聖嚴法師曾表示，始於中年時期，整合太虛大師以中國本土化為主及印順法師回溯印度佛學這兩種觀點，成為現代化的世界佛教，即是他的路線。到了晚年，則直接表明自己走的是太虛大師的路，更曾在為學僧講授太虛大師的行誼時，哽咽低泣，可見其感念太虛大師之深。 探討法師對太虛大師思想行誼的承續與創新，在兩人的薪火傳承中繼續挖掘「漢傳佛教新活力的泉源」，是學界已研究多年的課題。本文對前人的研究稍加補充，系統的梳理《法鼓全集》中聖嚴法師對太虛大師的引述及評論，是一個以法師著作中的「太虛大師」為觀念，把「聖嚴法師」的一生串連起來的一個小嘗試。 本文原始資料的收集，以「太虛」一詞檢索《法鼓全集》，得資料四百八十七筆，整理出五十五篇文獻中的七十二筆，將內容歸納為「法義抉擇參考」、「志趣」、 「人間淨土」、「中國佛教的現況與改革」、「傳記及生平」及「世界佛教」六個主題，分析主題內容跨年代的異同，並比較太虛大師的相關著作，從中分析太虛大師思想對法師的影響，及法師對虛大師思想的承續。 本文指出，聖嚴法師「站在現代人所見漢傳禪佛教的立足點上」，溝通印度佛教的源頭及南北傳諸宗的佛法，以豐富重整漢傳佛教，呼應了大師晚年的主流旁支論述，探究一切漢傳佛典，融匯巴利文、藏文及日文的佛法，來充實已經貧乏的禪淨台賢；以千百年來適應了本土文化的佛教形式為主流，不僅廣納旁支的能量，更將主流導向人間佛教的正行。因此，無論是法師融匯各佛教傳承重整漢傳佛教的學思、建僧的努力、對漢傳禪法的改良與弘揚，及以心靈環保和三大教育實現人間浄土、引領社會思潮的事功等，皆與太虛大師的志趣、對中國佛教復興的期許，及以菩薩學處建設人間淨土的構思極其契合，以順應新時代的創新與遠見，實現了太虛大師整興佛教僧會及瑜伽菩薩戒的志行，在近當代漢傳佛教的復興運動中，可以說聖嚴法師是太虛大師實質上的傳承者及思想的落實者。 Master Tai Xu’s approach towards Buddhism was rooted in Indigenous Chinese Buddhism while that of Master Yin Shun emphasized reconnecting with Indian Buddhism. Master Shen Yen indicated that integrating these two perspectives into a modern form of world Buddhism had been his aspiration since middle age. In later years, he explicitly exclaimed that he had taken Master Tai Xu’s approach. Moreover, during a lecture when he was talking about the practices and deeds of Master Tai Xu, he choked up and wept, showing how deeply he was inspired by Master Tai Xu. Analyzing what Master Sheng Yen inherited from Master Tai Xu’s thoughts, practices and deeds, and what innovations he had made on that basis is a well research topic. Such studies enable us to explore how we can be further nourished by the “spring well of Chinese Buddhism’s vitality” embodied by the spiritual transmission between the two masters. This work seeks to add to the corpus of this scholarship by systematically extracting and analyzing materials related to Master Tai Xu in the Dharma Drum Compendium. It is an attempt to provide a narrative of Master Sheng Yen’s life using “Master Tai Xu” in his works as a conceptual pivot. Searching for “Tai Xu” in the Dharma Drum Compendium resulted in 487 items, based on which 72 items from 55 articles were included. Via a thematic analysis, these materials are classified into six themes – doctrinal deliberation and reference, aspirational writing, pure land on Earth, state of Chinese Buddhism and reforms, biographical sketches, and world Buddhism. These thematic contents are further analyzed to uncover chronological patterns, and compared to Master Tai Xu’s works on related themes. The results are synthesized to obtain a more comprehensive understanding on how Master Sheng Yen was influenced and what he inherited from Master Tai Xu’s thoughts. This paper highlights that while Master Sheng Yen endeavoured to enrich Chinese Buddhism with elements from ancient Indian Buddhism and various schools of canonical language traditions, he was firmly rooted in contemporary Chinese Chan Buddhism. This echoed Master Tai Xu’s narrative of “trunk and tributary” in his later years. In this narrative, Master Tai Xu advocated that to renew Chinese Buddhism, we must explore all available scriptural texts in Chinese Buddhism, and integrate the insights of Pali, Tibetan, and Japanese Buddhism into mainstream Chinese Buddhism. Only then could latter-day Chan, Pure Land, Tiantai and Xianshou schools, which were regarded to be in an impoverished state, be enriched. In this spirit, Master Sheng Yen stayed true to the mainstream of Chinese Buddhism which had been adapted across the years for the native Chinese culture. Not only did he introduce fresh energy of other traditions as tributaries into the mainstream, but also steer the mainstream towards the path of humanistic Buddhism. As such, whether we look at Master Sheng Yen from his synthesis of teachings from various traditions to renew Chinese Buddhism, his effort in building a modern sangha, his innovation and dissemination of Chan practices, his endeavours in realizing the idea
