for the contemporary world, Humanistic Buddhism demonstrates great potential to "speak" to every individual, initially as a human being but also as a "buddha to be."
Tracking the "Human" in Humanisitic Buddhism (Ⅱ)
This spiritual troubadour of Tibet had an exceptionally humanistic touch in his teaching style. Wandering through the mountains of Tibet he encountered a wide range of human types, from shepherds, bandits, and logicians, to housewives, merchants, kings, and scholars, even a dying follower of the Bon religion that preceded Buddhism in Tibet.
Humanistic Buddhism: The Relevance of Buddhist Ethics
Abstract:"Humanism" and “Humanistic" are terms that take on considerable importance in the Buddhism of Venerable Master Hsing Yun. On the one hand, the terms are pointers to the essential teachings of the Buddha. The employment of such terms, however, imply that certain teachings and practices within Chinese Buddhism in particular caused it to deviate from the original intent of the Buddha.
Localization of Humanistic Buddhism in the West
Editor’s Preface：The Glocalization of Buddhism
Volume three of Studies on Humanistic Buddhism contains fourteen articles relating to the glocalization of Buddhism. Glocalization here refers to the spread of Buddhism globally as it situates itself locally. An increased flow of people, goods, and information has allowed Buddhism to rapidly spread across the world, and for greater interaction between Buddhist traditions. Concomitant with Buddhism’s globalization is its localization. As Buddhism settles into new environments, there is an acculturation process. The people who bring Buddhist teachings to a new area must acculturate to the local society in order to come up with skillful means to impart Buddhist teachings in a manner that is appropriate to the dominant culture, and that empowers them to carry on the Buddhist teachings themselves.
