ifeng.com (5) 美国佛教之路 – American Buddhism’s Journey

Chinese Source at ifeng.com

The same text published in 2006 at www.plm.org.cn, and attributed to the Hong Kong Precious Lotus Meditation Temple (来源：香港宝莲禅寺)

美国佛教之路2007年09月19日 10:15人生佛教网

American Buddhism’s Journey — 19 Sep 09, Peoples’ Life Buddhism Net

编辑： 薛斐

Edited by: Xue Fei (probably a nom de plume)

淘金热潮与佛教的传入

The mass gold-panning upsurge and the introduction of Buddhism.

十九世纪中叶，中国历经鸦片战争及洪杨之乱，民生艰难，因此当沿海华人听说美国加州发现金矿时，就不顾生命的危险，一窝蜂地怀着挖金之梦远渡重洋，来美国打天下，也将他们所信仰的佛教带入，但当时华人备受排挤，只是在小小的佛堂庙宇中拜拜而已，并没有将佛法弘扬开来。尽管如此，佛寺扮演了抚慰心灵的角色，是华人生活中不可或缺的一环。

In the middle of the 19th century, China having passed through the Opium War and a chaos of institutional distress (lit: flooded-out willows), the life of the people was miserable, and as a result of this, when sea-faring Chinese heard that gold had been discovered in California, they disregarded the danger to their lives, and instantly resorted to anything at all to descend on America like a swarm of bees, crossing the great ocean from afar, and cherishing the dream of digging for gold. In doing this, they brought their Buddhist beliefs in with them, but because at that time the Chinese people were excluded (from the social mainstream), they only worshipped in small shrine-temples, and did not start to propagate Buddhism. Since only managed in that way, Buddhist temples played a small-spirited role of consolation, which was the delimitation of Chinese life which could not be otherwise than lacking. ((I disagree with this completely. The Chinese and Japanese temples built in that era have HUGE spirit-power, because they were built by people who had absolutely nothing but their faith to hold them together, and the workmanship on these temples is always exquisite. The saddest thing I have ever seen in my life, bar none, was an old Chinese temple in the California gold country. The structure itself was still radiant, albeit abandoned, after decades of neglect, and I find it ridiculous and wrong to abandon that kind of legacy, as East Asians in general have done in America. Then they build uninhabitable (because there’s just no human scale in it) piles of perfectly arrogant and ostentatious architecture, and everybody, including the current East Asian immigrants, are offended by it and turned off by it. This is not a viable way to propagate Buddhadharma. What would work would be to go back to these beautiful small old temples, and reconnect with the courageous spirit of the pioneers who built them, to maintain them as reminders of what Buddhadharma must perpetually overcome, not only in coming to a new country, but in overcoming the beginningless ignorance of the originating country as well. From there, you could build forward into the present needs of a multicultural American Sangha, and construction started that way would be a living process, and the temples resulting from this would be rooted in the Dharmakaya (the formless realm), and would thrive as part of the real-time American religious mainstream –xp))

十九世纪末叶，夏威夷需要大量劳工种植甘蔗与凤梨，这又吸引了大量的日本人抱着衣锦还乡的美梦，千里迢迢来此谋生。

In the last part of the 19th century, Hawaii needed a large amounts of labor to plant sugar cane and pineapple, and this induced many Japanese to undertake the thousand-mile journey from afar to make a living, while holding the beautiful dream of returning to their country dressed in brocade.

中国的满清政府腐败无能，不但不管移民生死，而且责备移民触犯国法，遑论弘扬佛教，宣慰侨胞；相对于此，日本佛教则因为：一、得到本山（总部）的支持，派遣传教师来此建寺弘法；二、夏威夷卡拉乌阿国王访日期间得到日本盛情，而且当时民族学知识不完备，许多夏威夷人以为与日本人是同族关系，而得到先天上的优势。一八八九年，日僧曜日苍龙（ Soryu Kagai）到达夏威夷，以法水来抚慰日本移民的思乡之情，两年后，净土真宗西本愿寺派宫本惠顺（ Eijun Miyamoto）来此建寺。但这些僧众的布教活动都局限在日本侨民的圈子里。

