Event date: 21:00 (UTC+8) Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Organizer: Harvard University
Lecture Report: Exploring the Future of Buddhism through a Historical Perspective: With a Reference to the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism
Yin Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series
Lecture by Dr. Rey-Sheng Her (Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation)
October 12, 2021
Report by Harvard CAMLab
January 20, 2022
Supported by Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation 佛教慈濟基金會, the second lecture of the Yin-Cheng Distinguished Lecture Series on Buddhism was hosted virtually by Harvard University’s Chinese Art Media Lab (CAMLab) on October 12, 2021. The guest speaker was Dr. Rey-Sheng Her 何日生 from Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation whose lecture focused on the future of Buddhism through a historical perspective. The lecture attracted more than a thousand participants worldwide, joining in via Zoom or watching the YouTube and Facebook live stream.
The event started with a welcoming remark by the host, Professor Eugene Yuejin Wang from Harvard University. It then proceeded to the main talk given by Dr. Her, followed by a commentary session led by the host and two discussants, Professor Richard Madsen from the University of California San Diego, and Professor Elise Anne DeVido from Tzu Chi University 慈濟大學.
Prof. Richard Madsen (the University of California San Diego).
Bottom row: Prof. Elise Anne DeVido (Tzu Chi University),
Prof. Eugene Yuejin Wang (Harvard University).
Screenshots by Harvard CAMLab. Republished with permission.
Prof. Wang, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Asian Art and Founder of CAMLab at Harvard University, expressed his gratitude to the Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation, the University of British Columbia (UBC), and CAMLab for their generous support and coordinative effort, and then introduced the speaker, Dr. Her.
Dr. Her is the Deputy CEO of Buddhist Tzu Chi Charity Foundation and also the Associate Professor at Tzu Chi University. He was the Spokesman and Director of the Department of Literature and History of the Tzu Chi Foundation慈濟基金會. Dr. Her received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Peking University, and M.A. on Communication Management, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. As a veteran media professional, he was a senior news anchor and TV program producer. The documentary he produced Great Love as Running Water─the History of Bone Marrow Transplantation, was selected as Best Documentary in Pacific Asia & Africa Regions of the Emmy Award International in 2004. Dr. Her has delivered speeches on Buddhism and Non-profit Organization (NGO) Management at Harvard University, the University of Oxford, Peking University 北京大學, Renmin University of China 中國人民大學, Beijing Normal University 北京師範大學, and the University of Hong Kong 香港大學, and many international symposiums.
Dr. Her’s lecture, “Exploring the Future of Buddhism through a Historical Perspective: With a Reference to the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism,” analyses the reasons underlying the disappearance of Indian Buddhism during and before thirteenth century, and the decline of Chinese Buddhism after Ming Dynasty明朝 (1368–1644). The modernization of Buddhism must aim to better the society and apply its philosophy, practices to contribute to the well-being of secular world. Buddhism could generate larger global impacts through reformulating Buddhist philosophy, reforming organizations, and promoting spiritual practices. The future of Buddhism relies on its continuous adaptation to and influences on our modern society.
Firstly, he provided an overview of the decline of Indian Buddhism during and before the thirteenth century. According to Dr. Her, the demise of Indian Buddhism in the thirteenth century must be attributed to the fact that in its middle and late stages, Indian Buddhism overemphasized abstract philosophy of mind and monastic self-cultivation, and lacked a universal “knowledge system” and “value system.” The emphasis on the management of monks and the lack of attention to the life of lay followers, as Max Weber said, was the key to the demise of Buddhism in India. Weber said that the demise of Buddhism was due to two factors. First, the lack of an organized community of lay followers. The second is the lack of a secular, rigorous ethic of life. In his final analysis, Dr. Her stated that Indian Buddhism had never established an ethic system of secular life, a socialized system of knowledge, and an organizational system of lay followers. It lacked a connection to secular life and failed to establish a real-world knowledge and value system. This is the main reason why Buddhism declined in India.
Then he moved on to discuss about the demise of Chinese Buddhism after the Ming and Qing 清 (1644–1911) Dynasties after one thousand and nine hundred years of its existence. Buddhism’s lack of exposition and construction of knowledge of the world led to its eventual reduction to a supplementary system rather than a mainstream one. The Chinese intellectuals ruled by Confucianism, and the common people in general turned to Taoist magic. In India, the upper class intellectuals revered Brahmin discernment, and the common people tended to Brahmin mysteries, incantations, and rituals. The decline of Chinese Buddhism repeated the fate of Indian Buddhism. The reason for the decline of Buddhism in the Ming and Qing dynasties in ancient China, after one thousand and nine hundred years of its existence, was the over-emphasis on monastic temples, leaving the worldly knowledge system to Confucianism, which pursues the way of officialdom and business. The lack of a worldly value and knowledge system in Buddhism led to its demise.
