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Situating Buddhist Modernism within a Global Context: The Global Spread of Fo Guang Shan
Only in the last decades has modern Buddhism become a serious topic of academic investigation. Today, however, the field is flourishing. Modern Buddhism in its many forms is studied in many languages and disciplines. Despite this recent advancement, the subject of investigation is not always that clear. What are we talking about when we are speaking of modern Buddhism? This paper aims to tackle this question by considering the global spread of Fo Guang Shan from a transnational perspective. Transnationalism describes a recent advance within the social sciences and humanities to move away from a research approach that examines its object of interest solely by placing it within the context of one nation state.
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My Understanding about Humanistic Buddhism
Humanistic Buddhism inspires us to elevate and have faith in ourselves; because this self embodies the wisdom and virtue of the Buddha. Thus we must realize that we are all buddhas and be proud to say that “I am a buddha.” Such is the spirit of Humanistic Buddhism. Instead of placing our fate in the hands of divine entities, we should take responsibility for our own lives. The saying in the Āgamas, “Rely on the self, rely on the Dharma, rely on nothing else,” is a rendition of the faith of Humanistic Buddhism.
Fo Guang Shan Buddhism and Ethical Conversations across Borders: “Sowing Seeds of Affinity”
On the basis of a study of an international Buddhist movement, this article defines “ethical conversations across borders” – acts of ethical deliberation, evaluation or argument that take place in cognisance of multiple ethical regimes – and proposes the conditions under which they can take place. Fo Guang Shan, described in the first part of the article, is a Buddhist movement that originated in Taiwan, but which now has branches around the world. It seeks to promote the cultivation of virtue among its members and among other people with which it has contact. The teachings of Master Hsing Yun, the movement’s founder, advocate two methods through which this project can be realised, “sowing seeds of affinity” and “convenience”. The second part of the article generalizes observations made in relation to Fo Guang Shan and draws the conclusion that all “ethical conversations across borders” require two things, namely, the identification of similarities or “affinities”, and an account of difference that stipulates the units between which the conversation is to be carried on.
Detachment and Connection Across Boundaries
When we hear the English word “attachment,” it is often a positive reaction.Some might go further to say “loving attachment” to spouse, children, family, and friends. By contrast “un-” or “de-” prefixes are seen as removal from interaction and imply indifference toward others. From the Buddhist perspective, attachment is seen as a construct of our thoughts and intentions. They are using the word in its meaning of “an addition to,” as when we have an attachment for our computer. Attachments are the “add-ons” we make to our concepts of self and others. I recently watched the fascinating documentary “My Octopus Teacher.” In the video, we get to see the octopus hiding herself from sharks by using her tentacles with their suction cups to pick up bits of pottery, metal, and glass, using the objects to wrap around her body so she is not recognized. For all the world, she looks like a pile of broken bits of glass and ceramics. This comes very close to the meaning of attachment used in Buddhist material. We add on external features that are constructed items not a part of us, used to present ourselves to others. If we want others to see us as smart, controlled, leaders, we attach attempts to display these features. When we hear of “detaching,” it means to put down the attachments and just be a pure view of who we are. It is by no means indifference, it is letting go of those aspects that obscure and misguide those around us.
Interpreting the “Humanistic” in Renjian Fojiao (人間佛教) as Advocated by Venerable Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan
Sakyamuni Buddha expounded the Four Noble Truths as his very first teachings out of the intention of showing human beings the cause of suffering, and more importantly, to give hope in that such sufferings can be ended. For this reason, Buddha is often referred to as the doctor who tends to human beings in their very fundamental needs: fulfillment in attaining freedom from suffering. As human interests and values are given broader definitions, the Buddhist movement also becomes much more diverse in scope, giving Buddhism the characteristic of humanism on various aspects of life. The purpose of this paper is to examine the elements of humanism traceable in the teachings and practices of Buddhism and find relevance between such and Renjian Fojiao (Humanistic Buddhism).
AI 大語言模型 ChatGPT 在人間佛教弘法中的應用與未來展望
AI 大語言模型ChatGPT 憑藉其在人機交互方面的突破性創新，正在引領一場社會變革，並加速AI 時代的全面到來。對致力於弘法創新的人間佛教而言，該項技術在理論與實踐上具有應用的必要性和可行性，能夠在文化交流、教育培養和學術研究等領域發揮重要作用。然而，面對由資本、權力與科技聯合驅動的AI 技術創新導致的人的異化以及社會分化困境，人間佛教需要夯實經濟基礎，重視AI 與弘法的有機融合，積極發揮對社會價值觀的正向引導作用。同時，也需妥善處理與各方社會力量的互動關係，以應對AI 時代的挑戰。
Remarks on Current Research on Taixu and the Pure Land in the Human Realm
One could translate the Chinese term commonly rendered “Humanistic Buddhism” more literally as “Buddhism in the Human Realm” (renjian fojiao 人間佛教). The term “human realm” (renjian 人間) has both an everyday meaning in modern Chinese and a more expansive technical Buddhist meaning. In everyday parlance, it means “the human world,” “humanity,” or “social relations,” and within a modern scientific world view, humanity exists in only one place—the planet Earth. Hence, English-language texts sometimes render the term “Humanistic Buddhism” as “Earthly Buddhism.” In traditional Chinese Buddhist texts, however, the term has a more specialized, technical meaning arising from premodern Buddhist cosmology. In this context, it indicates one in a list of five or six possible paths of rebirth. To be reborn in the human realm means that one’s past karma has led to rebirth as a human being, and in Buddhist cosmology, the Earth is not the only place where humans reside. The fact that the term renjian has different definitions in these two contexts has led to some confusion when scholars confront the terms “Humanistic Buddhism” and “The Pure Land in the Human Realm” (renjian jingtu 人間淨土). Variations in the way Buddhists and scholars understand the meaning and purpose of Humanistic Buddhism only compound the confusion.
Chinese Origin of Humanistic Buddhism and Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Contribution in the Contemporary Humanistic Buddhist Movement in Taiwan
Humanism has been defined in various ways. It is a contemporary cult or belief calling itself religious but substituting faith in man for faith in god.1 Similarly, humanism is also explained as the faith in the supreme value of self-perfectibility of human personality. However, humanism broadly indicates to a shifting of focus from supernaturalism to naturalism, from transcendental to the existing, from absolute reality to the living reality. Humanism is the term for those aspirations, activities and attainments through which natural man puts on “super nature”.
Modern Buddhism Without Modernity? Zhaijiao (“Vegetarian Sects”) and the Hidden Genealogy of “Humanistic Buddhism” in Late Imperial China
The concept of “Humanistic Buddhism” as it came into being in the past century is generally acknowledged as a leading feature of the modern transformation of Buddhism in Chinese societies. It has been understood as an answer to the urgent task of adopting Buddhism to the profound and unprecedented political, social, and economic changes that the Chinese world had to face since the late nineteenth century. Therefore, Humanistic Buddhism may be interpreted as a way to fit into the “national body” of the evolving nation-state in the first half of the twentieth century. Particularly during the 1920s and 1930s, countless Buddhist as well as other temples and monasteries were object to large-scale acts of confiscation and expropriation for the aim of building a new China. The KMT government imagined Buddhism in particular and religion in general to contribute financially, socially, and morally to their project of modernity. On the other side, Humanistic Buddhism may be seen as part of a larger reform movement which has been initiated in the late nineteenth century by such notables as Buddhist layman Yang Wenhui 楊文會 (1837–1911). This development too can be traced back to the encounter of clerics and laymen with modern Western notions of how to define the proper place of religion in both the state and society as well as in the life of the people.
