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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.
現代泰國上座部僧團教育的兩次更革 附論：與台灣佛光山教育作對比
泰國佛教僧團在現代南傳上座部佛教當中，可以說，已經在由傳統到現代的轉型歷程中取得初步的成功。在此一初見成效的轉型中，僧團的宗教教育扮演非常重要的角色。它本身既是轉型的其中一個關鍵環節，但同時也是推動僧團轉型的主要動力與手段之一，泰國上座部在僧侶教育上，採取傳統與現代雙軌並行的方式，既有僧團傳統的叢林教育，亦同時採納現代社會的大學觀念及制度。本文即以此為主題，討論現代泰國僧團教育的演變及其與社會的關係。並且在最後的附論環節與台灣佛光山教團的佛教教育作扼要的對比，有助彼此的理解，拉近南、北傳佛教之間的距離。
中國佛教階段性的發展芻議
佛教發源於印度，經過二千五百餘年的流傳，到了現在廿一世紀，已經成為世界最大的宗教之一。當十三世紀之後，佛教在印度因「印回之爭」而同時遭受兩教的排斥，致使佛教在印度沒落。所幸早在西元前二四九年，阿育王派遣了上千名高僧，包括他的太子摩哂陀與公主僧伽蜜多，分南、北往國外傳播佛法（見《善見律毗婆沙》）。其中，南傳佛教一直囿限於南亞諸小國，而北傳佛教自從傳到中國以後，由於漢魏東晉南北朝時代的譯經，以及隋唐的八宗成立，大放光彩，影響最為深遠。進而中國佛教傳入日本、韓國、越南，乃至西方國家；漢傳佛教在佛教史上，對全世界一直扮演著承先啟後的重要地位。
