Chinese Buddhist Monk’s Autobiography as Model of Living: Master Yin Shun’s Active and Passive Following of the “Flow”

Amy W S LEE

    Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceedingConference proceedingpeer-review

    Abstract

    Autobiography, a self-written narrative normally documenting one’s own life, seems to work on a concept of self which is completely contradictory to one of the core Buddhist beliefs: the “self” is an illusion. It is therefore interesting to examine and review an example of a Buddhist monk’s autobiography, to analyse how the concept of the self is represented, and further to explore the role such a narrative is made to play in the context of contemporary Buddhist teachings. Master Yin Shun (1906-2005) was a well-known Buddhist scholar-monk in the Mahayana tradition. Besides his contributions to modern interpretations of some key Buddhist doctrines, he also advocated “Humanistic” Buddhism, which inspired a number of prominent contemporary Buddhist monastics, such as Sheng-yen of Dharma Drum Mountain and Xing-yun of Fo Guang Shan, who are active in humanitarian aid, social work, environmentalism and academic research as well. His advocation of a socially engaged Buddhism also resulted in the establishment of a Tzu-Chi Buddhist Foundation, an important charity foundation based in Taiwan. Master Yin Shun’s autobiography was written in three stages, marking three points of major illness in his life. His personal narrative is written in the form of a direct address to the readers, and sharing Buddhist teachings directly and indirectly using his own life as an example of the manifestation of the Dharma. The presentation will focus on how Master Yin Shun makes use of this “self-centred” genre to spread the teachings of “no-self”, which is a core teaching of Buddhism.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationThe Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy 2019 Conference Proceedings
    PublisherThe International Academic Forum (IAFOR)
    Publication statusPublished - 14 May 2019
    EventThe Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy 2019 - Tokyo, Japan
    Duration: 21 Mar 201923 Mar 2019
    https://acerp.iafor.org/acerp2019/#:~:text=March%2021-23%2C%202019%20%7C,the%20basics%20of%20academic%20enquiry.

    Publication series

    NameAsian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy Proceedings
    ISSN (Print)2187-476X

    Conference

    ConferenceThe Asian Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy 2019
    Abbreviated titleACERP 2019
    Country/TerritoryJapan
    CityTokyo
    Period21/03/1923/03/19
    Internet address

    User-Defined Keywords

    • monastics autobiography
    • humanistic Buddhism
    • yin-yuan/causes and conditions
    • reader rapport

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