Religious Faith of the Chinese by Xinping Zhuo

Author:Xinping Zhuo
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811063794
Publisher: Springer Singapore

4.2 Chinese Buddhism

Buddhism, now the largest religion in China, is the most typical example of a foreign religion that became a Chinese religion after having been integrated into the Chinese culture and having blazed new trails. Buddhism originated in Indian culture, as a typical reflection of the Eastern wisdom. After its entry to China, it manifested elements of Chinese culture and took on an entirely new look, and having been promoted overseas as Chinese culture, it had a decisive influence on the Buddhism of countries like Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Fo (in Sanskrit Buddha, with transliterations of Futu, or Futuo) is the abbreviated form of Fotuo, meaning “the awakened one”; “attaining Buddhahood” means “enlightenment”. Later, “Fo” became the reverent title of Shakyamuni (in Hinayana Buddhism), including all with perfect enlightenment and practice (in Mahayana Buddhism). So, Fo was not originally a name of the gods; instead, the true connotation of the term “Fotuo” is the “enlightened one”, meaning “to enlighten sentient beings and spread the Tao to all living creatures”. “Attaining Buddhahood” means “juewu (being enlightened)”, of which the jue means the instant clarification of the heart, and wu means the eventual awakening after the comprehension process of careful deliberation and contemplation.

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