Events
Examining Humanistic Buddhism through the Relationship Between the Logic of Life and the Logic of Faith
20 Oct 2026
14:30 – 16:30
Online lecture: ZOOM ID: 964 5779 7423, Password: 999999
Prof. Zhong-Mao Tang (East China Normal University)
Prof. Zhong-Mao Tang holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and has completed postdoctoral research in History. He is currently a Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor in the School of Social Development at East China Normal University (ECNU). He also serves as the Director of the Center for Regional Cultural Resources and Applications and Deputy Director of the Center for Religion and Society at ECNU. His concurrent academic appointments include serving as a Board Member of the Chinese Association of Religious Studies and Vice President of the Shanghai Association of Religious Studies.
Registration not required
cshb@cuhk.edu.hk, 3943 0646
The “logic of life” is grounded in secular reality, emphasizing daily responsibilities and human ethics, guided by the values of worldly life and temporal changes. Conversely, the “logic of Buddhist faith” relies on Buddhist doctrines, with the ultimate pursuit of dependent origination, emptiness of nature, karmic cause and effect, liberation, and Bodhisattva altruism, possessing a transcendent and world-transcending nature. The core of Humanistic Buddhism lies in using a Middle Way stance to reconcile the opposition and fragmentation between the two, achieving a dialectical unity of world-engaging life and world-transcending faith.
Venerable Master Hsing Yun corrected two deviations in the traditional understanding of Buddhism: first, an overemphasis on the logic of faith leading to passive world-transcendence, equating spiritual cultivation with escaping secular life and evading realistic responsibilities; second, being overwhelmed by the logic of life, leading to the complete secularization and utilitarianism of faith. Humanistic Buddhism upholds the Middle Way stance, asserting that the Buddha-Dharma is not separate from worldly awakening.
On one hand, it treats the logic of life as the foundation of faith, where spiritual practice is intertwined with daily routines, family ethics, and social affairs, emphasizing the practice of wholesome deeds and taking on responsibilities in the human world, thereby transforming secular life into a place of spiritual cultivation (dojo). On the other hand, it guides and purifies secular life through the logic of faith, adhering to the principle of “engaging in worldly enterprises with a world-transcending spirit,” using compassion, selflessness, and the wisdom of dependent origination to eradicate worldly and utilitarian attachments. In short, Humanistic Buddhism neither detaches from nor clings to the world; it uses secular life to carry out faith practices and uses ultimate faith to settle reality-based life, completing the integration and unity of the logic of life and the logic of faith, while adapting to contemporary social philosophies.
Language: Mandarin
