CHAPTER 3. GLOCAL-MODERNIZATION OF FGS IN TAIWAN AND MACAU
3.5 FGS’ P ROSELYTIZING E FFORTS IN T AIWAN
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school, entering adulthood, marriage92, starting a business, or even when people grow old, get sick and pass away.”93
3.5 FGS’ Proselytizing Efforts in Taiwan
The development of FGS, it’s organization and propagation methods are similar to the roots of a tree which spread far and wide, absorbing nutrition to nourish itself and returning what it receives to the public. In comparison with Christians in the United States and Europe who are enthusiastic in their social activities, Chinese Buddhism and other religions fall far behind them. To modernize and vitalize Chinese Buddhism, Master Hsing Yun innovates new methods of propagation of Buddhism and develops FGS into a religious complex which provides different social welfare services to all sentient beings. FGS has a comprehensive educational network for people of different age groups. It includes kindergartens, primary schools, Buddhist Academies, college/ university and community college. Concerning philanthropy, FGS has an FGS compassion foundation and a care centre for the elderly. For proselytizing, radio, television, presswork and internet are all tools FGS utilizes to propagate their Buddha dharma. Moreover, for promoting culture and arts, FGS has an FGS Art Gallery in New Zealand (built: 2006) and a Gandha Samudra Travel Service company. The travel service company primarily organizes trips to India, Thailand, Korea, and the Silk Road.
92 Marriage is holy, and every married couple should take it seriously. While Christians see marriage as holy and joined by God, Buddhists do not see the Buddha joins the marriage and think that even though one of the couples is not a Buddhist, they should respect each other’s religious belief.
93 星雲大師，〈人間佛教回師佛陀本懷 一、總說〉，頁 26。
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To spread Buddha dharma through the World Wide Web, FGS’s Buddhist Electronic Texts can openly be accessed online.94 During the modernization process, FGS has achieved many “the first” in Taiwan, such as the first Buddhist Youth choir (1954), the first Buddhist television - Beautiful Life Television (founded in 1997, was named FoGuang television then changed to Beautiful Life Television in 2000), the first Buddhist newspaper - The Merit Times (2000), and the first Buddha Museum (2011).
FGS is almost identical to a department store that fills with various religious products, and, as a result, merges in people’s life from different standpoints. Since FGS has versatile preaching strategies, I do not intend to cover all of them but only to highlight some of these innovations that Master Hsing Yun has achieved.
Promoting Buddha Dharma Through Mass Media, Presswork, and Social Network
In the early days (before mobile phones and computer have become popular products in people’s lives and reading news online has become an upward trend), people primarily received information from mass media such as television, radio, and presswork. Master Hsing Yun started to write manuscripts and passages of Buddha dharma and published them in Buddhist magazines or broadcasted them via radio. He had been the editor of three magazines: rensheng yuekan 人生月刊, jueshi xunkan 覺 世旬刊 and jinri fojiao 今日佛教. Apart from magazines, FGS also publishes a daily newspaper called ‘Merit Times’ (renjian fubao 人間福報) and a monthly magazine
‘Universal Gate’ (pumen 普門). While the Universal Gate is designed to be more
94 佛光山，〈佛光山全球資訊網〉，adopted 19November 2018.
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literary and scholarly, the Merit times emphasizes positive events in society, current events in the Buddhist world, FGS’ most recent updates and includes recipes for vegetarian dishes and advice for self-cultivation.
Besides Buddhist magazines and newspapers, FGS has an extensive publication corpus of sutras, commentaries, histories, and reference material. FGS completed the first Buddhist encyclopedia in modern Chinese in 1988 and issued it on a CD-ROM nine years later.
Being an ambitious monk, Hsing Yun sought a way to propagate Buddhism other than presswork. He started a Buddhist TV program that eventually developed into the Beautiful Life Television. “FGS launched its satellite television station in 1998, and its television station allows the monastery a regular venue to air its productions and keep devotees apprised of its activities.”95 The set-up of the Beautiful Life Television was not easy. Starting from 1962, Taiwan had its own Television Station and it aired a Catholic episodic drama. Inspired by this Catholic episodic drama, Hsing Yun thought of promoting Buddhism via television, and he went to discuss this matter with the TV Station’s staff. The vice-general manager was willing to broadcast Buddhist TV program if Hsing Yun could accept three conditions: (a) Buddhist scriptures and concepts could not be preached; (b) No monks or nuns could show up on TV; (c) the program’s name was assigned by the TV Station. Under Hsing Yun’s consideration, the first episode broadcasted but Hsing Yun was told Buddhist TV program was banned and could not be aired the next day anymore. He later came to know that it was
95 Stuart Chandler, Establishing a Pure Land on Earth The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization, pp. 125 – 127.
