臺灣「人間佛教」之承傳與開展──從證嚴法師是否為「印順學派」探討起

Starting from the Discussion on whether Master Cheng Yen belongs to the“Yin Shun School”

印順法師與證嚴法師是現今臺灣佛教界知名的僧人，兩人偶然相遇下締結師徒之緣，各自對於佛教發展有重大影響。然如何理解兩人的師徒關係？如學界所謂的「印順學派」，證嚴是否為其中一員？本文試著從印順與證嚴探討「人間佛教」之承傳與開展，主要分四個部份：首先，簡述師徒二人的奇遇殊緣與證嚴對印順之感念；其次，探討證嚴是否為「印順學派」的相關觀點；第三，證嚴是否為「印順學派」，其一在於此概念本身的範圍及其可能之意義，故對此進行分析；第四，論述證嚴之於印順「人間佛教」的承傳與開展，指出菩薩行願、再回人間、十善菩薩（或人菩薩行）以及在家佛教四個向度，或可看出師徒之相契相應。本文最後指出，「人間佛教」作為大乘佛法的當代開顯，海納百川為其特色，印順與證嚴可視為一脈相承與多元開展的縮影，有所承傳卻又有不同發展，乃至開創與轉向；而印順學派與慈濟宗門迥異的風格取向，當可以相互借鏡學習，使能深化「人間佛教」的行解。

Master Yin Shun and Master Cheng Yen are the well-known Buddhists in Taiwan’s Buddhist circles. They met each other and formed a relationship of masters and apprentices, and each had a significant impact on the development of Buddhism. However, how do we understand the connection between the two masters? Is Cheng Yan a member of the so-called Yin Shun School? This article attempts to discuss in four parts: (1) briefly recount the special meeting of the two masters; (2) discuss whether Cheng Yen belongs to the Yin Shun School or not; (3) discuss how Cheng Yen’s belonging to the Yin Shun School or not depends on the scope of the concept itself and its possible meanings; (4) discuss the continuation and development of Yin Shun’s Humanistic Buddhism in Cheng Yen. Finally, this paper suggests that Humanistic Buddhism, as the contemporary development of Mahayana Buddhism, is characterized by the inclusion of many schools of thought, Yin Shun and Cheng Yen can be regarded as the epitome of sharing the same lineage yet diversified in its development. Both of the Yin Shun School and the Tzu Chi Path have their distinguishing features, and thus mutual understanding and cooperation are expected to enrich the theory and practice of Humanistic Buddhism.