The Chinese Qing Dynasty government was corrupt and powerless, and not only did not care for (Chinese) immigrants, but blamed them for violating national law, and casually discussed the propagation of Buddhadharma, to console the overseas Chinese. Contrary to this, Japanese Buddhism was subject to these causes: 1. Having obtained the support of the sect Headquarters, the sect then sent Dharma-propagating teachers to build temeples and promote Dharma, and 2. When King Kalama of Hawaii visted Japan, he recieved the overwhelming hospitality of the Japanese people, and because the science of genetics was not perfected, a lot of Hawaiians thought they had a racial connection with Japan, and so had obtained innate superiority. ((The Hawaiian Ali’i did have that kind of elitist idea with respect to race. -xp)) In 1889, the Japanese monk Soryu Kagai arrived in Hawaii and started to console the Japanese feelings of homesickness by pouring the water of Dharma. Two years later, Eijun Miyamoto of the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Honganji arrived to build a temple. But the propagandizing activities of these sects remained within the limits of the Japanese immigrant population.

宗教会议与佛教的生根

Buddhism Strikes Root at the Religious Conference

一八七五年，奥葛特上校在纽约创立“灵智学会”（ Theosophical Society），经由这个组织所出版的刊物和主办的演讲，使一些美国人对转世、因果及涅槃等观念渐有认识。一八八○年，奥葛特上校赴锡兰受持五戒，是为第一位美籍优婆塞。同年，英国阿诺德爵士的《亚洲之光》诗集在波士顿出版，激起美国人对佛教的兴趣。一八九一年，达摩波罗在可伦坡成立“摩诃菩提协会”，其所出版的《摩诃菩提月刊》（ Mahabodhi Journal）受到重视， 因而被邀请出席一八九三年的“世界宗教会议”（ World‘s Parliament of Religions）发表论文。 在这次会议中，出席者大部份是耶教徒，但达摩波罗及宗演禅师的演说却倾倒全场，使更多人认识到佛法的伟大。此后，越来越多的美国知识份子从事佛学的研究，佛书的出版也骤然增加。其中，尤以华伦（ Henry Clarke Warren, 一八五四至一八九九）创办的“哈佛东方丛书”（ The Harvard Oriental Series ）成绩最为斐然， 其他如兰曼（ Charles Rockwell Lanman ）、克拉克 （ Walter Eugene Clarke）、 印加斯（ Daniel H.Ingalls）、 依文思（ W. Y. Evans-Wantz）、史特劳斯（ C. T. S. Strauss）

The Theosophical Society had been established in New York in 1875 by Captain (Henry Steel) Olcott, and this organization’s publications and the lectures hosted by it had gradually given many Americans a recognition of concepts like reincarnation, karma, and nirvana. When Captain Olcott went to Sri Lanka to recieve the Five (Lay) Precepts in 1880, he became the first (Buddhist) layman American citizen. In the same year, Sir Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia was published in Boston, stimulating Americans’ interest in Buddhism. In 1891 Anagqrika Dharmapala established the Mahabodhi Association in Columbo, and the Mahbodhi Journal published by it recieved significant attention, and for that reason he was invited to attend the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 and to deliver a treatise. Most of those attending this Religious Parliament were the followers of other religions, but Anagqrika Dharmapala and Shaku Sōen’s talks were poured out on the whole assembly, and made may recognize the greatness of Buddhism. After that, more and more American intellectuals engaged in researches about Buddhism, and the publishing of Buddhist materials increased at a galloping rate. Prominent among these the Harvard Oriental Series launched by Henry Clarke Warren (1854-1899) was the most elegant achievement. Other such authors included Charles Rockwell Lanman, Walter Eugene Clarke, Daniel H.Ingalls, W. Y. Evans-Wentz, and C. T. S. Strauss, …