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because of Soong Mei-ling’s (宋美齡 1897 -2003) order.96After several twists and turns, FGS’ TV program finally could be broadcasted on television and, further, it has launched a mobile app “IBLTV” in 2018 January.97
As time passes by and because of technological progress, how people interact with each other have changed, so does FGS’ “airy” propagation. Shuai Jia-Jane and her co-workers published a journal in 2011, in which 25 Buddhist groups’ websites are put together to compare what resources these Buddhist groups can provide via the internet. Including FGS, seventeen out of the twenty-five Buddhist websites are named by a temple or a Buddhist group. These Buddhist websites focus on providing information (blog, online television, web radio, Facebook, apps, Buddhist sutras), communication (online blessing, transcribing Buddhist sutra online, online donation) and resources to download for free. FGS has the most variety among all these websites.98 On FGS’ website, one can do an online blessing and donate money, download or send a greeting card, transcribe Buddhist sutra for oneself or the others, or one can find other FGS-related websites or apps. In 2016, one can download Master Hsing Yun’s complete works in both Google Play and Apple Store, and FGS has developed a “Master Hsing Yun’s Collection Audio Book” app including an English version that even foreigners can receive the dharma talks of Master Hsing Yun.
Besides websites, FGS also updates its new status via Line (a social app that Taiwanese use; For Macau, FGS uses Wechat) which may announce their annual Buddhist
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wedding ceremony that is held at FGS headquarter in Kaohsiung and their short-term meditation camp.
Furthermore, FGS started to provide online Buddhism learning courses in 2009.
The FGS Open University has online videos of scholarly explanation on Buddhist doctrine, Buddhist sutras and some simple teaching of life wisdom and self-cultivation.
One can choose to pay by credit card or pay via convenience stores. After purchasing the episode(s), one can organize his/ her learning calendar. The FGS Open University website provides links to the Beautiful Life Television website, the FGS member centre and a shopping website in which people can purchase Buddhist cartoons, Buddhist music, and Buddhist sutras.99
Holy Songs and Sports as Cultivation
For Master Hsing Yun has stated that Buddhism should be lively, joyful and wealthy. His innovation extends to Buddhist tunes and sports, and he believes that entertainment can serve as an expedient means of cultivation. Before Hsing Yun renounced the secular life, he loved sports, and he liked to play Ping-Pong when he was in Buddhist college. Master Hsing Yun has said: “Can Buddhism advocates sports?
Does Buddhism need sports? Yes, off course… there are many kinds of ball games, and they meet the needs of this generation. I believe Buddhism will need these sports to help propagation.”100Master Hsing Yun does not only advocate exercise as part of
99 佛光山，〈人間大學網絡教學平台〉，adopted 14 December 2018.
100 佛光山開山星雲大師，〈星雲大師佛法真義系列 佛教運動〉，adopted 12 May 2019.
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monastic education, but he also thinks “…Buddhism tune as a type of music in the world has its special meaning.”101
When Christians worship, they worship with music and rituals. Their choral singing and the use of harmony impressed Ven. Taixu and Master Hsing Yun. Therefore, Master Hsing Yun organized the first Buddhist Youth Choir at Yi Lan in 1956 and published six Buddhist songs albums in 1961. Master Hsing Yun has expressed his wishes that “… To propagate Buddhism, Buddhists should advocate music and use music to make people want to learn more about Buddhism. Buddhist tone is not only for temples and the sangha, but it should be promoted to the public.”102 The FoGuang monastics performed concerts of Buddhist chanting in public halls in 1994, this event held at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei attracted over five thousand people to each of the three performances. In recent years, the FGS Buddhist Monastic Choir has performed in Asia, America, Europe, and Australia. One hundred monks and nuns were touring twelve European cities in the fall of 1999, and a similar number of monks and nuns were performing in New York City’s Lincoln Center in January 2002. The Buddhist songs are embedded in Buddhist weddings as well.
In addition to allowing Buddhist youths to participate in sports, FoGuang clerics can watch television and movies. “They (FG clerics) are permitted to watch television and movies as long as the content is wholesome, and especially if it is educational.
