The Emergence of Transcultural Humanistic Buddhism through the Lens of Religious Entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the innovative strategies that have allowed a young, transcultural Humanistic Buddhist organisation in China and elsewhere to emerge, endure and expand in challenging environments. Developing religious entrepreneurship as an analytic tool, we explain how this organisation survives and thrives in a diverse range of geographical, cultural and political settings. This in-depth case study draws on original data from extensive fieldwork in mainland China, revealing a transcultural turn within a movement that has already become a global force in Chinese Buddhism. This case study also contributes to our theoretical understanding of how innovation and controlled risk-taking allow religious start-ups to expand their influence and carve out new spaces for growth.

KEYWORDS:

• China
• Humanistic Buddhism
• contemporary Buddhist organisations
• transcultural religious movements
• transnational religious movements
• religious entrepreneurship
• religious start-ups

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Joshua Esler, Sam Han, Asian Studies colleagues at the University of Western Australia, and the two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on previous drafts. The authors are also grateful for input from Asian Studies Review’s editorial team, especially Michael Barr. All remaining mistakes are our own.

Notes

1. The four ‘Great Mountains’ of Taiwanese Buddhism conventionally include Fo Guang Shan (佛光山, Buddha’s Light Mountain), Tzu Chi (慈济功德会, Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation), Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山) and Chung Tai Shan (中台山). All but the last are explicitly associated with the Humanistic Buddhist movement.

2. For entrepreneurship in China’s local policy innovations, see Zhu’s (2013) discussion on housing reform in Guizhou province and He’s (2018) analysis of the country’s local healthcare reform. On the national level, see, for example, Hammond’s (2013) discussion on China’s response to urban poverty.

3. For well-cited reviews on scholarly discussions on the definition and substantive characteristics of ‘entrepreneurship’ and its derivations, see, for example, Gartner (1990), Bygrave and Hofer (1991), Peredo and McLean (2006) and Bruyat and Julien (2001).

4. We are aware of a program run by the University of British Columbia that partnered with Chinese universities to host similar events, but to the best of our knowledge students did not reside within monasteries as they do at Stonelotus.

5. We regret that we are unable to provide the web address for the online footage because doing so would compromise our interviewees’ anonymity and breach the terms under which we conducted this research project.

6. For example, while on a personal visit to a famous temple in North China, a local monastic remarked to one author: ‘Ven. E has great English and she is quite famous in China!’.

7. Online television documentary about Stonelotus.

8. Conversations with some Buddhists in China during fieldwork in 2019 and several interviews between 2017 and 2019 with Ven. E confirmed that this is a somewhat widely held view in the community.