Chinese Buddhism Today - Conservatism, Modernism, Syncretism and Enjoying Life on the Buddha’s Light Mountain - Yu-Shuang Yao
Fo Guang Shan's Activities: Edification through Spectacle and Entertainment
Chinese Buddhism Today - Conservatism, Modernism, Syncretism and Enjoying Life on the Buddha’s Light Mountain - Yu-Shuang Yao
Yu-Shuang Yao [+]
Fo Guang University, Taiwan
Yu-Shuang Yao completed her PhD in Sociology of Religion at the University of London in 2001. She is a Professor at Fo Guang University, Taiwan, specializing in contemporary religions of Taiwan.
Richard Gombrich [+]
University of Oxford / Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies
Richard Gombrich is founder and President of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies. Before his retirement in 2004, he held the Boden Chair of Sanskrit at Oxford University and a Professorial Fellowship at Balliol College for 28 years. He supervised nearly 50 theses on Buddhist topics, and is the author of 200 publications. He continues to lecture and teach at universities round the world.
Description
The authors describe various undertakings, such as the construction of the massive Buddha Memorial Center (completed in 2011) and the transportation of the Buddha's tooth relic into Taiwan in 1998. All designed to convince devotees that the Pure Land is already here, constantly evoked in art, music, rituals, and the never-failing benignity of the Master.