Education, Invention of Orthodoxy, and the Construction of Modern Buddhism on Dharma Drum Mountain Daniel Ryan Tuzzeo

Education, Invention of Orthodoxy, and the Construction of Modern Buddhism on Dharma Drum Mountain Daniel Ryan Tuzzeo

Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 Education, Invention of Orthodoxy, and the Construction of Modern Buddhism on Dharma Drum Mountain Daniel Ryan Tuzzeo Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact lib-ir@fsu.edu THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES EDUCATION, INVENTION OF ORTHODOXY, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN BUDDHISM ON DHARMA DRUM MOUNTAIN By DANIEL RYAN TUZZEO A Thesis submitted to the Department of Religion in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2012 Daniel Ryan Tuzzeo defended this thesis on March 30, 2012. The members of the supervisory committee were: Jimmy Yu Professor Directing Thesis Bryan Cuevas Committee Member Joseph Hellweg Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii This work is dedicated to all who have made it possible—my advisor, professors, classmates, friends, family, and Dharma Drum Mountain—and to the memory of Andres Chang. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful beyond words to my advisor, Professor Jimmy Yu, without whose guidance, support, and grandmotherly kindness, this thesis and the development over the past three years would not have been possible. Thank you for always pushing me, and helping me to achieve more than I ever could have on my own. I have been fortunate enough at Florida State to have two more professors whom I consider advisors as well. Thank you, Professor Cuevas, for your tutelage, and for expanding my view and awareness of the field of Buddhist Studies and my abilities in scholarship. Thank you, Professor Hellweg, for guiding me through my fieldwork from the beginning, and for always being available to talk to and brainstorm. Lori Chung, thank you for your friendship and support. Without your help, in more than just translation, I would not have been able to accomplish this. To Cameron Bailey and Patrick Ley, your friendship, camaraderie, and support have been instrumental in me making it through this alive. To Bojun Liu and Yungchi (Thomas) Lai, my big sister and brother, I cannot possibly thank you enough. To many more spicy hot pots in the future! I am especially grateful to Dharma Drum Mountain, and all the associated fashi and pusa, who are too numerous to name in entirety. However, I must give special thanks to Guo Dong fashi, Guo Guang fashi, Guo Yuan fashi, Chang Xu fashi, Aming Du, Hsiulan Chen, Wen-Ren Liu, Pei Yang, Marcus Bingenheimer, Bill Magee, and Simon Wiles. Thank you to everyone who was so kind to fill out my questionnaires and take time out of your day to be interviewed. Thank you to all who have treated me so well and made me so comfortable at DDM. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to live with you, learn from you, talk with you, and practice with you over the past three years. I hope they won’t be the last. iv Thank you to the Sheng Yen Education Foundation, whose generous grant has allowed me to focus on making this the best thesis of my abilities. Finally, thank you, Mom and Dad, for always supporting me in doing anything I do, even if it means traveling across the world for extended periods of time year after year. Thank you to Mercedes and all of my friends and family, and anyone I have neglected to mention! v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures viii Abstract ix INTRODUCTION 1 Dharma Drum Mountain: Its Physical Layout and Academic Programs 5 Shengyan and the Role of Education in Taiwanese Buddhism 7 Uplifting the Character of Humanity and Creating a Pure Land on Earth 10 Theories of Modernization and Notions of Decline 12 Theories of Buddhist Education and the Beginnings of Modernism 17 1. CHAPTER ONE: RHETORIC OF DECLINE AND REVIVAL 26 1.1. Tracing the Rhetoric of Decline and Revival in Chinese Buddhism 27 1.2. Persistent Emic Discourse of Anti-clericalism and Anti-Superstition 34 1.3. The Revivalist Turn of Yang Wenhui and Taixu 41 1.4. Interaction with Christian Missionaries and Establishing a Pure Land on Earth 50 1.5. Taixu’s Impact on Contemporary Chinese Buddhism 57 2. CHAPTER TWO: SHENGYAN AND HIS ASPIRATION FOR EDUCATION 62 2.1. Shengyan as Zhang Baokang 62 2.2. Shengyan as the Novice Changjin 66 2.3. Shengyan as a Soldier 70 2.4. Shengyan Returns to Monkhood 72 2.5. A Buddhist Doctorate Becoming An Educator 78 3. CHAPTER THREE: CONSTRUCTING MODERN BUDDHISM THROUGH EDUCATION 82 3.1. Orthodoxy and Tradition at DDM 83 3.2. Dharma Drum’s Educational Philosophy 89 3.3. The Dharma Drum Worldview 91 3.4. Inheriting the Past and Inspiring the Future 97 3.5. Stage One: Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies 99 3.6. Stage Two: Dharma Drum Sangha University 101 3.7. Stage Three: Dharma Drum Buddhist College 103 3.8. Stage Four: Dharma Drum University 104 3.9. Using Materiality to Negotiate Modernity and Tradition 105 3.10. Buddhism as Religion and the Supernatural 111 