Bee Scherer

Professor, Intersectional Centre for Inclusion and Social Justice, Canterbury, UK

In this short essay, I look at “Humanistic Buddhism” as taught and practiced at Fo Guang Shan 佛光山 according to the vision of Venerable Master Hsing Yun 星雲 (born 1927). My first aim is to add some conceptual clarity around the misleading English term “Humanistic Buddhism,” and to propose alternative terms such as “Human World Buddhism” or “Anthropocentric Buddhism.” Secondly, I add some reflections about the tension between what I term “centripetal” (parochial, insider-oriented) and “centrifugal” (global/glocal, outreach-oriented) modes of engagement in the context of Fo Guang Shan. Finally, I look at the underlying ethos of dharmic “service” to the community in the context of “appropriate” or “skillful means.”

Bee Scherer,Studies on Humanistic Buddhism IV: Human Life(Kaohsiung:Fo Guang Cultural Enterprise Co. Ltd,2021)129-139.COPY