Modern Buddhist Research Articles

Towards Enlightenment: Taixu’s Interpretation of Buddhist Psychology

Chinese intellectuals started to engage in Buddhist psychology in the early 20th century, a time when Western culture was greatly influencing the country. Taixu criticized Western psychology and proposed his Buddhist psychology. He proposed a tripartite psychology based on Buddhist doctrine: psychology on affection (qing 情); psychology on reflection (xiang 想); and psychology on wisdom (zhi 智). Perceiving Western psychology as lacking in both theoretical depth and breadth, he specifically criticized behaviorism. He integrated the interpretation of “sense faculties” (indriya) from the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, thereby reconstructing an Ideal Behavioral Science, a philosophical system that centers on behavior and encompasses all aspects of life. This paper argues that Taixu’s critique of Western psychology and his construction of Buddhist psychology responded to the ideological trends of his era. In Taixu’s conceptual system, Buddhist psychology was part of his theory on “Buddhism for human life” (rensheng fojiao 人生佛教), serving not only to explain the psychological state of human but also to guide cultivation and lead people to enlightenment, bearing practical significance. Taixu’s study of worldly knowledge, including psychology, attempts to comprehensively construct a modern Buddhist system that integrates Buddhist Dharma and secular learning.

Conflict and Salvation in Modern Buddhist Literature in Japan, Focusing on The Inheritance of Winter(冬のかたみに) and The Priest and His Disciple(出家とその弟子)

Conflict and Salvation in Modern Buddhist Literature in Japan, Focusing on The Inheritance of Winter(冬のかたみに) and The Priest and His Disciple(出家とその弟子)

Theravadization of Buddhayana under the discourse of modern Buddhism and Indonesian politics

Scholars have presented the Buddhayana Movement as a diverse and localized form of Indonesian Buddhism, which was facilitated by the cooperation of transnational Buddhist networks. This paper raises two questions: (1) what were the impacts of Theravada Buddhism that facilitated the rise of Buddhayana? and (2) when Theravada became a symbol of authentic Buddhism and its identity could satisfy the state rather during assimilation policy, how did Buddhayana members balance the needs of the Chinese patrons and of the government? Based upon documentary methods combined with in-depth interviews, the data collected are analyzed through the concepts of transnationalism and the discourse of modern Buddhism. This paper proposes that (1) the birth of Buddhayana in the 1960s was facilitated not only by transnational relations, but also by the discourse of modern Buddhism, which led to an emphasis on Theravada Buddhism. Therefore, even though Buddhayana claimed to be open to Mahayana and Vajrayana as well, its official doctrines and ritual performances presented in public tend to be Theravada in character. (2) The politics of discrimination against the Chinese Indonesians helped to marginalize Mahayana Buddhism, a tradition that its image links to the Chinese culture. In consequence, Mahayana tended to play a role in the daily practices of the Chinese in their houses and klenteng, meanwhile Theravada in terms of philosophical teachings and huge rituals was chosen to be presented in the public sphere in accordance with the state’s needs.

Mindfulness, Buddhist Modernity and Cultural Psychology.

I will in this article use Fircks as a point of departure for trying to understand the complexities involved in the use of the concept of mindfulness. As will be seen, mindfulness can be traced to a decoupling from a religious background and subsequent appropriation within several Western contexts. This will then be used for a discussion of how to deal with the historicity of the phenomena studied within cultural psychology. Here two reminders will be suggested, namely understanding phenomena through a context-sensibility and at the same time being aware of any disciplinary parochialism.

Sparks from the Clouds: a modern Buddhist poem

Sparks from the Clouds: a modern Buddhist poem

Education for Buddhist Modernism: Buddhicised education and reform in Hong Kong schools

ABSTRACT Starting with an initiative called Buddhicised education, there have been calls to reform Chinese Buddhism for a century. Based on documentary research of textbooks and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the reform of Buddhicised education in Hong Kong since 2000. Facilitated by the Hong Kong government’s education reform, Buddhicised education has gone in a new direction. The promotion of character education and caring for the heart have become more significant than ever in addressing the daily life issues and social concerns of students. Buddhicised education can be broadly redefined as life education for whole-person development in terms of beliefs, values, morality, character, positive emotions and spirituality. Reforms have been made in both the formal and informal curricula by incorporating moral and life education, contemplative education and sustainable education, as well as taking a student-centred approach such as experiential learning. This paper also discusses the implications of Buddhist modernism and the prospects of Buddhicised education in the religious education context of Hong Kong.

