Last updated: 28
Jul
2025
Organizaciones budistas establecidas en Taiwán
El crecimiento del budismo en Taiwán fue impulsado por una serie de organizaciones que se desarrollaron durante este período, lideradas por diversos maestros que adoptaron un enfoque socialmente comprometido, en consonancia con la filosofía budista humanista.
A medida que los grupos budistas se involucran más en la vida cotidiana de las personas, ha surgido un impulso general por hacer que las enseñanzas del budismo sean más relevantes y aplicables a problemas contemporáneos, tales como la protección del medio ambiente, los derechos humanos y la gestión del estrés.
Estos desarrollos contribuyeron a crear una imagen del budismo como una tradición altamente pertinente en el mundo moderno para la población taiwanesa.
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Tzu Chi
La Fundación Benéfica Budista Tzu Chi, conocida brevemente como la Fundación Tzu Chi, es una organización humanitaria internacional y no gubernamental (ONG) de Taiwán. La fundación tiene varias suborganizaciones, como la Asociación Médica Internacional Tzu Chi (TIMA) y también la Asociación Juvenil Universitaria Tzu Chi. Los voluntarios y trabajadores de ayuda de Tzu Chi son mayormente reconocibles por sus uniformes azules y blancos llamados, en chino: 藍天白雲; que significa «cielo azul, nubes blancas». El trabajo de la fundación incluye ayuda médica, socorro en desastres y trabajo ambiental como el reciclaje. Está operada por una red mundial de voluntarios y empleados y ha sido galardonada con un estatus consultivo especial en el Consejo Económico y Social de las Naciones Unidas. También ha sido nombrada copresidenta del Consejo Asesor Multiconfesional del Grupo de Trabajo Interinstitucional de la ONU sobre Religión y Desarrollo Sostenible para 2022-2023.
Chung Tai Shan
Chung Tai Shan is a Taiwan-based international Chan Buddhist monastic order founded by the Ven. Wei Chueh in 1987. The monastery headquarters, Chung Tai Chan Monastery, completed in September 2001, is located in Puli, Nantou County, in central Taiwan. It is the tallest and one of the largest monasteries in both Taiwan and the world, having a height of 136 metres (446 ft). Widely admired as an architectural masterpiece because of the mountain monastery’s more modern look, the temple is second only to Fo Guang Shan’s monastery in physical size and in the number of ordained disciples.
Dharma Drum Mountain
Dharma Drum Mountain is an international Buddhist spiritual, cultural, and educational foundation founded by late Chan master Sheng-yen. The center focuses on educating the public in Buddhism with the goal of improving the world and establishing a «Pure Land on Earth» through Buddhist education. The international headquarters of this organization is located at Jinshan District, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
Fo Guang Shan
Fo Guang Shan (FGS) is an international Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhist organization and monastic order based in Taiwan that practices Humanistic Buddhism. The headquarters, Fo Guang Shan Monastery is located in Dashu District, Kaohsiung, and is the largest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan. The organization is also one of the largest charity organizations in Taiwan. The organization’s counterpart for laypeople is known as the Buddha’s Light International Association.
Four Great Mountains (Taiwan)
The Four Great Mountains of Taiwan refers to a group of four prominent organizations in Taiwanese Buddhism. The term draws its name from the Four Sacred Mountains of China, four mountains in mainland China that each hold sacred Chinese Buddhist sites. The founders of the institutions are collectively referred to as the Four Heavenly Kings of Taiwanese Buddhism. Each of the «Four Heavenly Kings» corresponds to one cardinal direction, based on where their organization is located in Taiwan. The institutions that make up the «Four Great Mountains» of Taiwanese Buddhism are:North (Jinshan): Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山) founded by Master Sheng-yen South (Dashu): Fo Guang Shan (佛光山) founded by Master Hsing Yun (星雲) East (Hualien): Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟基金會) founded by Master Cheng Yen (證嚴) West (Nantou): Chung Tai Shan (中台山) founded by Master Wei Chueh
Four Heavenly Kings (Taiwan)
The Four Heavenly Kings of Taiwan refers to four masters in Taiwanese Buddhism who each founded an influential Buddhist institution in the country. The term draws its name from the Four Heavenly Kings who each rule over one of the heavenly realms in Buddhist cosmology. Like the Four Heavenly Kings mythology, each Buddhist teacher corresponds to one cardinal direction, based on where their organization is located in Taiwan. The corresponding institutions of the masters are referred to as the «Four Great Mountains».