4. CHAPTER FOUR: IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE THROUGH EDUCATION 115 4.1. Dharma Drum Mountain’s Community of Practice 118 4.2. Dharma Drum Sangha University 120 vi 4.3. Dharma Drum Buddhist College 124 4.4. Ethnographic Methodology 129 4.5. Ethnographic Data and Analysis 138 CONCLUSION: RETHINKING MODERNITY 151 Buddhist Modernism 152 Comparing DDM with Islamic Education in Indonesian Pesantren 155 Residence Life, Cura Personalis and Service Learning at Jesuit Institutions 158 Secularization of Universities in the United States 164 Future Research 168 APPENDIX: 171 Figures for Chapter Three 171 Sample Permission and Informed Consent Form for Ethnographic Research 177 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 185 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 228 vii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Figure 1. Shengyan’s childhood area of activity 79 2. Figure 2. Map of Jiangsu Province in China 80 3. Figure 3. Syncretism: A Night Photo of a Traditional Chinese Temple in Taiwan 107 4. Figure 4. Picture of a “Daoist” temple in Yilan 108 5. Figure 5. Contrast of Dharma Drum Mountain’s “orthodoxy.” 108 6. Figure 6. Shengyan’s references to Buddhism and education 111 7. Figure 7. DDM’s model of world-transformation 115 8. Figure 8. The overlaps of DDSU, CHIBS, and DDU 122 9. Figure 9. Altar with many divinities 132 10. Figure 10. Wall of lights 133 11. Figure 11. Digital lamp 133 12. Figure 12. Electric organ in a service 134 13. Figure 13. Results of Analysis, 1 (Reason for Coming to DDBC) 134 14. Figure 14. Results of Analysis, 2 (Most Important Activity at DDM) 174 15. Figure 15. Results of Analysis, 3 (Students’ Plans After Graduating DDBC) 177 16. Figure 16. Results of Analysis, 4 (Reported Weekly Time Allotment) 178 17. Figure 17. Results of Analysis, 5 (Student Satisfaction) 184 18. Figure 18. Buddhist Libraries in Taiwan 213 19. Figure 19. Buddhist Studies Courses in Taiwan 214 20. Figure 20. Buddhist Study Groups and Lectures in Taiwan 215 21. Figure 21. Comparison of Buddhist Libraries, Courses, and Groups/Lectures 216 viii ABSTRACT My research involves an ethno-historical study of Dharma Drum Mountain (Fagushan 法 鼓山), founded in 1989 by Venerable Shengyan 聖嚴 (1930-2009). Dharma Drum is currently one of the most powerful, international Buddhist organizations in Taiwan, and has incorporated the discourse of education with an aim to modernize Chinese Buddhism in response to a perceived crisis and need for revitalization. Dharma Drum’s education campaign involves three types of what the organization broadly defines as education, but for the purposes of this research I focus solely on what the organization identifies as “education through academics,” namely referring to educational and research projects such as those affiliated with Dharma Drum Buddhist College, the Chung-Hwa Institute for Buddhist Studies, and the organization’s monastic seminary, Dharma Drum Saṅgha University. The goal of this educational system is to engage socially and transform the world by first transforming the self. On one hand, the effect of this is to “uplift the character of humanity and build a pure land on earth.” On the other hand, this practice-oriented approach of world-transformation is a modern technique used for promoting DDM’s brand of orthodox Chinese Buddhism. My research provides historical context around the conditions that led Dharma Drum Mountain’s founder, Venerable Shengyan, to perceive of a crisis of survival for Chinese Buddhism in the twentieth century and to determine education to be the solution to this problem; translations of Ven. Shengyan’s written discourse on the need for education in order to combat this perceived decline in Chinese Buddhism; and ethnographic examination of the current state of Dharma Drum’s educational institutions, within which communities of practice and an environment of situated learning are established, and an assessment of the organization’s success in implementing Shengyan’s goals. My thesis is that Shengyan’s goal of establishing Chinese Buddhist orthodoxy through modern education aims to transform the way Buddhism is understood in contemporary Taiwan. While this transformation is still undergoing continual change as it is mediated between institutional goals and individual preferences, it is forming two different forms of modernity: institutional and personal. DDM’s orthodoxy also mirrors the struggle that many contemporary religious institutions face when balancing traditional values with modern sensibilities. In the case ix of DDM, such a balancing act can also be witnessed in its formulation and integration of practice and study. This integration of practice and study is a tool for promoting and actualizing Shengyan’s unique worldview, which recasts the self as interconnected with society and humanity as a means of transforming the world while simultaneously promoting DDM’s brand of Chinese Buddhism through practice rather than discourse.

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    239 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us