齋姑=vegetarian women; 馬來西亞佛學院=Malaysian Buddhist Institute; 皈信佛教=conversionto Buddhism; 路徑=pathway
摘要
齋姑轉皈佛教的過程頗為複雜。這項研究主要是以典藏在馬來西亞佛學院教務處未公開的第一手資料,探討齋姑皈依佛教的路徑與歷程。本文將齋姑主要分為兩類:一、齊堂領養的小孩;二、成年後志願成為齋姑者。她們的皈依路徑又可分為非制度性與制度性兩種。非制度性路徑指齋姑因年邁無繼承人而將廟產交予佛教組織,如柔佛州普照寺;制度性路徑則指齋堂將所領養的孩子送至佛學院接受正規佛教教育,以確保其能承擔未來齋堂的法務責任,這使齊堂逐漸佛教化。齊堂學子皈依佛教前多受民間信仰影響,即是社會民眾對民間神明的崇拜,這是齊堂與社群連結的重要橋樑。同時,個人生活、情感與心理困惑亦是促使他們皈信佛教的重要因素。這篇論文嘗試建構齋姑皈依佛教的歷程模式,並提供作為未來研究的參考。不過,這篇論文主要是以馬來西亞佛學院來自齊堂的學子為研究對象,這是否能夠完備的說明其他庵堂齊姑的皈信歷程的特徵,這也是值得進一步深究的議題。 The process of zhaigu (vegetarian women) converting to Buddhism is complexity. By utilizing unpublished first-hand materials kept in administrative office of the Malaysian Buddhist Institute, the research explores the pathways and trajectories of their conversion to Buddhism. The study is categorized zhaigu into two categories: 1. children adopted by zhaitang (vegetarian house); 2. those who voluntary to become nuns in adulthood. Their paths to conversion can further be divided into non-institutional and institutional routes. The non-institutional route refers to cases where elderly nuns without successors gave the temple property to Buddhist organizations, for instance, Puzhao Buddhist Vihara in Johor. The institutional route involves zhaitang sending their adopted children to Buddhist institutes for formal Buddhist education. The purpose is to train that these children can assume future responsibilities for religious affairs in the zhaitang. This institutional education has gradually contributed to the Buddhist transformation of vegatarian house. Before converting to Buddhism, students from zhaitang were largely influenced by folk beliefs. This served as a bridge to link vegetarian house to the community. In addition, personal factors such as life struggles, emotional challenges, and psychological uncertainties often prompted individuals to convert to Buddhist. This paper is attempted to construct a model of the conversion process of vegetarian women to Buddhism, which is hoped to offer it as a reference for future research. However, the study is mainly focused on students from vegetarian house who study in Malaysian Buddhist Institute, whether the findings can comprehensively explain the characteristics of conversion processes in other vegetarian house remains an issue worth for further investigation.
