Taixu, was a Buddhist modernist, activist and thinker who advocated for a reformation and revival of Chinese Buddhism by drawing upon eclectic domestic and foreign sources and ideologies.
22 Facts About Taixu
2.
Taixu's parents died when he was still young, and he was raised by his grandparents.
3.
Not long after being ordained he was given the Dharma name of Taixu, meaning Great Emptiness.
4.
Unable to convince the Buddhist community of his ideas, and shocked by the outbreak of the First World War and the sufferings in China, Taixu went into seclusion on Putuoshan for three years from October 1914.
5.
Until his death Taixu worked toward the revival of Buddhism in China, although because of the economic and political turmoil that China experienced through wars and revolutions, few of his projects were successful.
6.
Taixu died on March 12,1947, at the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai.
7.
Besides being a revolutionary activist for the Chinese, Taixu was a Buddhist modernist.
8.
Taixu envisioned plan was to cut the number of monks in the monastic order down and according to history of religion professor Don A Pittman, by 1930 Taixu had.
9.
Rather than focusing on the glories of distant pure lands, which were accessible through reliance on the spiritual merit and power of other great bodhisattvas and buddhas, Taixu visualized this earthly world transformed into a pure land by the dedication and sacrificial hard work of thousands of average bodhisattvas who were mindful of what their concerted witness could mean.
10.
For example, in his essay "Science and Buddhism," Taixu makes a translation of the Buddha's teaching that inside of every drop of water, there are 84 thousand microbes, a Buddhist teaching that basically states that within our world there are many more worlds.
11.
Taixu goes on to explain how that when one looks inside of a microscope one will be able to see these tiny microbes and that each one is a life of its own.
12.
Taixu implemented these methods into organizations like the Bodhi Society and Right Faith Society, lay organizations devoted to providing charity to the sick, poor, and misfortunate.
13.
In one publication by Taixu, he discusses the importance of interreligious dialogue.
14.
Taixu realizes the problems that exist in China and through a conversation with a Catholic archbishop he was able to understand this importance.
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Taixu went as far as incorporating some Christian ideas, such as methods of pastoral training and revival style preaching, into his own Buddhist practices.
16.
Beyond adopting select Christians methods, a more controversial topic that Taixu dealt with openly was the existence of God.
17.
When Taixu went into three years of self confinement after a failed reform attempt he reflected on the subject -.
18.
Taixu appears to tie this argument to the connections between Buddhism and science, and how superstition creates an obstacle on the path to enlightenment.
19.
From his writings Taixu's followers can grasp an understanding that he believes science is a valuable resource but because of people's steadfast faith in superstitions it will never be a successful asset to Buddhism.
20.
Taixu seems to argue that science is a means to enlightenment but it will never allow someone to get there.
21.
Taixu believed that the only way to end the suffering on this world was to bring the Pure Land to it.
22.
Taixu attempted to do so through many means, including the reorganization of the Sangha.