Shi Juewei

Director, Humanistic Buddhism Centre, and Lecturer, Applied Buddhist Studies, Nan Tien Institute

The Platform Sūtra ranks as one of the most popular texts ever produced by Chinese Buddhism. While Buddhists such as Daisaka Ikeda have linked the Lotus Sūtra to Buddhist humanism, few studies have investigated the Platform Sūtra for its humanistic elements. The earliest extant version of this sūtra is the Dunhuang edition, which arguably represents an early transformation from Indic to Chinese Buddhist humanism. Of greater interest is how the form of ninth century Chinese Buddhist humanism encapsulated in this sūtra becomes a form of posthumanism in the twenty-first century. This paper argues for this makeover through Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s commentaries on the Platform Sūtra. Of particular concern is how such Buddhist posthumanism may inform future discourses in the twenty-first century as humanity faces the sixth mass extinction caused by the Anthropocene.

Shi Juewei,Studies on Humanistic Buddhism V : Humanistic Chan Buddhism(2023)211-230.COPY