、哥达德（ Dwight Goddard）、陈观胜（ Kenneth Chen）等美国一流的教授学者， 都为佛学在美国的传播作出贡献。 畅销书《佛陀的福音》（ The Gospel ofBuddha）作者卡洛斯（ Paul Carus, 一八五二至一九一九），在“世界宗教会议”中对于宗演禅师的论文大为感动，遂于一八九七年聘请他的弟子铃木大拙（ DaisetzTeitaro Suzuki）到伊利诺州的 Open Court Publishing Company 担任编辑，写下为数颇多的佛教论文、翻译及书评。一九○九年，他返回日本从事教学、研究，编辑英文版的《东方佛教》（ Eastern Buddhist）杂志，同时又用英文写了很多有关佛学，尤其是禅宗的著作。

… Dwight Goddard, Kenneth Chen, and other such top-notch American university professors, all of whom made contributions to the dissemination of Buddhism in America. The fast selling The Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus, greatly motivated by Shaku Sōen’s treatise at the World Parliament of Religions, and in 1897 Sōen persuaded his disciple Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki to become an editor at the Open Court Publishing Company in Illinois, where he wrote rather numerous treatises, translations, and commentaries. In 1909 he returned to Japane, where he engaged in teaching, researching, and editing the English edition of the Eastern Buddhist magazine, while also using English to write many Buddhist studies in English, particularly of the literary works of the Zen school.

“世界宗教会议”之后，日本佛教徒发现美国是宣扬佛教的一块沃土，一八九四年，日本净土宗本部派冈部学应（Rev. Gakuo Okabe）到夏威夷，他背着阿弥陀佛的圣像四处传教，一八九六年在夏威夷岛上的甘蔗农场设立第一座净土宗寺院；一八九九年，净土真宗西本愿寺僧侣园田宗惠（ Rev. Shuei Sonoda）及西岛觉了（ Rev.Kakuryo Nishijima）衔命抵达旧金山弘法，创立北美佛教会（Buddhist Mission of North America），是为美国第一个佛教组织，一九四二年，改名为“美国佛教会”（Buddhist Church of America）。此后日本佛教各宗派均纷纷派人在美国建寺弘法。

After the World Conference of Religions, Japanese Buddhist disciples discovered that America was just a mold for the propagation of Buddhadharma, and in 1894 the Rev. Gakuo Okabe from the headquarters of the Jodo Shu arrived in Hawaii bearing a sacred image of Amida, and preached in the four quarters, and in 1896 he set up the first Jodo Shu temple (still extant) in a sugar plantation in Hawaii. In 1899 Rev. Shuei Sonoda and Rev.Kakuryo Nishijima of the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Honganji arrived in San Francisco in a stroke of destiny to promote Dhama and launched the Buddhist Mission of North America, the first Buddhist organization in America, which was changed to the Buddhist Churches of America in 1942. after this all the Japanese Buddhist lineages sent people to America to promote Dharma with equal vigor.

一九○五年，旧金山的罗素夫妇前往日本随宗演禅师习禅，翌年，宗演禅师应邀访美之后，认为在美国宣扬禅宗的时机已经成熟。 他的弟子宗活（ Sokatsu Shaku,一八六九至一九五四）于一九○六年率领六名弟子来美，在旧金山建立禅中心，返美时，留下一名在家弟子佐佐木指月（ Shigetsu Sasaki, 一八八二至一九四六），他在一九三○年于纽约成立“美国佛教协会”（Buddhist Society of America），一九四五年改名为“美国第一禅堂”（ First Zen Institute of America）。佛教道场的建立不但安定人心，也增进移民对故乡的强烈认同，其所举办的各种佛教活动，更使得佛寺成为多元化的文教中心。

In 1905 Mr. and Mrs. Russell of San Francisco followed D. T. Suzuki to Japan to study Zen, and after D. T. Suzuki was asked to visit America the next year, he judged that the opportunity for propagating Buddhadharma in America was now ripe. In 1906 his disciple Sokatsu Shaku (1869-1954) led a group of six in coming to America, and when he returned from America, he left behind the lay disciple Shigetsu Sasaki (1882-1946) , who established the Buddhist Society of America in New York in 1930, and in 1954 this was named the First Zen Institute of America.

