Meeting Taiwan's new-age Buddhists

By Cindy SuiBBC News, Taipei 29 January 2014

Sorting through a large pile of used clothes and household items, Hsiao Hsiu-chu is the picture of a new-age Buddhist.

The 63-year-old retiree used to practice her religion by praying at temples, but now she volunteers seven days a week at a recycling centre to raise funds for Taiwan's Buddhist association Tzu Chi.

"I have no time to go to temples. Praying is not important. Coming here every day is like praying," said Ms Hsiao.

This is not how most people practice Buddhism in Chinese-speaking or even non-Chinese Buddhist societies. Their faith is usually self-focused: praying for protection in their current life and to be born into a better life after they die.

But Taiwan is leading a quiet, yet powerful movement that has turned traditional Buddhism on its head, converting many Buddhists such as Ms Hsiao into doers, not just believers.

Burning paper money and incense is discouraged - it's bad for the environment. Going to temples is low priority. Even praying too much is frowned upon.

The focus now is on what the Taiwanese call "humanistic Buddhism" - caring for others and for society. It returns Buddhists to the core principles of Buddhism - speaking good words, thinking good thoughts and doing good deeds.

"According to Buddhism, it's not enough to have benefits for oneself only, you must also have benefits for others. We should try to help as many people as we can to be relieved of suffering," said Head Abbot Hsin Bao of another major Taiwanese Buddhist association, Fo Guang Shan.

The practice has helped Taiwan's leading Buddhist organisations expand in unprecedented ways.

Tzu Chi Foundation - which is at the vanguard of the movement - has seven million followers, including two million overseas.

Its 100,000 volunteers in Taiwan are seen everywhere in their trademark blue shirts and white trousers. They recycle plastic bottles to raise charity funds, check on elderly people living alone, provide support to poor and at-risk families, tutor children and help respond to natural disasters.

Another influential Taiwanese Buddhist group, Dharma Drum Mountain, regularly holds "Buddhism 101" classes to teach people how to apply the philosophy to their lives.

In one recent class for about 200 people, a psychologist used Buddhism's teachings to advise students on how to recognise and work on their own negative emotions, and how to deal with troubled family relations.

"Buddhism's teachings can be used everyday and where's the best place to use them? In your family," Yang Pei told the class.

Fo Guang Shan, meanwhile, holds youth camps for children.

"These organisations are very different from traditional Buddhism," said Kuo Cheng-tian, a professor at National Chengchi University. "They emphasise lay believers running temples and Buddhist organisations, not just monks. And they use ordinary believers to lead charity missions."

It is unclear how many Buddhists there are in the world. Buddhism is not an institutionalised religion and many Buddhists also believe in other faiths. But some estimates suggest there are half a billion to one billion Buddhists globally, making it the world's fourth largest religion.

What makes Taiwanese Buddhism unique is its strong emphasis on helping society. Tzu Chi, for example, has provided post-disaster relief in more than 84 countries, including in the Philippines, where it recently paid 50,000 households to rebuild homes destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan.