跨越兩個時代的臺灣僧人及其際遇：以玠宗法師為例

A Taiwanese Monk Active Across Two Eras: The Case of Venerable Jiezong

玠宗法師是歷經日治與戰後兩個時代社會變遷與佛教發展的重要臺人僧侶，其出家學法生涯和佛教事業的經營，戰前曾受其俗家的霧峰林家頂厝長輩林獻堂在經費的支助，活躍於臺中市佛教界。日治時代曾往來兩岸佛教界，具有大陸經驗，同時是圓瑛法師所傳臨濟宗七塔寺派法脈唯一的臺人法嗣。曾致力於仿效太虛法師追隨者推動中華系統的臺灣佛化新青年運動，並自任導師，具有改革佛教現況的社會主義理念，且勤於以漢文著述發表文章，活躍於當時。
戰後曾參與臺灣省、臺北市、臺中縣等地方教會行政事務，並筆耕不輟和發表詩文，雖與主導中國佛教會運作的白聖法師同屬釋圓瑛法嗣，但未參與中央教會組織運作，其對名位淡泊及具禪僧遊方本色，秉持師門傳承精神致力於佛法的禪淨兼弘和佛教教育與慈善事業。
玠宗法師的佛學與詩文能力俱佳，著作有《玠宗法彙：佛心宗哲學、法性宗哲學、天台宗哲學、真言宗哲學、佛教倫理哲學（合訂本）》出版。其中〈天台宗哲學〉秉承隋代智者大師的三諦圓融、一念三千觀、性修不二及四諦法門作為統貫天台宗義理與判教的依據。故就立功、立德、立言的評判標準，其已具備其一，誠為戰後臺灣僧人的一代典範。

Venerable Jiezong was an important Taiwanese monastic who had been through the transition of a society in flux and the developing Buddhism under Japanese rule post-WWII. Having received full financial support from his family elder, Lin Xiantang, Venerable Jiezong could afford to join the Sangha, learn Buddhism, set up Buddhist establishments, and become active in the Taichung area. Before WWII, He went to China several times and was the only Taiwanese monastic who received Dharma transmission from Master Yuanying’s Linchi Qita Lineage. He was dedicated to cultivating Buddhist Youth in Taiwan based on the Chinese Buddhism system developed by Master Taixu’s followers. As a self-appointed leader, he was highly visible by writing numerous articles to promote his socialistic ideology and trying to revive Buddhism in Taiwan.
After WWII, he was involved in the Buddhist Association of the Republic of China (BAROC) administering work in the Taiwan Province, Taipei City, and Taichung County, and kept publishing essays and poetry. Even though he and Master Baisheng, the leader of the BAROC, were both Dharma heirs of Master Yuanying, he did not take part in its centralised power. Probably due to his family practice and Buddhist heritage, he was shy of political power and chose to promote practicing both Chan and Pure Land Buddhism, cultivating Buddhist education, and facilitating charities at the local level.
As he was an erudite scholar of Buddhism and literature, Master Jiezong’s followers published his writings in An Anthology of Jiezong’s Dharma Writings on Philosophy of Foxin School, Philosophy of Faxing School, Philosophy of Tiantai School, Philosophy of Zhenyan School, and Philosophy of Buddhist Ethics. He expounded that the principles of“three meanings complimenting each other”,“three thousand realms in one single thought-moment”,“nature and cultivation are not different”, and the“Dharma method of the four truths”developed by Master Zhiyi are the core Tiantai doctrines and the fundaments in classifying Buddhism. Having established at least one of the Confucian“three eternals”criteria, namely merits, virtues, and words, Master Jiezong is considered a paragon among post-WWII Taiwanese monastics.