世界神明聯誼會=When Buddha Meets the Gods event; 人間秩序; 社會象徵=social symbolism; human world; social structure
摘要
台灣佛光山「世界神明聯誼會」近年頗受政、教、學、社會各界關注，學界也已從不同視角討論世界神明聯誼會的地位、意義及其影響。本文主要圍繞著世界神明聯誼會所構成的秩序特徵及其相關問題，論述人間佛教的「共修秩序」如何邁向神明、神佛關係間的「共用秩序」等問題。世界神明聯誼會的社會學本質是人間聯誼會及其人間共用秩序的構成，是通過神明聯誼會的儀式交往過程所形成的不同宗教、民間神靈與社會信眾共用的共同秩序。 In recent years, Fo Guang Shan’s “When Buddha Meets the Gods” event in Taiwan has received considerable attention from the spheres of politics, religion, education, and society. The academic community has also discussed the status, significance, and influence of this event from various perspectives. This paper focuses on the “social structure” derived from the “When Buddha Meets the Gods” event and its related issues. It discusses how the social structure of Humanistic Buddhism paves the way for the social order between gods, and the relationship between the buddhas and the gods. The sociological essence of the “When Buddha Meets the Gods” event is a composite of human fellowship and its collective structure, actualized by the event’s ritual interactions and shared by the different religions, folk gods, and devotees.