中国佛教方面，太虚大师曾于一九二九年来美国及檀香山各个大学及宗教组织巡回讲演，受到热烈欢迎，各大报纸也视为重要消息予以登载，但可惜没有僧团继踵而来，所以中国佛教八宗圆融的大乘妙谛虽然适合欧美人士的心性，但终归只有播种而无耕耘，无法在此开花结果。

On the Chinese Buddhist front, in 19s9 Ven. Taixu came to America and lectured to the whole circuit of Buddhist organizations, and recieved a warm welcome, and every major newspaper also thought it was important news and carried the story. But unfortunately, this was not followed up by a team of monks, and so although the marvelous truth of Chinese Buddhism, melded together from eight sects is very compatible with the core nature of Americans and Europeans, in the end it only amounted to sowing the seed without cultivation, and there was no way this initiative could set fruit.

战争洗礼与佛教的开展

Baptism by War and the Development of Buddhism

二次世界大战之后的美国是国势最强的时代，但经过战争的洗礼，也是道德观念与哲学思想开始革命的一个时代，知识份子开始对耶稣教教义产生怀疑，人们开始对意识活动及心理状态的研究产生兴趣，并且向往禅宗那种无言的境界，刚好铃木大拙也在一九五○到一九五八年间又来美国执教于哥伦比亚大学，余暇口说笔书，敷演禅法，在天时、地利、人和一应俱全的情况下，禅风靡漫整个美国，除了日本禅师来美国指导坐禅之外，美国本地的禅师也急速增加，甚至有所谓披头禅、嬉皮禅的产生，虽然这两种禅与正统禅有别，但是也有嬉皮后来成为正统禅的修行者。

WWII was the time of America’s greatest national power, but having passed through the baptism of war, it was also a revolutionary time with respect to concepts of morality and philosophical thought. Intellectuals started to entertain doubts about Christian doctrine, and the people started to develop interest in research about the activities of consciousness and psychological states, and also about such ineffable states as those of Zen Buddhism. And it was just at this point, between 1950 and 1958, that D. T. Suzuki again came to America to teach at Columbia University, speaking of the methods of meditation in a liesurely manner, and by responding to season of heaven, fortune of earth, and accordance with people, under all conditions, he disseminated the Zen-vogue throughout America. Besides Japanese Dharma Masters coming to America to direct Zen meditation, American indigenous Dharma Masters also suddenly increased, to the point that there was the development of “Hippie Zen” and “Beatle Zen.” Although these two kinds of Zen are different from orthodox Zen, there were hippies who subsequently became practitioners of orthodox Zen.

二次世界大战之后，美国士兵派驻日本，其中有许多人娶了当地的女子为妻，据统计，当时大约有五万个战争新娘。这些妇女大多信奉日莲正宗，她们随丈夫回到美国之后，当然也就把这个宗派带到美国，甚至使她们的夫家改变原有信仰，而且自从一九六三年贞永昌靖（ Maysyasu Sadanaga， 后来改名为 George Williams）投入该宗，在他的积极运作下，信徒大增，日莲宗成为五○年代到六○年代美国佛教的主流之一。

When American troops were occupying Japan after WWII, many of them took Japanese women as wives, and according to statistics, there were probably 50,000 new war wives. Most of these wives were followers of the Nichiren Shoshu, and having followed their husbands back to America, of course they took this sect with them, to the point that it became the original belief of their husbands’ families. So from that Maysyasu Sadanaga (later renamed George Williams) added his forces to this lineage, and with his vigorous work, the membership increased, and the Nichiren Shoshu became the mainstream of American Buddhism from the ’50’s to the ’60’s.

二次世界大战期间，美国开始参与亚洲各国的军事行动，接着韩战、越战、第七舰队防守台湾海峡等等，凡此都使美国人有机会接触到东方文化的主流佛教，甚至在美国大学的课程里也出现相关课程。一九四九年，中共政权成立，许多华人移居香港、台湾，其中也有少数人移民美国，七○年代以后，由于台湾及美国当局均放宽限制，许多出家人相继赴美弘法，中国佛寺也因此在华埠地区相继成立，例如：一九五三年由知定法师创办的檀香山华侨佛教总会虚云寺，与一九五五年由邓燮荣居士等人筹建的夏威夷中华佛教总会檀华寺（ Hawaii Chinese Buddhist Society），都是檀岛著名的中国佛寺；一九六二年应金玉堂女士在纽约创办的“美东佛教会”，是美国东部中国佛寺的嚆矢；一九六○年旧金山的“美洲佛教会”，则是西海岸第一间佛寺。一九六八年，宣化法师在旧金山成立的金山寺（Sino-America BuddhistAssociation），收了许多美国籍的弟子；沈家桢居士于一九七○年之后，相继在纽约创办的“大觉寺”、“庄严寺”及“国际译经院”，目的在提倡佛学研究；一九七五年，圣严法师创立禅中心（ Ch‘an Center）；一九七八年，净海法师及永惺法师在休士顿成立德州佛教会。

