南美中觀僧團=Tzong Kuan Monastic Community in South America=Zhongguan sengtuan in South America; 普獻法師=Dharma Master Pushien=Puxian fashi; 智翰法師=Dharma Master Zhihan=Zhihan fashi; 阿根廷中觀寺=Tzong Kuan Monastery in Argentina=Agenting Zhongguan si; 布宜諾斯艾利斯=Buenos Aires
In the development of contemporary Buddhism, Taiwanese Buddhism has played an immensely important role. This is not only due to the vigorous development of different schools of Buddhism in Taiwan, but also because the Buddhist Dharma (fofa 佛法) has spread from Taiwan to various corners of the world. This study takes the Tzong Kuan monastic community (Zhongguan sengtuan 中觀僧團) in South America as its research subject, and records their activities related to the spread of the Dharma during the past 30 years in Argentina. Although some of the sangha members of Tzong Kuan monastic community are not Taiwanese, all of them have received the precepts (shoujie 受戒), a process of ordination, in Taiwan. As long as an individual has studied with a Taiwanese Dharma master (fashi 法師), she is perceived as a branch of Taiwanese Buddhism. After spreading the Dharma in peripheral regions for 30 years, the approach of this monastic community has to some extent undergone a transformation. The main focus of this research is two figures within the Tzong Kuan monastic community—first generation Dharma Master Pushien (Puxian fashi 普獻法師) and second generation Dharma master Zhihan (Zhihan fashi 智翰法師). Through observation and interviews with these generational masters, I attempt to understand the circumstances of the spread of the Dharma in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. Dharma master Pushien was the first person to establish a monastery in Argentina, as well as the first senior monastic stationed there to spread the Dharma. However, Dharma master Zhihan has only started cultivating the Dharma in this area in the last ten years. These Dharma masters, due to divergent personal circumstances and background, have experienced different conditions in spreading the Dharma. Through concurrent interviews of the two Dharma masters, we can somewhat compare the two generations, as well as understand the changes in the guiding principles of their spread of the Dharma. The author hopes, in presenting this article that it might serve as a reference for Taiwanese Dharma Masters who travel to distant areas to spread the Dharma.
