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Reflections on Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Temple-Building Endeavor between 1988 and 2000
Fo Guang Shan (FGS) operates one of the most extensive networks of Buddhist temples around the world. This essay reflects on Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s aspiration to spread the Dharma by building temples, and the extent to which his vision of spreading the Dharma to five continents was fulfilled. As a religio-cultural space that can be shared by both monastic and lay, insiders and outsiders, the temples ground the FGS mission of spreading Humanistic Buddhism by creating a shared space and allowing temple goers to transition roles. These roles, which can be overlapping, include visitor, devotee, volunteer, and member.
Editor’s Preface: A Treasury of Academic Thought on Humanistic Buddhism
Taking the Retrocession of Taiwan in 1945 as the starting point of the restoration of Chinese Buddhism, along with the emergence of the four major monastic orders on this island, Humanistic Buddhism has just celebrated its seventy-first birthday. However, we should consider that Master Taixu (hereinafter Taixu) first proposed the concept of “Humanistic Buddhism” in his article “On The China Times and the so-called ‘Sūtras and Mantras to Save the Nation’” published in Ocean Waves Magazine Vol. 13, No. 9 (1932), and that he delivered his lecture on “How to Build Humanistic Buddhism” at the Hankou Chamber of Commerce in October of the following year. These first definitions of Humanistic Buddhism included a preliminary explanation of the methodology and philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism, and how it could be developed from this foundation. From this other perspective, it can be said that modern Humanistic Buddhism has been practiced for more than eighty years.
Melodic Meditation: Buddhist Chant as a Vehicle for Choral Composition
During the 2017–2018 academic year, it was my good fortune to spend five months in Taiwan researching Buddhist chant as a U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar. My primary host institution was the Institute of Humanistic Buddhism here at Fo Guang Shan and I worked closely with the capable leaders of the Institute, most notably Venerable Miao Guang. I spent a majority of those five months living in the residence attached to 普賢殿 (Samantabhadra Shrine) on these Fo Guang Shan headquarters monastic grounds. Morning and evening chanting services in the Main Shrine were a typical part of my routine, as was the thrice-daily mealtime chanting.
When Mahāyāna Meets Theravāda: Humanistic Buddhism’s Challenges and Opportunities in Myanmar
From 15 to 17 February 2017, the United Association of Humanistic Buddhism of Chunghua (Zhonghua renjian fojiao lianhe zonghui 中華人間佛教聯合總會) organized a visit to Myanmar for a three-day meeting regarding harmony and dialogue between Mahāyāna and Theravāda Buddhism (Liang’an nanbei chuan fojiao ronghe jiaoliu fangwen zhi lu 兩岸南北傳佛教融合交流訪問之旅). As well as being noteworthy for uniting Mahāyāna and Theravāda Buddhist Schools, this crosstraditional exchange was important due to the involvement of the National Saṃgha Committee Chairman, Venerable Bamaw Sayadaw Dr. Bhadanta Kumarabhivamsa; other well-known senior Burmese monks; and Myanmar government officials. During their stay in Yangon, the monastic delegates joined in various activities including the Thousand-candle Offering, a forum on Educational Exchange on Mahāyāna and Theravāda Teachings, and visits to monasteries, Buddhist educational institutions and sites of historical interest in the company of Burmese monks and laypeople. Additonally, Tipitakadhara Sayadaw U Sundara guided them in the Vipassanā Meditation. To an extent, then, the group of delegates from Taiwan and Mainland China experienced Theravāda practices. Afterwards, Ven. Foxing from the Buddhist College of Minnan and Julia Jin, president of the Merit Times, each wrote on the possibilities for Mahāyāna and Theravāda union in the house periodical of the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism.
The Application of Filial Piety Based on the Filial Piety Sutra to Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order