At the time of WWII, America started to participate in European military operations, and after that the Korean war, the Vietnamese war, the defense of the Taiwan straights by the 7th Fleet, and gave Americans the opportunity to come into contact with the mainstream of Asian Buddhism, to the point that related coursework started to appear in the curricula of American universities. When the Chinese Communists established their regime in 1949, many Chinese immigrated to Hong Kong and Taiwan, and among these there were a small contingent who immigrated to America. After the ’70’s, because bureaucratic restrictions were relaxed, many monastics thought to continue on to America, and shortly thereafter Buddhist temples were established in the overseas Chinese areas. For example, the Xuyun Temple of the Honolulu Overseas Chinese Buddhist Society launched by Dharma Master Zhi Ding (知定, “Jy Din”) in 1953, the Hawaii Chinese Buddhist Society’s Chan Hua Temple built in 1955 by Layman Dong Xierong and others, both famous Hawaii Chinese Buddhist temples.

一九五九年，中共进入西藏，喇嘛纷纷出走印度、欧洲，并展转来到美国，其中将藏传佛教传入美国者， 主要有三位：一、川巴（Chogyan Trungpa）：于一九六七年来到美国，在佛蒙特州（Vermont）的巴内特（Barnet）创立虎尾禅坐中心（Tailof Tiger Meditation Center），于科罗拉多州（Colorado）的宝尔多（Boulder）成立Karma Dzong禅坐中心。二、塔尚（ Tarthang Tulka）：于一九六八年来到美国，翌年在加州柏克莱校园旁的山坡上设立西藏宁玛坐禅中心（Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center），是第一个专为美国人设立的西藏禅坐中心，后来又陆续设立佛学院、出版社、印经院及一个完全自给自足的西藏佛教社区奥地安西藏宁玛文化中心（ Odiyan Tibetan Nyingma Culture Center ）。 三、噶玛巴（ Kamapa）：于一九七四年率弟子到美国，后由数位喇嘛在纽约市建立道场，在加拿大创办佛学院。

In 1959 when the Chinese Communists invaded Tibet, the lamas fled one after another to India and Europe, and then on to America, and of those who brought Tibetan Buddhism to America, three were the most important: 1. Chogyam Trungpa -in 1967 he came to america and launched the Tail of the Tiger Meditation Center in Barnet Vermont, and the Karma Dzong Mediatation Center in Boulder Colorado (Now absorbed by Trungpa’s umbrella organization Vajradhatu. 2. Tarthang Tulku – in 1968 he came to America and in the next year, he established the Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center (now called the Nyingma Institute) on a hillside next to the Berkeley California University campus, and it was the first Tibetan meditation center established specifically for Americans, and then went on to successively establish a Buddhist Institute, a publishing house, a printing establishment, and the independent and self-sufficient Odiyan Tibetan Nyingma Culture Center. 3. The Karmapa – in 1974 he lead his disciples to America, and built a Dharma Center in Yew York city for the sake of many lamas, and established a Buddhist Institute in Canada.

