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Universal Gate Buddhist Journal - Debut Words from the Founder
The Key to Promoting Localization is not to ‘Discard’ but to ‘Give’–My View on ‘De-sinicization'
In Taiwan, issues of provincial origin and ethnicity are often intentionally used to manipulate elections. During the March 2004 presidential election, ethnic sentiment was once again provoked to the extent that some people chanted slogans of “localization” and “de-sinicization.” This throws us into doubt. In this era of multiculturalism, when countries are making every effort to absorb other cultures, it is indeed perplexing—and even unfathomable—why some Taiwanese people are moving to “discard” a culture via “de-sinicization.”
What is Chan? Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Point of View
This article explores Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s views on the meaning of Chan by examining his answers to the important question: What is Chan? This article has three parts. First, Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s expression of Chan is described, showing a multitude of answers to this issue. The second part focuses on Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s view that Chan is the foundation of Humanistic Buddhism. The third section describes Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s idea that Chan is life in more depth. The idea that Chan is life is thenfurther examined. Essentially, Chan is a life guided by an ordinary mind, a life lived in true reality, a life oriented toward what is good. In other words, a beautiful life. This article concludes that Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s idea of Chan is creative, fusing the teachings based on the scriptures with those outside the texts, combining Chan and Pure Land, and harmonizing the three doctrines of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.
Śamathavipaśyanā in Fo Guang Chan
Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Humanistic Buddhism places great importance on the study and practice of Chan. Fo Guang Chan is founded upon the Buddhist scriptures and commentaries, as well as the traditions of Chinese Buddhism, and is adapted to the needs of modern society, with a system of progressive cultivation which includes the paths of accumulation (saṃbhāramārga), preparation (prayogamārga), morality (śila), concentration (samādhi), wisdom (prajñā), vision (darśanamārga), cultivation (bhāvanāmārga), and the adept path (aśaikṣamārga). Among these, the paths of concentration and wisdom are at the core of Fo Guang Chan. Śamathavipaśyanā in Fo Guang Chan is based on the concepts of concentration and wisdom of early Buddhism, and further integrates the Mahāyāna doctrine of prajñā wisdom and the Tiantai practice of śamatha and vipaśyanā, with special emphasis on its application in daily life.
Interpreting Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Commentaries on the Guanyin Faith
Along with the modernization of Buddhism and the theoretical and practical development of Humanistic Buddhism by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, devotion to Guanyin has also undergone a humanistic transformation. The main characteristics of this humanistic transformation are a shift in emphasis from a dependence on divine blessings toward independent self-awakening, and a shift in practice from passive prayer toward active spiritual cultivation. By analyzing his thoughts on divine connection, liberation, and practice as laid out in his commentaries on Guanyin, this paper explores Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s contribution to the humanistic turn in Guanyin devotion, i.e., enlightenment not through worship and prayer, but through individual spiritual cultivation aimed at emulating and then becoming one with Guanyin.
Editor’s Preface
Volume five of Studies on Humanistic Buddhism contains eight articles translated from Chinese, one article that was written in English, and four student papers. The theme of the articles is Chan Buddhism, particularly Fo Guang Chan as developed by Venerable Master Hsing Yun. Chan is the Chinese version of what in English is often known by the Japanese pronunciation—Zen.
Editor’s Preface
In Buddhism, the concept of upāya kauśalya refers to using skillful means to teach each person according to their capability to understand. What might be appropriate for some people at a certain time might not be appropriate for others at different times. In other words, tailoring the message so that it resonates with the audience. Although the means of guiding sentient beings are only partial aspects of the ultimate truth, using language and teaching methods that inspire others to begin on the path toward enlightenment. Skillful means is one of the perfections (paramitā) of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Just like a bodhisattva motivated by wisdom and compassion, Venerable Master Hsing Yun made a great vow to help bring out the spiritual potential of sentient beings. He crafted a version of Humanistic Buddhism that integrated Buddhist doctrine with the daily life of people of current times and cultures. He not only adapted his teaching to effectively transmit the Dharma, he also used skillful means to propagate the Dharma. The articles in this volume discuss some of the various ways he grew the Fo Guang Shan into a worldwide Buddhist organization through building temples throughout the world, founding the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) for lay practitioners, globalizing and localizing, education, natural aesthetics, and through developing the concepts of collective effort and leadership by system.
Preliminary Study on Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Educational Leadership Style
Over the past fifty years, Venerable Master Hsing Yun has promoted Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan, and has been devoted to the cause of schooling and education. He has been a prominent educator, having established a large number of education institutions, including comprehensive universities, secondary schools, elementary schools, and kindergartens. His style of educational leadership can be summarized as: (1) rooted in Humanistic Buddhism, (2) with a passion for education, (3) good at fundraising for building schools, (4) skillful at appointing specialized professionals to run schools, (5) caring for disadvantaged students, (6) leading in teaching innovation, (7) holding the teaching profession in high esteem, and (8) focused on rebuilding the humanities.
Encountering the Extraordinary: Meeting Master Hsing Yun 我的老朋友—話說星雲大師
Humanistic Religion From Guodian to Vimalakirti
This paper will argue that the term “Humanistic Buddhism,” which Venerable Master Hsing Yun describes as central to all of Buddhism, is also fundamental to Chinese religion as a collective group. Such an expansion is in keeping with the spirit of his recent publication 365 Days for Travelers: Wisdom from Chinese Literary and Buddhist Classics. Here we see an enlargement of humanism to include a general assessment of Chinese culture. It because of this expansion that this paper uses the term “Humanistic Religion” instead of “Humanistic Buddhism.” Crucial support for the centrality of humanism to Chinese religion comes from it being expressed with the greatest clarity and earliest date in the recently excavated Guodian corpus (郭店楚簡). As such, Guodian represents a missing link between Buddhism and other pre-Han religious systems. Venerable Master Hsing-yun sees Humanistic Buddhism as a system that has particular utility for overcoming divisions; as such it is interested in developing the linkages with indigenous Chinese religion that I will be detailing in this paper. Specifically, Humanistic Buddhism: Holding True to the Original Intents of Buddha, states that the schisms which arose after the passing of the Buddha can be overcome with humanism. In the publications by Fo Guang Shan I have reviewed so far, however, recently excavated manuscripts have not been considered and this will one of the contributions of this paper.
