
Humanistic Buddhism () is a modern
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
practiced by Buddhist groups originating from
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...
which places an emphasis on integrating
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
practices into everyday life and shifting the focus of ritual from the dead to the living.
Nomenclature
Taixu, a
Buddhist modernist activist and thinker who advocated the reform and renewal of
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...
, used the term "Buddhism for Human Life" (). The first two characters, "human" and "life", indicating his criticism of several aspects of late
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
and early
Republican Chinese Buddhism that he wished to correct, namely, an emphasis on spirits and ghosts ("human") and funeral services and rites ("life"). His disciples continued this emphasis.
Taixu also used the term "Buddhism for the Human World", or popularly humanistic Buddhism (). It appears that at first the two terms were largely interchangeable. One of Taixu's disciples,
Yin Shun, used the term "humanistic Buddhism" to indicate a criticism against the "deification" of Buddhism, which was another common feature of much of Chinese Buddhism, in his articles and books. It was Yin Shun and other disciples of Taixu who brought both of these two terms to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
in the wake of the
Nationalist government
The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...
defeat during the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...
by the
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
. It was in Taiwan that the term humanistic Buddhism became the most commonly used term, particularly amongst the religious leaders who originally hailed from China.
[
]
Background
Humanistic Buddhism integrates Buddhist practices into everyday life based on the nature of Sakyamuni Buddha achieving Buddhahood
In Buddhism, Buddha (, which in classic Indo-Aryan languages, Indic languages means "awakened one") is a title for those who are Enlightenment in Buddhism, spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the Buddhist paths to liberat ...
while bound in an earthly form. Humanistic Buddhism is based on six core concepts, namely humanism, altruism, spiritual practices as part of daily life, joyfulness, timeliness and the universality of saving all beings. From these principles, the aim of humanistic Buddhism is to reconnect Buddhist practice with the ordinary and places emphasis on caring for the material world, not solely concerned with achieving delivery from it.
Soka Gakkai definition
According to Daisaku Ikeda
was a Japanese Buddhist leader, author, educator and nuclear disarmament advocate. He served as the third president and then honorary president of the Soka Gakkai, which is considered among the largest of Japan's new religious movements but ...
, head of the Soka Gakkai
is a Japanese new religions, Japanese new religion led by Minoru Harada since December 2023 based on the teachings of the 13th-century Buddhist priest Nichiren. It claims the largest membership among Nichiren Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhist group ...
new religious movement: Another aspect of manifesting the teaching of Humanistic Buddhism is the interfaith dialogue
Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...
and the study of the common tenets of non-violence
Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...
.
Soka Gakkai International
Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai.
It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...
teaches that "the Lotus Sutra
The ''Lotus Sūtra'' (Sanskrit: ''Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram'', ''Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma'', zh, p=Fǎhuá jīng, l=Dharma Flower Sutra) is one of the most influential and venerated Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtras. ...
... leads all people to Buddhahood and we ordinary human beings are in no way different or separate from one another" and viewed the Buddha as a role model for all humanity: "The purpose of the appearance in this world of Shakyamuni Buddha, the lord of teachings, lies in his behaviour as a human being".
Buddhism and new religious movements in Taiwan
Yin Shun was the key figure in the doctrinal exposition of Buddhism and thus humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan. However, he was not particularly active in the social or political spheres of life. This was to be carried out by a younger generation such as Hsing Yun, Sheng-yen, Wei Chueh and Cheng Yen. These four figures, collectively known as the Four Heavenly Kings
The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhism, Buddhist gods or Deva (Buddhism), ''devas'', each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. The Hall of Four Heavenly Kings is a standard component of Chinese Buddhism, Ch ...
of Taiwanese Buddhism, head the Four Great Mountains, or monasteries, of Taiwanese Buddhism and Buddhist new religious movement
A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...
s, namely Fo Guang Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Chung Tai Shan and Tzu Chi.[
]
History of Chinese Buddhist ritual practice
Humanistic Buddhism originated in China at the beginning of the 20th century. The movement emerged as a collective attempt to emphasize the importance of serving the living in Buddhist practice, rather than placing focus on the traditional Buddhist rituals for the dead. After the Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
, penance for the dead had become more widespread, replacing rituals focused on meditation. A possible cause for this was Emperor Zhu Yuanzhan's Buddhist Orders issued in 1391. These created three categories of the sangha, or monastic class: meditation monks, teaching monks and yoga monks. These yoga monks were responsible for performing rituals for the dead. This led to certain monks taking on the roles of monks on call who performed rituals to earn their livelihood. These monks on call made up a majority of the sangha by the end of the Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
. Another possible cause of the increased rituals for the dead was the spread of tantric Buddhism following the Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
which promoted ritual practice.
Fo Guang Shan
Fo Guang Shan is one of the most popular humanistic Buddhist organizations in present-day Taiwan. They have done work to reform and re-invent more traditional ritual practices. They strive to highlight Dharmic aspects of ritual and tailor their practices and worship to benefit the living, rather than the dead. Fo Guang Shan are known for their Recitation Teams, which they send to hospitals and hospice care facilities to assist the dying and their loved ones in performing humanistic Buddhist ritual practice. Humanistic Buddhists believe that death is not an end so much as the beginning of a new life and therefore rituals at the end of life should comfort and pacify the dying individual. They also hold ceremonies that celebrate marriage and the happiness of married couples which are popular worldwide.
Hsing Yun
Hsing Yun (1927–2023) was widely considered a contemporary leader in the humanistic Buddhist movement in Taiwan and was the founder of Fo Guang Shan in the 1960s. He wrote ''Rites for Funerals'', a work outlining the Dharmic elements of these rituals and reforming them to place emphasis on the living participants and worshipers. He also wrote ''The Etiquettes and Rules'', which outlines the practices of traditional Buddhism from a humanistic perspective.
Gender equality in humanistic Buddhism
One controversy of humanistic Buddhism is the role of women in society. Hsing Yun held a conservative perspective as to the position of women and published a variety of articles for men on how to maintain a functioning household and for women on how to provide proper companionship and please their husbands. Despite this perception, women have earned themselves a solid position in the Chinese workforce. While Hsing Yun did not advocate for women being forced out of workplaces, he cautioned men about the problems that might arise in a household if a woman is not at home to keep things in order. However, Buddhist nuns have been gaining a place as of 1998 in which 136 women from a variety of Buddhist traditions were ordained into the Fo Guang Shan tradition in China. Taiwan has also had ordination available to Buddhist nuns for centuries.
See also
* Hsing Yun
* Nan Tien Temple
* Religious humanism
References
Further reading
*
* Ho, Jacqueline (2008). "The Practice of Yin Shun's Ren Jian Fo Jiao: A Case Study of Fu Yan College, Dharma Drum Mountain and Tzu Chi Buddhist Compassion Relief". MA thesis. University of Calgary.
*
*
* Ikeda, D. (15 October 2010). ''A New Humanism''. .
*
{{Buddhism topics
Buddhism in China
Fo Guang Shan
Mahayana