大法西来与佛光普照
The Great Dharma Comes West and the Buddha Light is Universal

一九七六年，星云组团代表中国佛教会访问美国，庆祝美国立国两百周年及弘扬大乘佛法，此后美国不少友人及信徒前来佛光山参访，并邀请星云前往西方建寺弘法。一九七八年，时机已经成熟，慈庄法师及依航法师先到美国准备筹建道场事宜，并预先将此道场命名为“西来寺”，取其“大法西来”之意，一个月后，星云随即赴美勘察建筑用地，并接受东方大学颁发荣誉博士学位。八月八日，国际佛教界人士如越南天恩博士（东方大学校长）、美国普鲁典博士、麦克律师、锡兰毘雅蓝达、德国阿难达比丘、西藏格尔深喇嘛、英国蒲如丁医师、日本中嵨清先生、中国褚柏思居士、香港了知法师、阿根廷王国正居士、马来西亚吴美云居士等二十余人，以推动国际佛教为宗旨，共同发起组织“国际佛教促进会”（ International Buddhist ProgressSociety），一致推举星云为会长。

In 1976 Ven. Xing Yun organized a group representing the Chinese Buddhist Association to visit America, to celebrate the American Bicentennial and to promote Mahayana Buddhism, and after that quite a few friends and disciples visited Fo Guang Shan (Gaoxiong, Taiwan), and invited Xing Yun to come to the West to build temples and magnify Dharma. IN 1978 the opportunity had ripened, and Dharma Masters Ci Zhuang (慈庄) and Hang Fa (航法) came to make arrangements in preparation for building a Dharmakshetra, and they named this temple Hsi Lai Temple in advance, which has the meaning of the Great Dharma coming to the West. ((I think that “Great Dharma” means the broad Mahayana, which still remains untransmitted to the American mainstream, i.e., the meaning of this name has yet to be realized. -xp)) A month later, Xing Yun himself came to America to reconnoitre a building site, and recieved an honorary doctorate from (Beijing) Oriental University. On double eight day (8 Aug), personages of the international Buddhist world such as Dr. Tianen (天恩博士) of Vietnam (Oriental University’s President), America’s Dr. Pu Ludian (普鲁典博士), “Lawyer Mike” (麦克律师), Sri Lanka’s Piyalanda (毘雅蓝达), Germany’s Ananda Bhiksu, Tibet’s Garchen Lama (格尔深喇嘛), England’s Pu Ruding MD (蒲如丁医师), Mr. Zhong Wuqing (中嵨清) from Japan, China’s Layman Chu Bosi (褚柏思), Hong Kong’s Dharma Master Liao Zhi (了知法师), Argentina’s Layman Wang Guozheng (王国正), Mayalasia’s Laywoman Wu Meiyun (吴美云), and so forth, over twenty people, and with the objective fo prmoting international Buddhism, they collectively initiated the “International Buddhist Progress Society” and straight away elected Ven. Xing Yun as President.

当星云发现原先的寺址是住宅用地，不能作为宗教集会场所时，旋即于附近购得七公顷山坡地，以“国际佛教促进会”的名义，向洛杉矶政府申请建寺，同时又于一九七九年，先在洛城市区购买一座耶稣教堂，改建为白塔寺，暂作信徒活动集会的场所。经过六次公听会、一百三十五次协调会，西来寺终于在一九八五年获准建寺，并于一九八六年正式破土开工，一九八八年七月二十四日举行佛像开光，同年十一月二十六日举行落成典礼暨传授三坛大戒、水陆法会，当期《生活》杂志（ Life）形容西来寺为“美国的紫禁城”，而且誉之为“西半球第一大寺”。在历任住持慈庄、心定、依空及现任住持慈容法师的领导下，法务蒸蒸日上，不但举办各种修道戒会、共修法会、讲习会议、佛学班、技艺班、国际学术会议、慈善救济活动外，并设立相谈中心、视听小组等弘法单位，同时又迈开脚步向外拓展弘法的因缘，如今佛光山在加拿大、北美、中美、南美，共有三十余座道场。

