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On Modernity and Tradition in Humanistic Buddhism: From Master Taixu to Venerable Master Hsing Yun
Humanistic Buddhism was initially proposed by Master Taixu in early modern times, then refined in theory and verified in practice by a number of eminent monks. It now is a major ideological trend and practical model for Chinese Buddhism in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Fo Guang Shan in Taiwan, under the leadership of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, has brought the model of Humanistic Buddhism development worldwide. This has become an important channel for Chinese culture to the world. How is it that Humanistic Buddhism has become a major Buddhist ideological trend on the Chinese mainland? How has it become the way for Buddhism to modernize and to survive? Humanistic Buddhism not only responds to the practical needs of this era, but it is rooted in long-standing Buddhist spiritual traditions and the Buddha’s original intents.
The Modernization and Globalization of Humanistic Buddhism and Chinese Buddhism
The most prominent element in the success of Humanistic Buddhism is the modernization and internationalization of Chinese Buddhism. Under the premise of returning to the original intents of the Buddha, advocates and practitioners of Humanistic Buddhism look forward to spreading the Dharma in ways that are readily embraced by people of current times. For example, in the 1950s and 1960s, Fo Guang Shan’s Venerable Master Hsing Yun was already advocating for reform in Buddhism: its ranks, its organizations, its administrative systems, its precepts, its means of propagating the Dharma, its education, its culture, and its internationalization.
The Relationship Between Buddhism and Chinese Culture
Buddhist culture is part of Chinese traditional culture. The issue of culture has recently become a hot topic of discussion in intellectual and cultural circles. Concerning this discussion, my understanding is shallow and my thoughts immature. However, I believe that the development of human culture is a continuous process, thus traditional and contemporary culture cannot be completely separated. We should draw out all the valuable essentials of traditional culture to enrich and develop a socialist-oriented national culture. My view is that traditional Chinese culture should also include Buddhist culture. At present, there is a biased opinion of equating the former with Confucian culture, and entirely eradicating the role and contribution of Buddhist culture in traditional Chinese culture. This is unfair and not reflective of historical facts.
The Harmonious Development Between Humanistic and Traditional Buddhism and its Issues
As is widely known, Humanistic Buddhism is a new movement of teaching, understanding, and practicing modern Han Chinese Buddhism. It has developed rapidly and gained broad support in Mainland China and Taiwan. It has been very successful in Taiwan and has far-reaching influence wherever Han Chinese Buddhism spread. This is especially true of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s philosophy and practice of it. Such achievements have reinvigorated Buddhism and signal the arrival of a new era in the development of Buddhism.
Humanistic Buddhism and the Modernization of Buddhism
In recent decades, rapid economic, scientific, and technological development has modernized human society in leaps and bounds. Hence, societies and cultures face the dual issues of how best to treat one’s tradition and how to adapt to the reality of a changing society. If a given tradition is the modernized “medium” (i.e. carrier of specific ideas) of its ideology, then the social conditions under which it operates form the “foundation” (i.e. the direction and strategy) for its modernization.
The Process of Modernizing Buddhism: Two Thousand Years of Rise and Fall in Human History
When Buddhism was transmitted into China over two thousand years ago, during the time of the Han Dynasty, Daoist ritual techniques and arts for achieving immortality were prevalent. As Chinese Republican-period scholar Tang Yongtong pointed out: During the Han period, other than the major rituals of worshipping heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers, there were many other types of sacrificial worship. Prior to the Qin Dynasty, there was already the belief that one must perform specific Daoist ritual techniques and arts in order evoke higher spiritual powers.
Humanistic Buddhism and It’s Humanization, Modernization, and Incorporation into Daily Life
Since the twentieth century, Chinese Buddhism has entered a golden age of development and an opportune time for the development of Humanistic Buddhism. As a stronghold of today’s Humanistic Buddhism, Fo Guang Shan has made great contributions to its development and shoulders the responsibility of creating a new era of Humanistic Buddhism. Since we have the good fortune of being able to participate in Fo Guang Shan’s development of Humanistic Buddhism, we naturally also bear its mission. This is a great opportunity that should be cherished. Venerable Master’s philosophy of Humanistic Buddhism is deep and wide like the ocean, and his undertakings have been brilliant.
Humanistic Buddhism and Contemporary Chinese Art
As we enter into the third decade of the twenty-first century, at least two observations can be made. On the one hand, the human condition faces its own extinction as artificial intelligence and climate change substitute basic human habits and habitats. These substitutions simulate—but can arguably never replace—natural human ones. It is not surprising, then, that fundamental aspects of the human world buried by progress into the ashcan of history have risen from the dead. The current renewal of human tribalism and authoritarian systems challenge assumptions of what “progress” and “modernity” as defined by Western Enlightenment is and can be. Indeed, cultural critics have discussed the phenomenon of postmodernity as characterizing the late twentieth century. Can we speak of neo-tradition and post-progress as veins running through the early twenty-first century? We clearly feel the pulse of these veins, but remain unsure of their paths or purpose.
The Relationship between Buddhism and Life
There are two main schools of Buddhism, Theravāda and Mahāyāna. The former spread from southern India to Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and the island of Java during King Asoka’s reign in ancient India. The latter spread from northern India to Tibet, China, Korea, Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands during the reign of the Chinese Emperor Ming of the Han dynasty. It has since disseminated into all parts of Malaysia in the last two or three hundred years. Buddhism has spread throughout the world in two thousand and five hundred years. Today, it is distributed vastly, found not only in the Southeast Asian countries, but also Europe and the United States. The religion is practiced by people in the East and West, and has a significant number of devotees.
Managing the Mind: at the Heart of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Applied Management
Venerable Master Hsing Yun founded Fo Guang Shan and established the operational management guidelines for the monastery: collective effort, leadership by system, doing only what is in accord with Buddhism, and relying on nothing but the Dharma. He also clearly defined the organizational principles and functions of Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA), so that both monastics and lay disciples have a set of regulations and procedures for the sustainable development of the Fo Guang community. The issues of financial control and the exercise of authority are inevitable in the operation of an organization. Venerable Master Hsing Yun also put forward his views on managing money, exercising authority, and handling human resources. In his opinion, the primary objective of managing human affairs is to manage the mind, which is no different from the practice of the Dharma. Furthermore, one must flexibly practice compassion and wisdom simultaneously, so that the entire organization achieves the ideal state of oneness and coexistence. Venerable Master Hsing Yun holds in high regard the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss as a realm where “all of the most virtuous people are gathered in a single place,” and looks up to Amitābha Buddha as the greatest management expert. He has infused a sense of sanctity into the secular concept of management, and also demonstrated a positive connection between worldly dharma and Buddha Dharma.
