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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.
Cultivating Social Historical Knowledge to Walk the Bodhisattva Path
In many regards, the future of Humanistic Buddhism can be considered in relation to its past. Developed as a response to social and political reforms in China during the transition from Qing dynastic rule to Republican governance, Humanistic Buddhism, as conceptualized by Master Taixu, proposed a reform of Chinese Buddhism that redirected its focus from ritual practices for the dead to emphasizing the human concerns of practitioners in this life. Thus, it prioritized an objective of engagement with human needs in a worldly context. While Humanistic Buddhism as expanded in Taiwan under the guidance of Venerable Master Hsing Yun maintains this focus on addressing human concerns, a reexamination of this historic foundation might prove fruitful in yielding new directions for the future growth of Humanistic Buddhism, especially in regards to its propagation throughout the world.
The Impact of Buddhism on the Development of Chinese Vocabulary (I)
The Impact of Buddhism on the Development of Chinese Vocabulary (II)
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Humanistic Buddhism–New Dawn of True Dharma
The title “venerable master” as used by contemporary Chinese Buddhists appears to have been demeaned and misused, to the extent of sometimes being generally used in reference to male and female monastics. In fact, the word “master” has the Sanskrit root of “śāstṛ,” and is a rather highly esteemed title in Buddhism. As the Itivṛttakasūtra5explains, the title refers to sagely monastics who have attained at least the stage of stream-entere, and up to that of a buddha. Their presence in this world ensures that the wisdom of the Dharma can guide others towards transcending the mundane, bringing boundless benefit and joy to them.
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 Future of Humanistic Buddhism
In the late 1920s, to address the longstanding flaws present in traditional Buddhist practices since the Ming and Qing dynasties, Master Taixu (1889-1947) dedicated his life to Buddhism for human life, which puts an emphasis on and develops life. Since then, his disciples and those he has inspired proposed Humanistic Buddhism, which focuses on the realities of society. In the 1980s, Buddhists on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in other areas with ethnic Chinese population, actively advocated and practiced Humanistic Buddhism.
Translating Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism: Building Online Collaborative Buddhist Translation Projects with Small Crowdsource Platforms
As a second generation Chinese immigrant in Australia, my parents provided well for us to grow up and to receive an education in the Australian language and culture. Nevertheless, on the weekends, they also brought us to the local Fo Guang Shan temple—the Nan Tien Vihara, so that we can reconnect with our Chinese roots through continued learning of the Chinese language and participation in the Chinese religious experience inside Nan Tien Temple. Certainly, we were very happy to have that opportunity to also witness the development of Humanistic Buddhism in Australia.
Humanistic Buddhism: The Relevance of Buddhist Ethics
Abstract:"Humanism" and “Humanistic" are terms that take on considerable importance in the Buddhism of Venerable Master Hsing Yun. On the one hand, the terms are pointers to the essential teachings of the Buddha. The employment of such terms, however, imply that certain teachings and practices within Chinese Buddhism in particular caused it to deviate from the original intent of the Buddha.
Chinese Interpretations of Indian Buddhism: From the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Upadeśa’s “Three Samādhis” to Zhiyi’s “Threefold Contemplation”
This study examines the early Mahāyāna commentary, the Upadeśa through the doctrinal and practical aspects of the three samādhis and how it has influenced the thoughts and practices of Zhiyi’s threefold contemplation. The approach on examining Zhiyi’s relation to the Upadeśa through our position in the historical and textual context of the Upadeśa and of Zhiyi has opened up to a strong implication and verification of their connection. In addition, our brief study on the citation of the Upadeśa in Zhiyi’s extant textual exegeses indicated his frequent usages of the commentary both in his early and later works.