Then when Ven. Xing Yun discovered that the original temple site was for residential use, and that it couldn’t be used for religious assemblies, he straitaway bought a neighboring seven acre hillside lot, and applied to the city of Los Angeles for permission to build a temple on it in the name of the “International Buddhist Progress Society”. At the same time, he in 1979 bought a Christian Church in the city of Los Angeles, and converted it into a white-spired temple, to use as a temporary location for the activities and assemblies of the Sangha. After eight public hearings, and 135 consultative sessions, Xi Lai Temple finally, in 1985 obtained permission to build the temple, and formally broke ground and started construction in 1986. On July 24, 1988 they conducted the ceremony of “Buddha Image Opens Radiance.” (i.e., the eyes were painted in – the last step in installing a Buddha image). On 26 Nov. of the same year it conducted a formal ceremony for Los Angleles, the Three Platforms Complete Precepts Transmission Ceremony, and the Land and Water Dharma Assembly, and Life Magazine called Xi Lai ” America’s purple forbidden city, and said it was the largest Buddhist temple in the western hemisphere. Under the past leadership of Dharma Masters Ci Zhuang (慈庄), Xin Ding (心定), and Yi Kong (依空), and the present leadership of Ci Rong (慈容), dharma duties have been like steam rising in the sun. Besides conducting every kind of Precept Assembly to cultivate the Way, public practice assemblies, conferences about practice, art workshops, international academic conferences, and philanthropic emergency relief activities, they have also set up a discussion center, a multimedia group, such work units for propagating Dharma. They have also taken a step forward in expanding primary and secondary causes overseas, and at present Fo Guang Shan all together has over thirty major Dharma Centers in Canada, North America, Central America, and South America.

一九九二年，国际佛光会在美国成立总会之后，美洲各地的协、分会如雨后春笋般迅速成长，在美洲地区有三十七所协会。各地佛光道场与佛光会同心协力合办点亮希望的灯、浴佛法会、儿童夏令营、青年生活营、佛光成年礼、佛教文化艺术展览等，都受到大众的欢迎。有鉴于培养人才的重要性，一九九○年，星云在洛杉矶创立西来大学， 于立案之初， 即被教育当局评为“特优”等级，一九九四年政府准予核发I- 20，招收国际学生，校务扩大发展， 遂于一九九六年迁址于柔似蜜校区，《圣盖博谷论坛报》在报导中盛赞西来大学将是“佛教中的哈佛”。

In 1992, after the Fo Guang Shan International Association was established in America, Associations and Branch Associations were established in every part of America, and they matured rapidly like spring bamboo after the rain, and there are 37 Associations in America. ((One seriously fears that what is being described here is nothing about Buddhism in America, but rather what is necessary to rise in Fo Guang Shan’s administrative structure. It’s easy to form a branch Association; all you do is hold a meeting and persuade those who attend to call themselves that. Then you inform Fo Guang Shan Central, and they applaud you, and publish the good news everywhere. Oh, and hey, a group picture in which no one’s face can be distinguished is de rigeur for this. There are bazillions of them posted to Fo Guang Shan’s web site, and no one will ever look at them again, so incredibly boring are they. What does this actually change on the ground in America? -xp)) The Fo Guang Shan Associations of every area work together with a common purpose to light the lamp of hope. The children’s summer camps, the youth activity camps, Fo Guang Shan’s anniversity celebration, the Buddhist culture and art exhibitions, and so forth, all are warmly recieved by the masses. ((The problem with this is a complete failure to connect with the actual demographics of America, i.e., none of this is true if you’re not Chinese (including Taiwanese). Fo Guang Shan’s attitude assumes cultural dominance, and the reception of the programs resulting from that attitude are what is described here when they’re done in East Asia. In America, however, this is not a description of the real imact of these programs. It is speaking of a tiny ethnic/cultural minority who are rapidly acculturating out from under this kind of emphasis as we write. Solution? Learn English, and get comfortable speaking it, before you come to America, and be prepared to have your actual performance openly and explicitly evaluated by the people that you’re actually attempting to serve. Is that too much to ask? Well, nuns, did you take Bodhisattva vows or did you not? And do the “all sentient beings” mentioned in those vows include Americans, or do they not? -xp)) Reflecting the need for nurturing talent, in 1990 Ven. Xing Yin launched the Xi Lai University, and from the first registration gave the educational authorities “special” rank, and in 1994 it was accredited I-20, and recruited international students, and the school’s role expanded and developed. In 1996 it moved to the (prestigeous) Rosemead School District, and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune acclaimed Xi Lai University as “Buddhism’s Harvard.” ((Why am I SERIOUSLY underwhelmed by this publication’s opinion on that subject? -xp))

((English translation continuing – xp 8 Jul))

一九九三年十月，于美国第一大都会纽约市皇后区法拉盛，设立佛光山纽约道场，现任住持依恒法师在此积极弘法，固定举办各种法会共修、佛学讲座、禅坐讲习、佛经开示，并组织妇女法座会、青年会，成立合唱团、各种才艺研习班、读书会等；也不定期举办皈依三宝典礼、社区公益服务、协助佛光会友信徒举办婚丧喜庆等社教活动. ((compare: 社会主义教育运动 – shè huì zhǔ yì jiào yù yùn dòng – Socialist education movement -xp)).