The last topic Dr. Her addressed was the rise of modern Buddhism and the establishment of Tzu Chi Buddhism. He talked about the influence of Tzu Chi on the historical development of Buddhism. First of all, as Master Yinshun 釋印順 (1906– 2005) said, primitive Buddhism did not attach importance to material improvement. Tzu Chi has developed Four Missions: charity, medicine, education, and culture, all of which are rooted in the life of the human world. Secondly, Tzu Chi establishes an earthly system of bodhisattvas, which, with its large, complete, and rigorous system of volunteers, can be called a Buddhist sect for lay people. The monasticization of lay followers is an important creation of Tzu Chi, and for Master Cheng Yen, it means the ideal of humanizing the bodhisattva. Last but not least, the third influence of Tzu Chi is the establishment of an ethical system for lay people. Traditional Buddhism lacked a system of ethics for lay people, an insight offered by Max Webber. Tzu Chi Buddhism, on the other hand, established the ethics and rituals of monastic life and the Ten Precepts of Tzu Chi, a combination of the five precepts of the Buddhist tradition and other principles and rituals of life adapted to contemporary society. This is the beginning and foundation of the Buddhist teachings to establish the ethics of lay people.
Dr. Her emphasized that the establishment of Tzu Chi Buddhism provides a new path for Buddhist social improvement and salvation on earth. The promotion of Tzu Chi’s Four missions and Eight Footprints allowed people to move from charity good deeds to all deeds of goodness, and connected Buddhist philosophy directly with the professionalism of contemporary society and make a substantial impact. With its Buddhist charity foundation, Tzu Chi has appropriately incorporated the spirit of Confucianism and Western scientific rationality, and is thus able to adapt to society and transform modern society to a certain extent while promoting the socialization of Buddhism.
Finally, Dr. Her ended the lecture by concluding that the practice of Tzu Chi Buddhism must enter the world and does not leave the world. Thus Tzu Chi balances its public and religious aspects. The challenge of Tzu Chi Buddhism is that it must integrate its public characteristic with religious orientation. The former embodies the latter, and the former is made through the latter. Benefiting all sentient beings is public and self-purification is religious, both of which go hand in hand in order to maintain the perpetual development of Tzu Chi. Dr. Her believes that Tzu Chi is still in the process of constructing these three goals, and as a charitable organization, Tzu Chi has invested much effort in charitable work.
Following the talk, Prof. DeVido from Tzu Chi University contributed by sharing her thoughts as neither a Buddhologist or an Indologist. She discussed briefly about the strengths and weaknesses of Weberian analysis, “Protestant Buddhism,” and “Decline and Revival” in Chinese Buddhist history. Ultimately, Prof. DeVido talked about the question of institutional sustainability (organization; membership; doctrine) by comparing Tzu Chi with three other global Buddhist organizations: Thích Nhất Hạnh’s 釋一行 (1926–2022) Plum Village Community (originated from Vietnam and France), Soka Gakkai International 創價學會 (originated from Japan), and Triratna Buddhist Order and Buddhist Community (originated from England and India). She ended her commentary with the summary that Dr. Her’s paper opens up new paths for macro-historical and comparative approaches to elucidate Tzu Chi’s unique contributions to Buddhism and to the world.
After Prof. DeVido’s commentary, Prof. Madsen from the University of California San Diego made his remark by confining to the sociological framing of Dr. Her’s historical narrative, which is strongly influenced by the theories of Max Weber. In Professor Madsen’s comments, he tried to reframe Professor Her’s narrative along the lines suggested by Hans Joas, a German scholar who is now one of the most important sociologists of world religions. Prof. Madsen exemplified that there would be no forms in which the Buddhist vision would be perfectly realized, and different forms would become prominent in different contexts in history, shaped by the particular causes and conditions of the time. Finally, he proceeded to the reference of Tzu Chi and concluded that even though the fusion between a Buddhist vision and modern forms of organization creates tensions and provokes controversy, it is an overall healthy controversy and is to be expected with every religion in every era as it engages with its particular historical contexts.