The Significance and Musical Features of Modern Korean Buddhist Hymns through Baek Yong-sung’s Buddhist Hymns

Chan-bul-ga (찬불가, 讚佛歌), which in English means ‘songs in praise of the Buddha’, refers to a style of Korean Buddhist hymn that emerged during the modernization of Korean Buddhism. Buddhist hymns—which can be considered to be based on Christian hymns—are characterized by the fact that they can be easily learned by the general public so that they can easily participate in Buddhist rituals together, unlike the existing Korean Buddhist musical styles of ‘Beom-pae (범패, 梵唄)’ and ‘Hwa-cheong (화청, 和請)’. The monk Baek Yong-sung (1864–1940), who embraced the function and effectiveness of these new religious music styles as one of his methods of propagation, participated in the independence movement after the 1910 Korea–Japan Annexation Treaty, and he led both the public enlightenment movement and the spread of Buddhism by creating Buddhist hymns. The present study seeks to examine Baek Yong-sung’s social activities and the context in which modern Buddhist hymns emerged. This study also explores the religious, social, and musical meanings of Buddhist hymns while focusing on his works ‘Wang-seng-ga (왕생가)’ and ‘Se-gye-gi-si-ga (세계기시가)’.

The Self-Knowledge of Not-Self: On the Problem of Modern Buddhism and the Basic Character of the Buddha’s Teaching

The Self-Knowledge of Not-Self: On the Problem of Modern Buddhism and the Basic Character of the Buddha’s Teaching

The Role of Mindfulness in the Relationship Between Social Interest and Psychological Health

ABSTRACT: Social interest is the cornerstone of psychological health. Recently, the psychological construct of mindfulness, which is closely linked to psychological health, has received a great deal of attention in counseling research and practice. Mindfulness plays a prominent role in traditional and modern Buddhist approaches that emphasize social justice and equality, as does Adlerian theory. In this regard, this study explores the mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between social interest and psychological health. The sample consisted of 261 Turkish university students. The participants were administered the Demographic Information Form as well as three other instruments. Overall, results indicate that mindfulness positively mediates the relationship between social interest and psychological health.

Western Buddhism and Transpersonal Psychology: Cross-Hermeneutic and Engaged Approaches

Contemporary Buddhism has been fashioned from cross-cultural interactions between a long history of Asian traditions and the expansionist drive of modernity. As part of this engagement, Buddhism, particularly in the West, has developed a close relation with transpersonal psychology. This essay forms an introduction to the special issue of articles approaching this relation between Buddhism and psychology in different ways. While some articles probe the difference in aims of the two disciplines, some are concerned with the decontextualized uses of Buddhist techniques such as mindfulness, some explore the possibilities of Buddhist practice in cognitive or other psychological terms and some ground Buddhism in ecopsychological concerns as forms of engagement. This paper outlines the historiography of modern Buddhism and introduces the papers in this special issue of IJTS.

Rethinking the Taxonomic Category “Sect/School” (Zong 宗) in the Construction of Modern Buddhism in China—Focusing on Hešeri Rushan’s Eight Schools and Two Practices (“Ba-Zong-Er-Xing 八宗二行”)

This paper explores the origin and role of the Buddhist taxonomic category “zong 宗” (“sect” or “school”) in the formation of modern Buddhism in China. It does so by examining a highly significant late-Qing Buddhist text titled Ba-zong-er-xing 八宗二行 (Eight Schools and Two Practices), which the author discovered recently in Japan. Authored by the 19th-century Manchu bannerman official Hešeri Rushan 赫舍裏如山, Eight Schools and Two Practices had a direct influence on the prominent Chinese lay Buddhist Yang Wenhui (1837–1911)’s Shi-zong-lue-shuo 十宗略说 (Brief Outline of the Ten Schools) (1913), which subsequently became the most important narrative model, known as the ten-school model, for describing Chinese Buddhist history in modern times. Historians have long recognized that Yang Wenhui’s Brief Outline of the Ten Schools (1913) was influenced by the medieval Japanese text hasshū kōyō 八宗綱要 (Essentials of the Eight Schools) composed by the 13th-century Japanese monk Gyōnen. Identifying, in detail, Hešeri Rushan’s influence on Yang Wenhui sheds light on how a narrative model for Buddhism in its national form grew out of trans-national intellectual sharing and interactions, and how Chinese Buddhism emerged from the interactive and mutually enabling Sino-Japanese discursive field of the 19th century. Gyōnen, Rushan, and Yang Wenhui all used the category zong, referring to both doctrine and school/sect, to organize narratives of Buddhist history. Their uses were, however, different. Gyōnen’s conception of zong (shū in Japanese) was fixed and exclusive, whereas zong for Rushan and Yang meant more of a mobile, nonexclusive identity. Without knowledge of Japanese Buddhism, Rushan made creative use of zong for describing the history and current condition of Chinese Buddhism, thereby superseding the traditional framework of lineage, doctrine, and precept, or zong 宗, jiao 教, lu 律. Rushan’s zong provided the necessary prerequisite knowledge for Yang Wenhui to understand Gyōnen’s theories, which he studied for constructing his own historical narrative and vision for modern Buddhism.

