大乘佛教=Master Jih-Chang; 終極關懷=Ultimate Concern of Mahayana Buddhism; 宗喀巴= Tsong-kha-pa; 《菩提道次第廣論》=Lam Rim Chen Mo (the Great Treatise / the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to En-lightenment); 日常法師=Becoming a Buddha
With highly developed industry and advanced technology, modern people seem to enjoy a life with unprecedented material wealth. However, the hard earned material wealth pays a great price, e.g., environmental pollution, pervasive utilitarianism and indifference towards various social issues. And the material gain does not lead to people’s psychological well-being, which industrialization and modernization promised to offer at the first place. What is worse is that more people are suffering from various forms of mental malfunctions. It seems that the entire human race is trapped in an impasse. Is there any way out? Recently, with an attempt to slow down the deteriorating tendency, concerned people from public as well as private sectors have started to promote life education. The purpose of the present study is to establish a possible approach on the Ultimate Concern of life in hope of finding a life goal worth living for. With a wonderful integration of compassion and wis-dom, Lam Rim Chen Mo (the Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) is chosen as the target text to be analyzed. Document analysis and philosophical research methods are applied to interpret Lam Rim Chen Mo, where "Becoming a Buddha" is clarified as the core concept of Ultimate Concern of Mahayana Buddhism. Furthermore, Buddhism Master Jih-Chang, the founder of The Bliss and Wisdom Bud-dhist Foundation and pioneer in popularizing the study of Lam Rim Chen Mo in Taiwan, is chosen to be the exemplary figure. To make Lam Rim a practical guide for lay people to achieve Ultimate Concern, Master Jih-Chang adopted concepts from Confucius teachings, where people are inspired to practice the right attitudes and actions in every-day life. Finally, upholding the ultimate goal of Becoming a Buddha while standing on the solid ground of everyday practice, Master Jih-Chang established a way toward Ultimate Concern of Maha-yana Buddhism.
