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A Modern Interpretation of Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Belief that ‘Life Does Not Die'
In his first preface to Humanistic Buddhism: Holding True to the Original Intent of Buddha, Venerable Master Hsing Yun adopted simple and easily understood words to summarize the articles of faith and essence of Humanistic Buddhism. In the second preface titled “My Understanding of Humanistic Buddhism,” Venerable Master Hsing Yun identified the general misconceptions and doubts many people have about Humanistic Buddhism.
Appendix: Yang Renshan, a Bodhisattva
Recent Conclusions on the Theory of Humanistic Buddhism: Looking at Venerable Master Hsing Yun from Hear Me Out: Messages from a Humble Monk
The book Hear Me Out: Messages from a Humble Monk was written by Venerable Master Hsing Yun and published in 2015. The book, among the nearly thirty million Chinese characters written by the Venerable Master so far, has two distinct features. Firstly, it is a work of Buddhist apologetics in the contemporary era, written in response to the recent accusations against the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation made by the Taiwanese media. The special causes and conditions of its writing endow this book with a distinctive theme, and with a high degree of realism and relevance.
Dharma Function with Sound, Dharma Propagation with Music–A Study of Buddhist Chants and Buddhist Songs of Fo Guang Chan
This paper introduces the historical development and current state of Buddhist chants and songs at Fo Guang Shan, an international Buddhist headquarters founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun. This study also offers academic analysis of the musical forms from a selected set of Buddhist chants and songs with a specific focus on how particular musical forms are manifested in these as well as why they have become popular. Most of the musical scores are transcribed by the author, some of them from recordings made in the main shrine of Fo Guang Shan, and others provided by the Fo Guang Shan Institute of Humanistic Buddhism.
Humanistic Buddhism: Plurality and Humanism in Buddhism in the Context of a Buddho-Christian Comparison
One of the unique characteristics of Buddhism is its plurality, which can be seen in its objects of faith, scriptures (or teaching methods), and practices. The fundamental reason for this plurality is in its religious perspective of “humanism,” which is demonstrated in the Buddha teaching the Dharma in different ways to different people. Completely grounded in the human as an individual, teachings are given in response to the individual’s capacity, and medicine is prescribed according to the ailment of the individual patient.
A Study on Gender Equality in Humanistic Buddhism
Since Humanistic Buddhism was first proposed by Master Taixu, the issue of gender equality has gradually kindled widespread discussion in the field of Buddhism. During the Republican Era, Master Taixu and the female Buddhists of the Pure Bodhi Vihara have actively expressed their views on gender equality. Eventually, they reached a consensus of respecting a woman’s character, protecting her rights, and advocating equal status between men and women.
A Study of Gender Equality in Humanistic Buddhism
Since Humanistic Buddhism was first proposed by Master Taixu, the issue of gender equality has gradually kindled widespread discussion in the field of Buddhism. During the Republican Era, Master Taixu and the female Buddhists of the Pure Bodhi Vihara have actively expressed their views on gender equality. Eventually, they reached a consensus of respecting a woman’s character, protecting her rights, and advocating equal status between men and women. After 1949, under the impetus of Venerable Master Hsing Yun, Venerable Yin Shun, Venerable Sheng Yen, Venerable Chaohwei, thoughts on gender equality in Taiwan have made great strides. After 1980, the rejuvenation of Humanistic Buddhism in Mainland China in turn developed thoughts on gender equality. As a result, the overall status of female Buddhists in Mainland China has remarkably improved.
Humanistic Buddhism: Plurality and Humanistic Buddhism in the Context of a Buddho-Christian Comparison
On the morning of July 27, 2015, Venerable Master Hsing Yun met scholars and other devotees attending the Third Symposium on Humanistic Buddhism on the third floor of the Dharma Transmission Center, during which he gave a speech “How I Realized Humanistic Buddhism,” (originally titled “The Causes and Conditions that Guided Me to Humanistic Buddhism”).1 I had the great fortune of personally listening to this speech, during which Venerable Master responded to doubts (eight of them) on Humanistic Buddhism raised by those who do not quite understand it, covering topics such as tradition and modernization, laity and monastic, transcendence and engagement, origins and contemporary, spiritual cultivation and activities, etc.
Buddhist Economics: A Cultural Alternative
Watching weeds grow in the garden turns out to be a powerful lesson outside the classroom. First, the weeds look innocently beautiful until they start invading the space of the expensive grass that is fighting for survival. Alarmed, the gardener moves into action with industrial-strength weedkiller. Before long, the herbicide poisons both the weeds and grass. Alas, weeks later, it is the weed that manages to survive the new level of toxicity in the soil and springs back to life ahead of the grass. The battle resumes with the weeds ahead.
Toward a Modern Buddhist Hagiography Telling the Life of Hsing Yun in Popular Media
My interest in the biography of Master Hsing Yun (Xingyun 星雲, 1927–) began when I co-taught the “Buddhism in Asia” summer program in 20091 and visited the Fo Guang Shan ( 佛光山; Wade-Giles: Fo Kuang Shan, literally “Buddha’s Light Mountain”) headquarters in Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong 高雄) and a branch temple in Ilan (Yilan 宜蘭).2 My college students and I were rather impressed with the scale of the monastery in Kaohsiung and the global reach of its branches (Fo Guang Shan 2011).3 However, what intrigued me the most was our visit to the Fo Guang Shan Museum located in the Ilan branch temple. At the museum, our guides, who were nuns from the temple, showed us an illustrated comic biography of Hsing Yun, the founder of Fo Guang Shan. They told us stories, which are illustrated in the comic book, about their master’s arrival in Taiwan, the difficulties he encountered in his early religious career, and his successful missionary activities. Reading this comic helped me understand Hsing Yun’s leadership and the influence he has over his disciples and devotees. Following this, I started to consider the possibility of studying the life of Hsing Yun as portrayed in popular media and, with the help of some friends, began to track down the biographies of the monk as presented in various media.