Curators of Global Buddhism: A Critical Genealogy and Decolonial Reading of Contemporary Curatorial Practices in Buddhist Studies

Abstract This article offers the first critical genealogy of scholarship on the category of “global Buddhism” and its related literature. The category was first theorized around the turn of the millennium and has since been used in multiple publications, yet in all this scholarship, there is no clear definition, classification, or critical evaluation of the term. This article, therefore, details the different histories, taxonomies, and examples associated with global Buddhism, the relationship between power and knowledge in such representations, and clarifies what, if anything, any of this has to do with the category of “religion,” a question whose critical dimensions have been ignored by scholars on the topic thus far. Since the category rose to prominence alongside a series of others like “Buddhist Modernism,” “postmodern Buddhism,” and “global religion,” the article also draws attention to the curatorial practices that inform the academic study of Buddhism and religion and critiques the remnants of colonialism, orientalism, and universalism still operative in late capitalist scholarship. Theoretically, the article is informed by critical theory from the study of religion and Decolonial thought. Overall, it suggests deep ties between global Buddhism and what Anibal Quijano calls the coloniality of power but also suggests critical ways to employ the category going forward.

Mindfulness research and applications in the context of neoliberalism: A narrative and critical review

AbstractThis narrative and critical review outlines the implications of scientific production on Mindfulness and the widespread diffusion of the practice under neoliberal capitalism. This scientific, therapeutic and economic high‐value object is a fruitful research field in medical and social sciences. Since exiting the confines of mental and somatic health it has also flourished as a self‐care and self‐improvement technique. Drawing on a psychosocial perspective where Mindfulness is considered both a psychological and a social phenomenon, we explore the reasons why institutions and corporations have regularly considered Mindfulness as the universal panacea to address mental health, social and environmental problems, and how this contributed to transferring the consequences of structural and systemic issues from the State to the realms of individual management and responsibilization, and fostering social inequalities. We expose the role of Buddhist Modernism, psychology and social psychology into the consolidation of Mindfulness as a product of knowledge and a form of governmentality. The effects on Mindfulness users and researchers of a mainstream neoliberal psychological science, including social psychology, are discussed. Avenues for mindful resistance, such as theoretical and methodological perspectives for a critical social psychology of Mindfulness, are developed.

Buddhist Transformation in the Digital Age: AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Humanistic Buddhism

Humanistic Buddhism is one of the mainstreams of modern Buddhism, with special emphasis on the humanistic dimension. With the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Humanistic Buddhism is also at an important stage of modernization and transformation, thus facing a continuous negotiation between religious values and technological innovations. This paper first argues that AI is technically beneficial to the propagation of Buddhism by citing several cases in which AI technology has been used in Buddhism. Then, by comparing Master Hsing Yun’s Buddhist ethics to “Posthuman” ethics, it points out that the theories of Humanistic Buddhism share similarities with AI and Posthuman ethics. Among them, Master Hsing Yun’s theory of “the nature of insentient beings” provides an important theoretical reference for the question of “whether AI can become a Buddha”. From the technical and ethical dimensions, it points out that the interaction between Humanistic Buddhism and AI can promote original uses or implementations of AI technology. However, it should also be noted that compared to the cases of “Artificial Narrow Intelligence”discussed in the paper, the “Strong AI” could lead to much more ethical crises. It is also likely to cause the cult of science and technology, and thus subvert the humanistic tradition of Buddhism with a new instrumental rationality. In addition, there are some potential pitfalls that Humanistic Buddhism may encounter when using AI. Hence, while it is necessary to encourage the use of technologies such as AI in contemporary Buddhism, it is also important for Buddhism to keep a critical distance from digital technologies.

How Taiwanese Buddhism Responds to the Feminist Movement in Modern Taiwan

Gender is a very important issue in religious studies. Although the issue of female identity was always ignored in a Buddhist society, we can find Buddhist attitudes towards women according to historical Buddhist texts. We find that Buddhists have a very ambivalent attitude towards female identity, acknowledging the equal spiritual potential of women while emphasizing their bad characteristics because of bad karma in the past. Because of the spread of Buddhist texts, this contradictory concept of gender has been extended to modern Buddhist society, leading to the obstacles of modern Buddhists responding to the female movement. This paper tries to analyze how Taiwanese Buddhism responds to the feminist movement in modern Taiwan. Through observing the efforts of two powerful Taiwanese local Buddhist organizations, we can see the efforts of Buddhist society in Taiwan to raise the status and level of learning of nuns, although based on accepting some discriminatory concepts of traditional Buddhist texts. The women's movement raised the social status and influence of nuns, allowing them to challenge the patriarchal Buddhist narrative and the traditional monastic system, and in turn instilled gender equality in the Buddhist community that monks and nuns are equalized.

