Buddhism flourishes in the two sides of Taiwan
#两岸文化寻宝 #
When you travel to Taiwan, you can see golden Buddhas and golden temple buildings standing on the roadside. It can be said that nothing is as impressive as the flourishing Buddhism that has left a deep impression on tourists to Taiwan.
In Taiwanese Buddhism, there are "four famous mountains" or "four great avenues", namely Tzu Chi, Fo Guang Shan, Fa Gu Shan and Zhongtai Zen Temple. Three of the four famous Buddhist mountains have been to, namely Zhongtai Zen Temple, DharmaGu Mountain and Tzu Chi. The first place to go was the Zhongtai Zen Temple, which was in 2007, and I remember that the temple is located in Puli Town, Nantou County, Taiwan. Before entering the temple, you can see the towering temple buildings in the distance. The 37-storey temple is the tallest Buddhist temple in Taiwan, and its appearance is majestic that has never been seen in a temple in mainland China. Inside the temple, the main hall is magnificent and luxuriously furnished, and the spacious dojo is lined with cushions. It is not difficult to imagine that if the monks sat all over the dojo during the Festival, the scene would be spectacular. It is said that the temple's kitchen (called "Da Liao") usually supplies food for more than a thousand people, and more than 10,000 people during the festival. In the Zhi Ke Room, each visitor is given a paper bag containing pocket scriptures and printed copies of the handwritten books of Master Wei Jue.
In 2012, he went to Taiwan to attend an academic conference. The conference arranged for participants to visit Fagu Mountain in New Taipei City, which is actually a "World Buddhist Education Park" including multiple buildings. Its name is "Dharma Drum", which means to beat the drum of the Dharma to purify the soul, so that people's hearts can be comforted and calm. Entering the park, there is no incense at all, there is no more carved ornaments on the plain walls, the buildings in the whole park rarely see the temple buildings with cornices, most of them are modern buildings with smooth lines, the people seen in the park are polite and humble, and they greet each other with their hands together, so visiting the whole temple does not feel the divinity and commercial atmosphere of the mainland temple, but a clean and pleasant environmental protection space. The visit was personally received and introduced by Master Guo Hui, the second figure of the Dharma Drum, who appeared to be a shaved scholar dressed in a clear cloth shirt. Enter the Daxiong Treasure Hall, which is the main hall, and the words "Original Face" are written inside. Behind the statue of Guanyin, there is a murmur of water, symbolizing that people should have tolerance, and they should be like sound absorbers in the face of criticism, and the wind passes without a trace. Taoists can sit on the stones in the valley and meditate, hear the sound of running water, and forget the troubles of the world. And in the green covered hillside soil, there is the ashes of the Holy Ancestor of the Fagu Mountain, The Holy Yan Master, which realizes the Daoist heart of the mage returning to nature.
In 2015, he went to Taiwan to participate in the Cross-Strait, Hong Kong and Macao Charity Forum, and there were arrangements for visiting Tzu Chi during the trip. Tzu Chi is definitely the most dazzling holy place in Taitung Hualien, and I believe that many of the tourists who come to Hualien every day come to visit Tzu Chi. Tzu Chi is actually engaged in philanthropy with Buddhist feelings. Tzu Chi has eight major causes around the world, and its undertakings are difficult for ordinary secular charities to do because of their large number of followers and volunteers. Why are Tzu Chi people the first to appear on the scene every disaster around the world, even before the local government, because Tzu Chi's followers and volunteers are in the disaster area. Tzu Chi was able to raise such a large amount of money mainly through its followers, many of whom were small donations. Tzu Chi currently has seven hospitals, two clinics, one bone marrow stem cell centre, two universities, two secondary schools, and television and radio. During a visit to Tzu Chi, Master Mong-jeong Yan was summoned at the Meditation House. Master Zhengyan was nearly eighty years old, petite in stature, with a calm complexion, with the thinness of a monk, and looked refreshed. She told everyone for more than an hour, mainly introducing the history of Tzu Chi and individuals setting up Tzu Chi. It has always been emphasized that Tzu Chi's development today is not the result of pre-planning, nor is it the credit of one person. After the conversation, he took a group photo with the crowd. Each person receives a copy of the Silent Meditation Language.
It can be seen from the above that although Taiwan is free to believe and various religions have their own followers in Taiwan, in Taiwan, which is known as the "supermarket of world religions", Buddhism is the only religion, with more than 8 million followers, ranking first among all major religions. Buddhism is not only widely used and has a huge influence on Taiwanese followers, but also achieves export to the outside world and is a business card for Taiwan's cultural export.
Buddhism has been able to flourish in Taiwan thanks to the take-off of Taiwan's economy and the free and tolerant social space. After the 1960s, it was the "golden age" of Taiwan's economic development and the period of Taiwan's economic take-off. The rapid development of the economy has enabled the people to accumulate sufficient wealth to donate and support the development of religious organizations, and various social problems that have emerged with economic growth, such as materialistic desires, disparities between rich and poor, ethical disorder, and spiritual emptiness, have forced people to seek religious relief and comfort. At the same time, Buddhism in Taiwan advocated "Buddhism on Earth", put forward the proposition of Buddhist life (for example, Master Fo Guang Shan Nebula advocated "happy cultivation without asceticism"), and used modern mass communication methods for large-scale dissemination, which also promoted the development of Buddhism in Taiwan.
The rise of Buddhism in Taiwan has promoted the re-establishment of a tolerant and harmonious social atmosphere and morality in Taiwan, led to the care of the people for others and public affairs, and promoted the development of Taiwan's multiculturalism. Because Buddhist organizations are enthusiastic about education, charity, culture, medical care, environmental protection and other fields, and have founded many universities and medical institutions such as Tzu Chi, Nanhua, Xuanzang, fo guang, etc., Buddhism has promoted the development of cultural, educational, health and public welfare undertakings in Taiwan.
But, on the other hand, if a local wealth concentration industry can be reflected in the most luxurious buildings in the area, then the most luxurious building in Taiwan is the temple. It can be seen that Buddhism in Taiwan has accumulated a large amount of social wealth. Therefore, excessive concentration of wealth in religious institutions may reduce the efficiency of the use of social wealth to a certain extent, just as in the Middle Ages, Western religious institutions controlled a large amount of social wealth, but led to low social productivity development, or even stagnation. Therefore, is there a certain correlation between the decline of Taiwan, known as the "Four Asian Tigers" since the beginning of the 21st century?
(Image from the Internet)
