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蘭卡斯特教授新著《邂逅佛教》 英文原文版 8月推出
生活的思想與實踐指南。蘭卡斯特教授以充滿智慧與慈悲的文字，引導讀者無論是在面對個人的生命困惑，還是應對科技迅速發展和全球新冠疫情帶來的挑戰，都能將恐懼轉化為安然。蘭卡斯特教授藉其深厚的佛學修養，深入闡釋因果、空性、無我等佛法義理，並對欲望、種族主義和疫情等現象提出獨到見解，為現當代讀者的生活提供寶貴指引。 書中，蘭卡斯特教授以真摯的筆觸，分享他面對親友離世與自身老病的心路歷程，帶給讀者在自我成長與人際關係上的深刻啟發。這些個人經歷無不讓人觸動心弦，更深切地體會到生命的無常與珍貴。本書亦特別附錄美國《今日心理學》（Psychology Today）專欄作者Chris Gilbert博士對教授在療.....
Modern Religious Tourism in Taiwan: A Case Study of Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center
Fo Guang Shan Buddha Memorial Center, founded by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, is a newly opened Buddhist site in Taiwan, which not only serves as a combined museum, art gallery and religious landmark, but also a diverse cultural, education and art center whose total number of visitors in the first year of its opening exceeded ten million, higher than that of the Louvre in 2012, and has continued to rise in successive years. The Center also became the youngest museum to be recognized as a member of ICOM, receive ISO50001 certification, and listed on Tripadvisor as one of the top three tourist destinations in Taiwan within the first four years of its opening.
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.
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.
National Recognition of a Religious Festival: Comparing Buddha’s Birthday Celebration Organized in Taipei to the Northern Wei Buddha’s Birthday Parade
Festivals make up a major feature of all religions1 and human societies. A festival means to most people a “special day or period, usually in memory of a religious event, with its own social activities, food and eremonies,” or an “organized set of special events, such as musical performances.” A religious festival presents a unique opportunity to gain insight into the confluence of religion, culture, and politics. Among Buddhist festivals, Buddha’s birthday stands out as the most popular and most public. When religious celebrations go outside the temple gates, it is an indication of wide acceptance of Buddhism by its host populace. In this paper, I shall compare two significant Buddha’s birthday celebrations: one in antiquity and one in recent times. These two circumstances are significant because the heads of state are conspicuously present outside their symbols of power and the entire capital city observed the occasion. By comparing large-scale commemoration of Buddha’s birthday celebrations held before the Office of the President in contemporary Taipei with a city-wide parade held in Luoyang during the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534), this paper will identify the factors critical to indigenous Chinese people accepting major festivals of a foreign religion.
The Influence of Indian and Buddhist Elements in Medieval China: A Study of Buddha’s Birthday Celebrations In Luoyang during the Northern Wei dynasty
The Buddha’s birthday festival reached an unprecedented level of grandeur during the rule of Northern Wei when its capital was at Luoyang (495 to 534 CE). Buddhism was indigenous to neither the rulers nor the native Han Chinese. Yet, the Buddha’s birthday celebration on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month became a popular ritual in which the entire city participated. This paper studies a particular phenomenon in this public ritual, the use of carriages in image processions, tracing the heritage of these carriages back to the religion’s land of origin, India, and their literary sources. The intention of this paper is to study the reasons for such phenomenal success, in particular as they relate to the functional role of a religious festival and how the tenets of a religion can enable itself to be popular and sustainable. The Buddha’s birthday is a relevant case study because over 1,500 years later, countries such as Cambodia, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam continue to celebrate it as their public holiday.
A Study on the Admonitions of Pure Land (Jingtu Jingyu) by Xingce
Xingce Jieliu 行策截流 (1626-1680) was a famous Pure Land Master during the Qing Dynasty. He devoted himself to the Pure Land practice for self liberation in his early years, and propagated the Pure Land practice for liberating sentient beings in his later years. The Admonitions of Pure Land (Jingtu Jingyu) is Xingce's representative work. Within this work, Xingce emphasized the True Faith for rebirth in the Pure Land and argued that the most expedient Buddhist teaching for rebirth in the Pure Land is the recitation of Amitabha Buddha's name. Xingce adopted Tiantai doctrines as the theoretical foundations to support Pure Land practice. In recognition of his great dedication, Master Yinguang honored Xingce as the 10th patriarch of the Pure Land School.