From “Sangha Forest” (叢林 Conglin) to “Buddhist Academy”: The Influence of Western Knowledge Paradigm on the Chinese Sangha Education in Modern Times

Drawing on Foucault’s theoretical framework of “space and power”, this paper examines the discursive construction of “knowledge” in the context of Chinese Buddhist education. It traces the historical transformation of Chinese Buddhist education from the traditional “Sangha Forest”(the monastic community; 叢林 Conglin) style education to the Buddhist Academy, and analyzes how modern Buddhism reshaped its social image and function from a faith-based to a knowledge-based culture. Furthermore, this paper explores the reasons why modern Buddhism requires “knowledge” as a bridge between its worldly and transcendental dimensions, and the roles of elite laymen and monasteries as “Buddhist Institutes” in the new discursive practice.

The Transnational Experience of a Chinese Buddhist Master in the Asian Buddhist Network

Wuqian (1922–2010) was one of the most important modern Buddhist masters in the modern history of Sino-Indian Buddhist relations. In his early years, he studied all the major schools of the Buddhist tradition, focusing on Yogācāra philosophy, probably due to Xuanzang’s influence and in alignment with contemporary Buddhist trends. Furthermore, he became one of the few masters from the Central Plains who received systematic training in Tibetan Buddhist tantric rituals. He went to India in the middle of the 20th century. He dedicated his life to the revival of Buddhist thought in India, especially promoting Chinese Buddhism in Calcutta by establishing Buddhist institutions, managing Buddhist sites, organizing Buddhist activities, and building the Xuanzang Temple. In his later years, he devoted himself to facilitating mutual Buddhist exchanges and monastic visits between Buddhist organizations in mainland China, Taiwan, and India. In 1998, he presented two Buddhist relics to the Daci’en Temple in Xi’an. At the beginning of the 21st century, he established the Institute of Buddhist Studies at Xuanzang Temple in Calcutta. He organized the translation of many important Buddhist treatises, again reflecting his intention of following the spirit of Xuanzang to contribute to Chinese Buddhism. His transnational journey manifested that there was an active Asian Buddhist network during the Cold War era, despite various difficulties.

Navayana of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar: buddhist modernism as an instrument of social transformation

The article examines the phenomenon of Navayana (Neo-Buddhism) created by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) as an instrument of changing the social identity of the untouchables from the Mahar community. The problem of untouchability and vestiges of the caste system in India became more acute during the struggle for independence. To build a new Indian nation, it was necessary to include in its ranks all strata of Indian society, including communities of the so-called untouchables. The most interesting in this regard is the social project of B.R. Ambedkar, who tried, drawing on the history of the Mahar community on the one hand and the religious conversion on the other, to create a new social identity for the untouchables. Ambedkar advocated the complete destruction of the caste system in India and considered a complete break with Hinduism as the only opportunity for low castes to gain equal rights. Ambedkar saw the religious conversion as the only way of getting rid of untouchability.

Plum Village: From Settlement on a Modest Local Scale to Global Communication Network

Abstract Founded in the countryside an hour from Bordeaux, France, by Thích Nhất Hạnh, known for his engaged and modern Buddhism, Plum Village is famous throughout the world for its mindfulness meditation retreats. Although many studies have been carried out on Thích Nhất Hạnh’s history and spirituality, none has addressed the question of the territorial implantation of Plum Village on a local scale, nor the processes of the worldwide diffusion of its network. After presenting the context of the penetration of Thích Nhất Hạnh’s teaching in the West, I explore the establishment of an exogenous religious community in the French countryside in terms of otherness and analyse the communication at play in the process of integration into the local scale in its municipalities in New Aquitaine, and then look at the strategy and means of communication put in place to to federate and expand its network on a global scale.

Vernacular Modernism: Humanistic Buddhism from Below in Bade, Taiwan

The study of Humanistic Buddhism in Taiwan has typically focused on its largest, most elite representatives. These institutions are a smaller and less representative section of Buddhism in Taiwan than they might appear, however. This paper will take a different angle: looking at Humanistic Buddhism not from above, but from below; not through multinational monastic-led organizations, but through a local working-class lay community; not as a discreet tradition, but as part of a broader religious market. My subject will be the Maitreya Lay Buddhist Lodge, where we find a "vernacular modernism" in which core ideas and orientations of Buddhist modernism are articulated within a broader religious field marked by enduring dynamics and tensions identified in studies of late imperial Chinese religion.