Author: Yu-Shuang Yao
Publisher: Global Oriental
ISBN: 9004231323
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257
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Book Description
This book is the first comprehensive sociological account and in-depth analysis of a new Chinese Buddhist movement, known as Tzu Chi (otherwise, the Buddhist Compassion Merit Society). Based in Taiwan, it was founded in 1966 and still led by a female Buddhist master – Master Cheng Yen. Its members are laity, and women play a major role. The main focus of the movement is medical charity – to ease and if possible prevent suffering and to teach ethics to the wealthy; at the same time, it also offers members a religion and a way of life. Recruitment typically attracts people from the urban middle class. With some 3.5 million members and a very low drop-out rate, Tzu Chi is extraordinarily successful, and has spread to other parts of the world, not least mainland China where it is attracting the attention of the general public and the media. The book stands in the Anglo-American tradition of the sociology of religion; it also draws on the author’s knowledge of Buddhist history. The data come from participant observation and many long interviews. It will be of particular interest to students of new religious movements, religious studies in contemporary China, and studies in ethics and social change in East Asia.
Author: C. Julia Huang
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674264614
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 354
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Book Description
The Venerable Cheng-yen is an unassuming Taiwanese Buddhist nun who leads a worldwide social welfare movement with five million devotees in over thirty countries—with its largest branch in the United States. Tzu-Chi (Compassion Relief) began as a tiny, grassroots women's charitable group; today in Taiwan it runs three state-of-the-art hospitals, a television channel, and a university. Cheng-yen, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, is a leader in Buddhist peace activism and has garnered recognition by Business Week as an entrepreneurial star. Based on extensive fieldwork in Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, and the United States, this book explores the transformation of Tzu-Chi. C. Julia Huang offers a vivid ethnography that examines the movement’s organization, its relationship with NGOs and humanitarian organizations, and the nature of its Buddhist transnationalism, which is global in scope and local in practice. Tzu-Chi's identity is intimately tied to its leader, and Huang illuminates Cheng-yen's successful blending of charisma and compassion and the personal relationship between leader and devotee that defines the movement. This important book sheds new light on religion and cultural identity and contributes to our understanding of the nature of charisma and the role of faith-based organizations.
Author: Yu-Shuang Yao
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 648
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Book Description
Author: Richard Madsen
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520252284
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 218
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Book Description
This title explores the remarkable religious renaissance that has reformed, revitalized and renewed the practices of Buddhism and Daoism in Taiwan. Madsen connects these developments to Taiwan's transition to democracy and the burgeoning needs of its new middle classes.
Author: Mark O'Neill
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470825677
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225
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Book Description
This book captures well the history and spirit of Tzu Chi and its volunteers. It explains the passion and devotion that have made it the largest non-governmental organization in the Chinese-speaking world. Stan Shih Group Chairman Soft Capital Mark O'Neill's dispatches from Greater China over the span of many years have earned him a distinguished reputation as a gifted, insightful writer, versatile on a wide range of topics. A fluent Chinese speaker, he possesses that rare combination for a writer—of a keen nose for news as well as a heart for social responsibility. In Tzu Chi, he has chronicled the extraordinary story of a Chinese Buddhist nun whose selfless vision has built a global organization committed to doing good. O'Neill's book is the definitive story of her life and—more importantly—the organization she has built from humble roots in Taiwan. Thomas D. Gorman Chairman and Editor-in-Chief FORTUNE China Tzu Chi is a brilliant introduction to one of the most important—but to Westerners probably least-known—international charities and religious movements in the world. Tzu Chi is part of a renaissance of belief in the Chinese world and Mark O'Neill has captured it beautifully. Ian Johnson Pulitzer Prize-winner Author of Wild Grass and A Mosque in Munich Tzu Chi has inspired the generosity of millions of Asians and mobilized them for service to the poor and sick. But its good deeds are not sufficiently known in the West. Mark O'Neill's book will change that. He has written a comprehensive, sympathetic, and eminently readable chronicle of this inspiring movement. Richard Madsen Distinguished Profess or of Sociology University of California, San Diego Mark O'Neill has produced a most impressive and timely book to enlighten the many people who are not yet familiar with Tzu Chi, a remarkable organization of universal compassion. While many Buddhist societies focus on meditation and personal enlightenment, Tzu Chi concentrates on community services and global outreach with the scale, vision and management skills of a large business corporation. In a world full of injustice, poverty and disasters, Tzu Chi has been a guiding light toward peace, harmony and happiness. O'Neill's book eloquently describes the story of the many individuals behind this remarkable movement. Professor Dominic Man-Kit Lam Chairman Word Eye Organization This story of the largest worldwide organization you've never heard of will knock your socks off. First with aid to Katrina victims, first outside organization to aid the tsunami-devastated people of Indonesia, first NGO with aid after the Sichuan earthquakes in China, it's called Tzu Chi. This organization was founded by a penniless nun in an obscure town in Taiwan. Mark O'Neill has given us a page-turner in his account of how she transformed pennies in a bamboo tube into three hospitals, an international bone marrow bank, and a quick-response global rescue organization that moves faster than you can imagine. If you are overdosing on bad news, this book is a must-read. Don Gibbs Founding Chair University of California–Davis, Department of Asian Languages
