作者單位：國立屏東商業技術學院副教授 Associate Professor, National Pingtung Institute of Commerce
關鍵詞
佛教現代化; 人生佛教=Buddhist Humanism; 人間佛教=Buddhism for Humans; 人間淨土=A Pure Land on Earth for Humanity; 太虛=Master Tai Xu; 印順=Master Ying Shun; 聖嚴=Master Sheng Yen
Master Tai Xu(太虛)proclaimed “Buddhist Humanism”(人生佛教); Master Ying Shun(印順)advocated “Buddhism for Humans”(人間佛教); and Master Sheng Yen(聖嚴) advocated “A Pure Land on Earth for Humanity.”(人間淨土) The teachings of these three masters represent the development of Chinese Buddhist reform for different generations. What did Master Sheng Yen inherit from his predecessors? What did he contribute to the discourse of humanistic Buddhism? These are the main questions for discussion in the article. In order to appreciate the differences and similarities among the three masters, I use the Four Noble Truths of Suffering, Cause of Suffering, Cessation of Suffering, and the Path as a model or lens to examine their teachings. “Suffering” represents the crisis and perceived decline in Chinese Buddhism to which these masters were responding to. “Cause of Suffering” refers to the analysis of this crisis by these masters. “Cessation” refers to the direction of the developments and the guidance of these master’s teachings. “The Path” refers to their projects that aim to actualize their teachings. Differences existed among the three masters. However, their teachings exhibit more similarities because they share the same approach to advancing Buddhism in modern times; they also share a basic spirit and aim of Chinese Buddhism. From this perspective, they do not deviate from other Buddhist leaders during their time. I argue that their difference lies mainly in their theoretical foundations in Buddhism, attitudes toward epistemology, and the importance of Chan (or meditation) experience in their teachings.
