Many scholars regard Humanistic Buddhism as an independent Chinese Buddhist phenomenon occurs in the 20th-21st centuries. Most of them do not provide an accurate and persuasive definition of Humanistic Buddhism. One of the reasons for this situation is due to the ambiguity between Buddhism and Humanistic Buddhism, Humanistic Buddhism and Popularized Buddhism, Popularized Buddhism and Secularized Buddhism, as well as Secularized Buddhism and Corrupted Buddhism. It is based on the clarification of those different categories of Buddhism that we attempt to explore the true nature of Humanistic Buddhism in this thesis. The origin and development of Humanistic Buddhism at different stages are discussed in an attempt to establish the nature of Humanistic Buddhism from two aspects: essence and manifestation. On the one hand, the original intention of the Buddha’s teaching is to solve people’s problems in this very life. This should be regarded as the essence of Humanistic Buddhism. On the other hand, the manifestation of Humanistic Buddhism has emerged out of necessity, and in response to cultural, political, geographical and social diversities. The overall salient argument of this thesis is that so long as the essence of Humanistic Buddhism is not violated, the manifestation of Humanistic Buddhism was and remains crucial for the survival of Buddhism in modern times. This is the crucial point for us to have a proper understanding of Humanistic Buddhism. In modern time, it is based on the essence of Humanistic Buddhism that many leading Buddhist exponents have developed into different forms to suit changing conditions in present society. In this regards, Xingyun has made a pioneering contribution.
