Establishing a Pure Land on Earth: The Foguang Buddhist Perspective on Modernization and Globalization

Series Editor’s Preface

Series Editor’s Preface Once confined to Asia, Buddhism has in the last century become a conspicuous part of the religious landscape in countries the world over. From the severest levels of ascetic practice to media images in daily culture, its forms and expressions are recognizably Buddhist even in Buddhism’s immense variations. As well as an ancient religion, Buddhism is a modern phenomenon. Establishing a Pure Land on Earth is the first volume in Topics in Contemporary Buddhism, a series that provides a forum in which the phenomenon of modern Buddhism can be examined from a variety of perspectives. Taiwan has produced some of the most innovative and dynamic Buddhist movements of modern times. These groups have transformed the lives of many on the island as well as among overseas Chinese communities. Rising to the challenges of modernization, they have developed a creative set of interpretations and strategies that constitute what one of its early pioneers called ‘‘Humanistic Buddhism .’’ Humanistic Buddhism developed in reaction to a prior understanding of a Buddhism that placed greater emphasis on the maintenance of tradition than on people and their needs. At the forefront of this movement is the Foguangshan community, the focus of Stuart Chandler’s in-depth study. On the basis of extensive fieldwork and an examination of a wide variety of textual materials, Establishing a Pure Land on Earth explores the themes of modernization , globalization, gender roles, the ordination of women, relations with other religious traditions, cultural and national identity at home and abroad, ethnic tensions , and moral dilemmas. These are familiar issues of our time, and, because Stuart Chandler deals with them in the context of Foguangshan, his work is most appropriate as the inaugural entry in our series. George J. Tanabe Jr. SERIES EDITOR ...