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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 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.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun and the Reinterpretation of the “Pure Land” within Humanistic Buddhism
This essay examines the teaching of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, one of the leading active proponents of Humanistic Buddhism. It begins by discussing the historical and contemporary status of Humanistic Buddhism, contextualizing it as a movement borne out of modernist influences and demands placed upon Buddhism to adapt and reform according to an everchanging social world. Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s notion of “the Pure Land,” a Buddhist concept he reinterprets as demanding the creation of an “earthly” Pure Land is examined. This interpretation, it is argued, is tied to pragmatic concerns regarding the necessity to reform Buddhist practices in order to successfully spread Buddhist teachings in the modern world. The essay draws parallels between the example of socially engaged practices of Christian missions at the turn of the century in China and the rationale underlying the drive to reform among nascent Humanistic Buddhists, such as in the teaching of Master TaiSxu. The example of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s advocacy for creating an “earthly” Pure Land demonstrates how contemporary Humanistic Buddhist theory follows this logic and interprets traditional Buddhist teachings as advocating for socially engaged practices among both monastics and laypeople. To this end, Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s teaching regarding “life education” reinterprets spiritual development as practices designed to improve the external world rather than solely the individual’s internal world. This is demonstrated in Fo Guang Shan’s strategy of spreading Buddhism in mainland China through cultural education and activities rather than proselytization.
Three Dimensions of the Humanistic Spirit of Oxhead Chan as Expressed in the Treatise on the Transcendence of Cognition
Venerable Master Hsing Yun has often pointed out that traditional Chan Buddhism contains within it the rich and profound spirit of Humanistic Buddhism. Modern Humanistic Buddhism should also draw from the ideas of traditional Chan Buddhism. The humanistic principles contained within Oxhead Chan2 are worthy of our attention and application. This paper explores the spirit of Oxhead Chan through analyzes of various versions of the Treatise on the Transcendence of Cognition, an essential text of Oxhead Chan. Three main concepts will be analyzed: “emptiness is the basis of the way,” “there is nothing other than knowing the foundation of the original mind,” and “traveling no path is the way to enlightenment.”
The Role of Chan Buddhism in East Asian Cultural Interaction during the Modern Period
Liao Chao-heng has a PhD from the Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology at the University of Tokyo. He is a research fellow at the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica, and an adjunct associate researcher at the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies. His research areas include the history of East Asian Buddhist culture in the modern period, the history of East Asian cultural exchange, the history of Chan, and classical Chinese literature. His publications include The Middle and the Extremes, Poetry and Chan, Drama: The Emerging and Development of Cultural Discourse in the Buddhist Temples of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and The Loyalty of Bodhi: Loyalists in the Monastery and Late Ming and Early Qing Discourse of Fidelity.
The Value of the Buddhism Practiced by Fo Guang Shan
Buddhism has a long history with a vast body of texts and many schools of thought. Throughout its history, Buddhism has blended with cultures and ethnic groups of different regions, creating a Buddhist landscape where different schools of thought have blossomed. Especially in a modern society, there is a mixture of good and bad in this process. The ascetic style of Da Bei Monastery in Haicheng, the noisy style of Shaolin Monastery on Mount Song, the majestic style of Lingshan Temple in Wuxi, and of course Taiwan’s Chung Tai Temple style and Tzu Chi style are just a few of the many “blooms” that are accumulating in the “social image” and “social perception” of Buddhism.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Ten Great Contributions to Buddhism
Since the nineteenth century, Humanistic Buddhism has been the most powerful school of thought in Chinese Buddhism. I recently proposed that while Taixu was distinguished as an advocate of modern Humanistic Buddhism, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, as the founder of modern Humanistic Buddhism, has been an exceptional proponent. Venerable Master Hsing Yun proposed using the concept of the “three greatnesses” from the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna as the basic principle of the Humanistic Buddhism: greatness of essence, greatness of attributes, and greatness of function. He profoundly influenced the essence, the attributes, and the function of Humanistic Buddhism.
The Buddhist Nationalism in Master Fafang’s Thought
As is well known, in the nineteenth century, China faced a severe national crisis due to the invasion of Western powers. In particular, the import of Western ideologies had a big impact on the idea of “Huaxia-centrism” (Huaxia zhongxin zhuyi 華夏中心主義), which caused Chinese intellectuals to have a strong sense of crisis concerning the status of Chinese national-cultural identity. It was in this context that “nationalism” as a modern concept was introduced to China from Europe and Japan in the late nineteenth century.
Śamathavipaśyanā in Fo Guang Chan
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Humanistic Buddhism places great importance on the study and practice of Chan. Fo Guang Chan is founded upon the Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, as well as the traditions of Chinese Buddhism, and is adapted to the needs of modern society, with a system of progressive cultivation which includes the paths of accumulation (saṃbhāramārga), preparation (prayogamārga), morality (śila), concentration (samādhi), wisdom (prajñā), vision (darśanamārga), cultivation (bhāvanāmārga), and the adept path (aśaikṣamārga). Among these, the paths of concentration and wisdom are at the core of Fo Guang Chan. Śamathavipaśyanā in Fo Guang Chan is based on the concepts of concentration and wisdom of early Buddhism, and further integrates the Mahāyāna doctrine of prajñā wisdom and the Tiantai practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā, with special emphasis on its application in daily life.
