<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This case study explores the influence of a global health crisis on contemporary Taiwanese Buddhism. As prevention and control measures of COVID-19 enforced by the Taiwanese government constitute challenges and opportunities for religious actors and practice, the article examines how Hwadzan Pure Land Society (<italic>Huazang jing zōng xuehui</italic> 華藏淨宗學會) has responded to the pandemic by skilfully utilising digital technology to relocate “communal cultivation” (<italic>gongxiū</italic> 共 修) and rituals from the physical into the virtual realm. Compared to on-site participation in ritual, live streaming enables the practitioner to tune in simultaneously from every part of the world and even after the event has concluded since all videos are uploaded to YouTube. Whereas on-site participants recite and chant sūtras, bow and prostrate in front of Buddha statues, and make offerings, thus being temporally, spatially, and bodily integrated into each part of a ritual, off-site participants are detached from it in all three aspects. The communal practice viewed on the screen essentially becomes an individual practice in a secular environment far away from the sacralised space and time during the ritual. It is therefore the aim of the article to examine how religious practice and rituals in on-site and off-site settings differ in terms of religious experience.</p>
</abstract>

This case study explores the influence of a global health crisis on contemporary Taiwanese Buddhism. As prevention and control measures of COVID-19 enforced by the Taiwanese government constitute challenges and opportunities for religious actors and practice, the article examines how Hwadzan Pure Land Society (Huazang jing zōng xuehui 華藏淨宗學會) has responded to the pandemic by skilfully utilising digital technology to relocate “communal cultivation” (gongxiū 共 修) and rituals from the physical into the virtual realm. Compared to on-site participation in ritual, live streaming enables the practitioner to tune in simultaneously from every part of the world and even after the event has concluded since all videos are uploaded to YouTube. Whereas on-site participants recite and chant sūtras, bow and prostrate in front of Buddha statues, and make offerings, thus being temporally, spatially, and bodily integrated into each part of a ritual, off-site participants are detached from it in all three aspects. The communal practice viewed on the screen essentially becomes an individual practice in a secular environment far away from the sacralised space and time during the ritual. It is therefore the aim of the article to examine how religious practice and rituals in on-site and off-site settings differ in terms of religious experience.

Protecting the Country and Preventing Calamities: The Pure Land Practice of Hwadzan Pure Land Society in the Physical and Virtual Realm

Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This case study explores the influence of a global health crisis on contemporary Taiwanese Buddhism. As prevention and control measures of COVID-19 enforced by...

Protecting the Country and Preventing Calamities: The Pure Land Practice of Hwadzan Pure Land Society in the Physical and Virtual Realm

Published Online: Dec 08, 2022

Page range: 146 - 181

Received: Feb 09, 2022

Accepted: Oct 16, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/vjeas-2022-0006

Keywords
Taiwanese Buddhism, Pure Land Tradition, Digital Religion, COVID-19

© 2022 Stefan Kukowka, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Protecting the Country and Preventing Calamities: The Pure Land Practice of Hwadzan Pure Land Society in the Physical and Virtual Realm

Published Online: Dec 08, 2022

Page range: 146 - 181

Received: Feb 09, 2022

Accepted: Oct 16, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/vjeas-2022-0006

KeywordsTaiwanese Buddhism, Pure Land Tradition, Digital Religion, COVID-19

© 2022 Stefan Kukowka, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Taiwanese Buddhism, Pure Land Tradition, Digital Religion, COVID-19