傳統與創新 ── 聖嚴法師以天台思想建構「漢傳禪佛教」的特色與意涵=Tradition and Innovation: On the Interpretation and Significance of Master Sheng Yen’s Construction of “Chinese Chan Buddhism” with a Focus on the Tiantai’s Thought
“Chinese Chan Buddhism” constructed by Master Sheng Yen, is regarded by the Master as both characterized by the summit of traditional Chinese Buddhist value and wisdom on the one hand, and on the other an ever innovationary Buddhist religion that simultaneously adapts itself to and transcends modernity. This article aims at reflecting on the dialectic process and tradition and innovation, a process touches several key issues in the Study of Chinese Buddhism both historical and modern: “sinification,” “syncretism,” and “Buddhist modernism”. This article hopes to show that Master Sheng Yen’s “Chinese Chan Buddhism” should not be taken at face value as “sinified Buddhism,” “syncretized Buddhism,” and a product of sheer modernity. On the contrary, the “Chinese Chan Buddhism” in the process of sinification, syncretization, and modernization has challenged and attempted to transcend these three phenomena. The main object for this study is the Tiantai thought interpreted in Master Sheng Yen’s “Chinese Chan Buddhism” for the reason that Tiantai thought is construed by the Master as the foundations of his “Chinese Chan Buddhism” both doctrinally and meditationally. With this study, I intend to contextualize Master Sheng Yen’s construction “Chinese Chan Buddhism” in dynamics of religious transmission and innovation, “sinification and Indianization,” and “post-” modernization.