Each FGS temples will often turn on the news. Movies are shown in the Devotees’ Hall auditorium two or three Sunday evenings per month at FGS headquarters. Students in
101 Ibid.
102 佛光山開山星雲大師，〈佛教叢書 8 – 教用〉，adopted 12 May 2019.
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the college cannot watch films except for English learning purpose, monks and nuns may watch movies within the monastery but may not to do so in public theatres.”103
Educational Institutions
Christianity dominated the field of education, and the rationalized practice of the seminary has become the prototypical definition of religion. In the 19th century, temples were devalued, and Chinese religions were labelled as superstitious, many temples were converted into schools. The destroy temples to build schools (miaochan xingxue 廟產興學) movement started at the end of Qing dynasty was one of the causes of Buddhist educational reformation. In Weller’s point of view, setting up Buddhist Colleges is the first choice to rationalized Buddhism in the Chinese context.104 Buddhists began to set up schools which provided secular education only near the end of the nineteenth century. As Master Hsing Yun views “Humanistic Buddhism” as a competitor of Christianity and a competitor of Western culture in general. It is necessary to modernize Buddhism, to train missionaries that are fluent in English and to improve the monastics educational level, and to establish Buddhist academies. FGS’ Buddhism educational reform includes monastics, lay followers, the public, and educational institutions. In doing so, FGS offers courses for people from different social classes and in different groups. In the following chart, it lists out each educational institutions’ teaching program and focuses. (See Chart 3 – 2)
103 Ibid, p. 184, 187 – 189.
104 Robert P. Weller, “Global Religious Changes and Civil Life in Two Chinese Societies: A Comparison of Jiangsu and Taiwan”, pp. 16 – 17.
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Chart 3- 2 FGS’ Buddhist Academies
Year Name of the institution
1965 The East Buddhist Academy (was named Shoushan Buddhist Academy) Teaching program
- Three-tier sangha education.
- First-tier: Chinese Buddhism Academy intends to do Buddhist teacher training and to train researchers on Buddhist Studies
- Second-tier: FGS Tsung Lin Academy provides undergraduate level education which aims to train Buddhist specialists in Buddhist culture, education, charity work and proselytizing.
² The Tsung Lin Academy offers courses for male and female Buddhist separately.
- Third-tier: The Eastern Buddhist Academy provides secondary level education. Its goal is to promote Buddhism among teenagers and help them become a citizen with good moral conduct.
1983 Keelung Female Buddhist Academy 1983 Fushan Buddhist Academy
- To provide two-year primary Buddhism education for female students with high school level education.
1990 Yuanfu Buddhist Academy
- To have the same teaching syllabus with Fushan Buddhist Academy which provide two-year primary Buddhism education for female students with high school level education.
- An English Buddhist Academy branch and a Japanese Buddhist Academy branch are set up in 1986 and 1989 respectively.
- It starts to offer seminars for foreign students who come from Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Korea Nepal, South Africa these countries and the foreign class mainly teaches Chinese and Mahayana Buddhism. 105
105 許仟，《佛光山與教育》，頁 49 – 51。
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To give more responsibility to lay devotees, Master Hsing Yun initiated a program of lay dharma lecturers and teachers. The lay dharma lecturer position is open to any devotee who has shown a good understanding of Buddhist doctrine, and this position also opens for followers who are also prominent members of society. At some large FGS centres, the provided night and weekend programs are coordinated as “urban Buddhist Academies” (dushi foxueyuan 都市佛學院 that grant ‘degrees’ in dharma studies to graduates.)106 While FGS has adopted an academic tone in its lay Buddhist education system, programs of FGS’ community universities are less scholarly and intricate. FGS has sixteen community universities in the north, central and south of Taiwan. Since FGS’ community universities have received subsidies from the government, the teaching program can only constitute no more than ten percent of Buddhist courses. Although FGS intended to provide academic Buddhist studies program to the public through these community universities, it turned out that not only the government has set limits to the curriculum setting but also the public is not interested in those sophisticated courses. All of these community universities have different directions. Those in Taipei and Keelung are more concerned about water problems, those in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli focus on Hakka culture, and those in the southern part of Taiwan focus on voluntary work and social issues. According to FGS’ statistic in 2009, it has 7951 students in total with a ratio of three percent lay devotees and seven percent non-believers. Of those students at the community universities around 3000 people to take refuge in the Triple Gem and 510 of them
106 Stuart Chandler, Establishing a Pure Land on Earth The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization, pp.125, 127.
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became FGS members.107Furthermore, FGS founded its first Buddhist kindergarten in 1956, and there are three secondary schools and two universities in Taiwan.
