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Establishing a Humanistic Pure Land
What is a Pure Land? It is a wonderful land of purity and dignity. More precisely, it is an excellent society, or an elegant world. From our study of the sūtras, we are aware that there is an Amitābha Buddha teaching the Dharma to sentient beings in the Western Pure Land, ten trillion buddha lands away from our sahā world. It is a majestic place of treasures and magnificence, where people lead unparalleled lives, happy and carefree. The Buddha’s teachings have allowed us to recognize that this is undoubtedly true. However, we have never heard of a humanistic Pure Land. Just look around: the negativities around us portray an image of misery.
Remarks on Current Research on Taixu and the Pure Land in the Human Realm
One could translate the Chinese term commonly rendered “Humanistic Buddhism” more literally as “Buddhism in the Human Realm” (renjian fojiao 人間佛教). The term “human realm” (renjian 人間) has both an everyday meaning in modern Chinese and a more expansive technical Buddhist meaning. In everyday parlance, it means “the human world,” “humanity,” or “social relations,” and within a modern scientific world view, humanity exists in only one place—the planet Earth. Hence, English-language texts sometimes render the term “Humanistic Buddhism” as “Earthly Buddhism.” In traditional Chinese Buddhist texts, however, the term has a more specialized, technical meaning arising from premodern Buddhist cosmology. In this context, it indicates one in a list of five or six possible paths of rebirth. To be reborn in the human realm means that one’s past karma has led to rebirth as a human being, and in Buddhist cosmology, the Earth is not the only place where humans reside. The fact that the term renjian has different definitions in these two contexts has led to some confusion when scholars confront the terms “Humanistic Buddhism” and “The Pure Land in the Human Realm” (renjian jingtu 人間淨土). Variations in the way Buddhists and scholars understand the meaning and purpose of Humanistic Buddhism only compound the confusion.
Remarks on Current Research on Taixu and the Pure Land in the Human Realm
One could translate the Chinese term commonly rendered “Humanistic Buddhism” more literally as “Buddhism in the Human Realm” (renjian fojiao 人間佛教). The term “human realm” (renjian 人間) has both an everyday meaning in modern Chinese and a more expansive technical Buddhist meaning. In everyday parlance, it means “the human world,” “humanity,” or “social relations,” and within a modern scientific world view, humanity exists in only one place—the planet Earth. Hence, English-language texts sometimes render the term “Humanistic Buddhism” as “Earthly Buddhism.” In traditional Chinese Buddhist texts, however, the term has a more specialized, technical meaning arising from premodern Buddhist cosmology. In this context, it indicates one in a list of five or six possible paths of rebirth. To be reborn in the human realm means that one’s past karma has led to rebirth as a human being, and in Buddhist cosmology, the Earth is not the only place where humans reside. The fact that the term renjian has different definitions in these two contexts has led to some confusion when scholars confront the terms “Humanistic Buddhism” and “The Pure Land in the Human Realm” (renjian jingtu 人間淨土). Variations in the way Buddhists and scholars understand the meaning and purpose of Humanistic Buddhism only compound the confusion.
傳統中醫VS.人間佛教
「人間佛教」為生活在人間的我們，規劃了一個非常完整的藍圖，只要將它真正落實在人間，實現在人間，即可提昇人的素養，提高生活品質，共創人間淨土。 星雲大師曾說：「人類的身體，不是用來綑縛心靈的；人類的身體，是用來幫助心靈，圓滿生命智慧的，是用來修行結善緣的。不幸的是：由於我們智慧不足，悲心不夠、不能認識自己。因此大部份人類的身體，反而變成了心靈的障礙，甚至奴役心靈，綑住心靈而不自知，則身苦心也苦。」 我們可以從傳統中醫和佛陀教化兩大學識的融和當中，透視身體與「心、神（靈）、氣」的互動關係，進而融和「身、心、神（靈）、氣」的合作，以提昇生命的境界。一個有慈悲心、有智慧、懂得對內修身養性、對外待人處世的人間菩薩，可以救自己、救社會、國家、世界。如果每一個人都樂意以慈悲、智慧對己待人，並開發「如來真我空性」，那麼當下就是極樂淨土。有病亦不為病所苦，即使身苦心也不苦。
從「三教合一」到「人間佛教」──論《佛光菜根譚》對《菜根譚》的傳承與發展
本文先概述《菜根譚》的編寫背景與思想特點，次考釋清朝初中期是書在佛門的流傳情況，再分析《佛光菜根譚》對《菜根譚》的傳承與發展。最後總結：如果說《菜根譚》是反映三教合一而以儒家為本的士大夫處世法則，《佛光菜根譚》就是代表面對新時代，弘揚人間佛教、建立人間淨土的宗教理念。