In 1993, in Flushing Chinatown in Queens in America’s first metropolis New York, they established Fo Guang Shan’s major Dharma Center, and the current person in charge Dharma Master Yi Hong (依恒) is vigorously promoting Dharma there, and regularly conducts every kind of Dharma Assembly and public practice, lectures on Buddhism, meditation seminars, and presentations on Buddhist scriptures. She has also organized womens’ Dharma Assemblies, youth assemblies, set up a choir, and teams for practicing every kind of talent and art, study assemblies, etc. At unfixed times there are also Refuge ceremonies, volunteer community service, and assistance to Fo Guang Shan’s friends and disciples in conducting marriages and funeral festivities, and other such social education activities.

道场附设有中文学校、星期儿童班，使儿童从小便能接受中华文化及佛法的薰陶。一九九五年十月正式注册成立童军团，为纽约区佛教团体的首创，也是在美华人子弟迈入主流社会的一个起点。

There is no Chinese school close to the Dharma Center, and the weekly children’s class allows the children to recieve Chinese culture and the nurturence of the Buddhadharma. In Oct. 1995 they formally registered the establishement of a youth (para-military) corps, as first started by New York’s Buddhist organization, and this is a starting point for the entrance of the younger generation of Chinese in America into the mainstream.

一九九六年，美国副总统高尔访西来寺，各新闻媒体均称亚裔人士的光荣；不久，总统柯林顿与西来寺住持慈容法师晤谈，称扬西来寺在东西文化交流及净化人心方面的贡献。同年慧开、依法法师分别于天普、耶鲁大学获得宗教博士学位，为国际弘法增添双翼，其中慧开法师回台任佛光大学南华管理学院教授，依法法师则于一九九七年荣获第三十五届“全国十大杰出青年”，为历年来获得此一殊荣的第一位比丘尼。，八月成立国际翻译中心，翻译佛典，使人间佛教广为弘传。

In 1996, the American Vice President Al Gore visited Xi Lai and all of the hnews media equally exalted the honor and glory of persons of Asian descent. Not long afterwards, President Clinton met with Abbot Dharma Master Ci Rong, and he praised Xi Lai’s cultural exchange between East and West and its contributions in the area of purifying the human mind. In the same year Dharma Masters Hui Kai and Yi Fa separately recieved Doctoral degrees in Religion from Yale and Tianjin Universities. Of these, Hui Kai returned to Taiwan to become a professor at Fo Guang Shan University’s Nan Hua Management Institute, and in 1997 Dharma Master Yi Fa (依法法师) recieved the “Whole Country’s Ten Most Illustrious Youth” award, as th nun who had recieved the most special distinctions over the years, and in August established the International Translation Center, to translate Buddhist Scripture, in order to expand the dissemination of Socially Engaged Buddhism.*

((This translating center has relied too heavily on the attainments of individuals like this nun. Historically, orthodox translations have been done by committees rather than individuals. In this case, it is undoubtedly this highly bally-hooed nun who is primarily responsible for the mistranslation of 人间佛教 as “Humanistic Buddhism.” When she did that, it had already long since been correctly translated by Thic Nhat Hanh as “Engaged Buddhism.” I have discussed why “Humanistic Buddhism” is wrong at length elsewhere. It would have been better for this nun to have listened to her elder Thic, especially since the Buddha has required nuns to take direction fron the male ordained Sangha. As it is, Fo Guang Shan is now behind the massive and apparently, in its case, insuperable eight ball of not being able to correct anyone in authority no matter how wrong she may be. -xp))

编辑： 薛斐
Editor: Xue Fei

((English translation completed – xp, 11 Jul 09))