Volume six of Studies on Humanistic Buddhism contains four articles translated from Chinese, one article that was written in English, and five student papers. The theme of this volume is Wisdom and Compassion in Action, which highlights some of the ways Venerable Master Hsing Yun used skillful means to fulfill his vow. The articles discuss some of the various ways he grew the Fo Guang Shan into a worldwide Buddhist organization through building temples throughout the world, founding the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) for lay practitioners, globalizing and localizing, education, natural aesthetics, and through developing the concepts of collective effort and leadership by system.
Volume four of Studies on Humanistic Buddhism contains eight translated articles, two commentaries, two original articles, and a perspective piece all relating to human life. Human life is a topic with a vast scope. It was chosen because it is central to Humanistic Buddhism. As several articles in this volume and previous volumes discuss, Humanistic Buddhism developed as a response to the perception that Buddhism no longer related directly to human life. By the nineteenth century in China, Buddhism was seen to provide what came to be mainly perfunctory rituals to be performed upon the death of a family member. Humanistic Buddhism revived Buddhism as an intrinsic part of daily life.
