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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.
〈台灣佛教新史〉之十八——殖民時期佛教文教事業之一：日本佛教各宗派在台所辦期刊（上）
1894年甲午戰敗，清廷割讓台灣，翌年，日本佛教各宗或隨軍或從扶桑四島遣僧來台，為了宣傳教法，紛紛發行刊物，如1896年11 月，佐佐木發起組織的「臺灣佛教會」發行《教報》第一號。《教報》第一號中的〈臺灣佛教調查〉一文撰稿者，被認為是出自佐佐木之手，對曹洞宗決定來台開教傳道影響甚巨。之後，日本佛教宗派較早創辦的期刊有臨濟宗的《真如》，臨濟宗滹山大悲閣的《真佛教》、日蓮宗的《放光》、淨土宗《信友》雜誌發刊等。4當然這些雜誌主要發行的對象還是自宗信徒為主。
〈台灣佛教新史〉之十一——日本佛教各宗派在台布教發展（一）
日本殖民時期來台的宗派有華嚴宗、天台宗、真言宗（高野派、醍醐派）、禪宗（臨濟宗妙心寺派、曹洞宗）、淨土宗（淨土宗、西山深草派）、真宗（本願寺派、大谷派、木邊派）、日蓮宗、法華宗（顯本法華宗、本門法華宗），共八宗十四派。日本佛教各宗入台後，幾乎都以台北地區為布教中心，隨著時間的推移，以及布教工作的深化，逐漸地跨散到全台，展開殖民半世紀的歷史（1895-1945）。
〈台灣佛教新史〉之十二——殖民時期本土教團的崛起（一）
日本佛教各宗隨著殖民統治者來台布教發展，前後共有八宗十二派，發展的主力以禪宗、淨土宗、真宗系統為主。其中，禪宗來台者有臨濟宗妙心寺派及曹洞宗兩派。
地球另一方的佛門淨土
