法鼓宗格言集之心靈環保面向探析
A Study on the Perspective of Protecting the Spiritual Environment Within Two Anthologies of the Dharma Drum Lineage
This essay investigates the perspective of “protecting the spiritual environment” within two anthologies from the Dharma Drum lineage, approaching them through the lens of “proverbs in Buddhism”. The Dharma Drum lineage was founded by Master Sheng Yen. It transformed the ideas and methods of Chan Buddhism into “protecting the spiritual environment” to promote the idea of “uplifting the character of humanity and building a Pure Land on earth”. The Dharma Drum lineage has published two anthologies of sayings, Master Sheng Yen’s 108 Adages of Wisdom and Master Guo Dong’s Blessings of Spiritual Peace. The contents of both encompass the aspect of “protecting the spiritual environment,” which focuses on the movement of “purifying our minds and refining our society”. Firstly, Master Sheng Yen’s 108 Adages of Wisdom points out that the method of Chan implied in “protecting the spiritual environment” is intended to build a Pure Land on earth. It is a modern interpretation of the Chinese Buddhist tradition of the “joint practice of Chan and Pure Land” from the viewpoint of the environmental protection movement: “protecting the spiritual environment” seeks to build the Pure Land on earth through our environment-protective minds. Secondly, Master Guo Dong’s Blessings of Spiritual Peace emphasizes a “religious education” approach and employs some Buddhist concepts such as tathāgatagarbha and buddha-nature to suggest the foundation of “protecting the spiritual environment” and imply that “protecting the spiritual environment” could be traced to the Platform Sutra. Lastly, this essay attempts to point out that the perspective of “protecting the spiritual environment” within the two anthologies of the Dharma Drum lineage show that the Dharma Drum lineage inherits the tradition of the “joint practice of Chan and Pure Land” and offers a modern interpretation through the lens of “Protecting the Spiritual Environment”. It also conveys that the Dharma Drum lineage’s devout foundation can be traced to the faith in tathāgatagarbha within Chinese Chan Buddhism.
Keywords
protecting the spiritual environment, The Dharma Drum Lineage of Chan Buddhism, proverbs in Buddhism