Besides modernism, FGS is also influenced by Confucianism. On January 4 2001, the Merit Times cited Master Lian Chih’s 蓮池大師 (1535 – 1615, a Chinese Buddhist leader) viewpoint on filial piety (Xiao 孝). Master Lian Chih divided filial piety into the upper, the middle and the lower level. The lower level of xiao is to nourish one’s parents while alive and bury them when they die; the intermediate level of xiao is to bring glory on one’s ancestors; the upper level of xiao is to guide one’s parents extricate from the samsaric cycle of rebirth. Filial piety is viewed as the fundamental ethics of Chinese society, and it is an essential element to promote family harmony.108 The FGS temples and Buddhist centres in Taiwan and Macau both have hold seminars on “Buddhism and filial piety”, filial piety is one but not the essetntial value in FGS.
FGS has been organizing annual Buddhist examinations for the public since 1990, which is similar to IKT’s Chinese classics exam. The Buddhism examination has versions for elementary, junior high and senior high school students as well as adults. The two lowest levels examination for children are in cartoon format in which Buddhist themes are subtler at this level, and the emphasis is preferably placed on encouraging filial behaviour toward parents, proper respect toward teachers and diligent study habits etc. The exam for senior high school students, it is devoted to health education and acceptable social behavior, which contains a low percentage of questions touching upon Buddhist history and doctrine. Questions like to list reasons why people become
107 許仟，《佛光山與教育》，頁 173，174。
108 星雲法師＜迷悟之間 3 – 無常的真理＞，adopted 20 December 2018.
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overweight and why one should abstain from taking recreational drugs are asked. The exam for adults differs significantly from the others’ tests, for they involve questions relating to Buddhist doctrine, history and practice. Participants are required to define terms such as samadhi (sanmei 三昧), “four immeasurable minds” (siwuliangxin 四 無量心), true/false and multiple-choice questions.109
Philanthropy
FGS has set up organizations that provide services to people with different needs.
The organizations include orphanages, nursing homes, clinics and visitation to prisons etc. In the past, before 1885, western medicine had not been introduced into Taiwan, the medical system was not as complete as it is today. To provide medical treatment for people with low income, FGS founded the Buddha’s Light clinic in 1976. As a non-profit organization, the Buddha’s Light clinic has provided medical service and preventive health care for fifteen thousand people in 2003. FGS organized the Cloud and Water Mobile Clinic as well. The Cloud and Water Mobile Clinic is a mobile hospital.
This service gradually expanded from one car that visits one place each day to nine cars that visit twenty sites each week, and it provides free medical care for four thousand five hundred people every month. Additionally, FGS has its cemetery and provides hospice-care.110
109 Stuart Chandler, Establishing a Pure Land on Earth The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization, pp. 127 – 128.
110 林美鈴，〈佛教慈善事業之發展 – 佛光山慈悲基金會等個案研究〉，頁 91 – 93。
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Pilgrimage
FGS built the Buddha Museum in 2011. One can use a shuttle bus service and visit the Buddha museum. The Buddha Museum is an outstanding success example of FGS, and there are a variety of “investments” that people can do inside the Buddha Museum. For instance, one can lit light for the families and gain merit for their deceased relatives. “One can donate money to the contribution boxes at each of the many small shrines to receive gifts; one can deposit money in slot machines to see dioramas of Buddhist legends, or deposit money to get a slip of paper that tells their fortune” (again, this reflects Hsing Yun’s tolerance of some folk religions customs such as fortune telling), or “one can deposit some more money before a Buddha image that brings special merit; or one can just go to one of the several gift shops to buy Buddhist literature or trinkets.”111 If one is not satisfied by a one-day visit or wish to stay longer,
FGS built the Buddha Museum in 2011. One can use a shuttle bus service and visit the Buddha museum. The Buddha Museum is an outstanding success example of FGS, and there are a variety of “investments” that people can do inside the Buddha Museum. For instance, one can lit light for the families and gain merit for their deceased relatives. “One can donate money to the contribution boxes at each of the many small shrines to receive gifts; one can deposit money in slot machines to see dioramas of Buddhist legends, or deposit money to get a slip of paper that tells their fortune” (again, this reflects Hsing Yun’s tolerance of some folk religions customs such as fortune telling), or “one can deposit some more money before a Buddha image that brings special merit; or one can just go to one of the several gift shops to buy Buddhist literature or trinkets.”111 If one is not satisfied by a one-day visit or wish to stay longer,