Humanistic Buddhism - Nomenclature

Nomenclature

Taixu, a reformist pioneer in early 20th century Chinese Buddhism, was one of the first to popularize the term "Buddhism for Human Life" (Chinese: 人生佛教; pinyin: rénshēng fójiào), though may not have been the inventor of this term. The first two characters, "human" and "life", indicating his criticism of several aspects of late Ming dynasty and early Republican Chinese Buddhism that he wished to correct, namely, an emphasis on spirits and ghosts (viz "human"), and funeral services and rites (viz "life"). His disciples continued this emphasis.

Taixu also used the term "Buddhism for the Human World", or popularly "Humanistic Buddhism" (Chinese: 人間佛教; pinyin: rénjiān fójiào). It appears that at first the two terms were largely interchangeable. One of Taixu's disciples, Yin Shun, used the term "Humanistic Buddhism" to indicate a criticism against the "deification" of Buddhism, which was another common feature of much of Chinese Buddhism, in his articles and books. It was Yinshun, and other disciples of Taixu, who brought both of these two terms to Taiwan in the wake of the Republican's defeat during the civil war against the Chinese Communist Party. It was in Taiwan that the term "Humanistic Buddhism" became the most commonly used term, particularly amongst the religious leaders who originally hailed from China.

The term 人間佛教 (pinyin: rénjiān fójiào) has also been translated as "Engaged Buddhism" or "Socially Engaged Buddhism," attributed mainly to Thich Nhat Hanh and his rendering of the Chinese into Vietnamese as Nhân gian phật giáo. Both share historical and structural features in emphasizing the relief of suffering in the here and now. An international conference on "Humanistic and Engaged Buddhism - Patterns and Prospects" was held May 18–24, 2009 at Foguang University in Ilan, Taiwan to reflect on the history, teachings, practices, and future of these movements.