Author: 釋證嚴
Publisher: 靜思人文
ISBN: 6269503620
Category : Religion
Languages : zh-TW
Pages : 708
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Book Description
Teachings and Commentary on the Sutra of Infinite Meanings is compiled from the teachings expounded during the seven-day Buddhist retreats in 1972 and 1973. Master Cheng Yen explained the sutra word by word, verse by verse, and complemented it with many analogies and real-life stories, connecting matters to principles.The book is organized as follows: The first volume includes the Preface, which describes the background of the teachings and Master Cheng Yen’s karmic affinity with the Sutra of Infinite Meanings, as well as her commentary on the first chapter of the sutra, “Chapter on Virtues.” The second volume includes the commentary on the second and third chapters of the sutra, “Chapter on Expounding the Dharma,” and “Chapter on the Ten Merits.” As for the last passage in the “Chapter on the Ten Merits,” “At this time, Great Magnificent Bodhisattva-Mahasattva and the eighty thousand bodhisattva-mahasattvas then rose from their seats” to, “At this time, all in the assembly rejoiced. They paid their respects to the Buddha and accepted and upheld the teachings as they departed,” the audio tape of Master Cheng Yen’s teaching on this section has been lost. Therefore, only the sutra passages have been kept without any additions.《無量義經講述》編纂依據一九七二年及一九七三年佛七開示《無量義經》內容，證嚴上人逐字逐句講述經文，輔以較多譬喻、生活點滴，事理相應。此書章節編輯，將上人與《無量義經》因緣、背景等段落，輯成「前言」一章，而〈德行品〉、〈說法品〉、〈十功德品〉，則各自獨立成章。第一冊包含了「前言」以及〈德行品〉；第二冊則包含了〈說法品〉以及〈十功德品〉。唯〈十功德品〉最後一段經文「是時大莊嚴菩薩摩訶薩，與八萬菩薩摩訶薩，即從坐起，……爾時大會皆大歡喜，為佛作禮，受持而去」，因錄音帶佚失，闕漏當時開示此段經文的內容，故僅保留經文未作增補。
Author: Sallie B. King
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000393593
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233
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Book Description
This book highlights what Buddhism has to offer for "living well" here and now—for individuals, society as a whole, all sentient beings and the planet itself. From the perspectives of a variety of Buddhist thinkers, the book evaluates what a good life is like, what is desirable for human society, and ways in which we should live in and with the natural world. By examining this-worldly Buddhist philosophy and movements in India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Tibetan diaspora, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the United States, the book assesses what Buddhists offer for the building of a good society. It explores the proposals and programs made by progressive and widely influential lay and monastic thinkers and activists, as well as the works of movement leaders such as Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, for the social, economic, political and environmental systems in their various countries. Demonstrating that Buddhism is not solely a path for the realization of nirvana but also a way of living well here and now, this book will be of interest to researchers working on contemporary and modern Buddhism, Buddhism and society, Asian religion and Engaged Buddhism.
Author: Christopher S. Queen
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780700715947
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 390
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Book Description
These essays chart the emergence of a new chapter in an ancient faith - the rise of social service and political activism in Buddhist Asia and the West. Engaged Buddhists have sought new ways to comfort society's oppressed communities.
Author: Linda Learman
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824828103
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
This insightful volume dispels the common notion that Buddhism is not a missionary religion by revealing Asian Buddhists as active agents in the propagation of their faith. It presents at the same time a new framework with which to study missionary activity in both Buddhist and other religious traditions. Included are case studies of Theravada, Chinese, and Tibetan Buddhist teachers and congregations, as well as the Pure Land, Shingon, Zen, and Soka Gakkai traditions of Japan. Contributors examine both foreign and domestic missions and the activities of emigrant communities, showing the resources and strategies garnered by late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century Buddhists who worked to uphold and further their respective traditions, often under difficult circumstances. Based on anthropological fieldwork and historical research, the essays break new ground and provide better analytical tools for studying mission activity than previously available. They provide instructive comparisons with Anglo-American Protestant missionary thinking and offer insights into the internal dynamics of Sri Lankan and Japanese missions as they make their way in Protestant and Catholic societies. Also included are nuanced studies of two major missionary figures in late twentieth-century Chinese Buddhism and a fascinating look at the present Dalai Lama’s relationships with his devotees and the American government, viewed through an exposition of the abiding tradition within Tibetan Buddhism that combines mission activity with the political goals of exiled lamas. Contributors: Stuart Chandler; Peter B. Clarke; C. Julia Huang; Steven Kemper; Linda Learman; Sarah LeVine; Richard K. Payne; Cristina Rocha; George J. Tanabe, Jr.; Gray Tuttle.
Author: C. Julia Huang
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674031333
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362
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Book Description
Focusing on the transformation of the Tzu-Chi, this book contributes to our understanding of the nature of charisma and the role of faith based organisations.
