Modern means of communication make Buddhism within reach.

Editor's Note: 20 12 From April 25th to 27th, the 3rd World Buddhist Forum was held in Hong Kong. The theme of this forum was "People in a Harmonious World share the same wish". More than 1000 people from all over the world, leaders at all levels, experts and scholars, and celebrities from all walks of life attended. This forum will hold many forums on the present situation and development of Buddhism. Master Long Yin, Vice President of Hubei Buddhist Association and abbot of Guiyuan Temple in Wuhan, Hubei Province, published a paper entitled Guiyuan Temple: A New Media for Spreading Buddhism with the Times during the forum, and expounded his views on using new media to publicize Buddhism. The full text of the document is as follows:

Since the emergence of Buddhism for thousands of years, the teachings, doctrines and purposes covered by Buddhism have not changed at all, just to make all living beings feel happy and truly get rid of the suffering. Any ideology is produced and developed under certain historical conditions, and its propaganda form is constantly changing with the development of history. As the spiritual level of the superstructure, religion must develop synchronously with the economic base, and it is impossible to advance and lag behind.

Throughout the history of the development of Buddhism, we can see that the mode of communication of Buddhism has been developing with the development of communication technology: at the beginning of the spread of Buddhism, Buddhism preached by speaking and taught by mouth; Later, there were records of Buddhist disciples, which were copied in pairs; Later, with the progress of society, there was printing industry and classic printing. In modern times, with the advent of computers and the Internet, Buddhist scriptures and teachings are presented to the world in digital form.

Especially since the reform and opening up, China has adopted a policy of respect and protection for religious undertakings, which has provided the most harmonious environment for the development of Buddhism. At the same time, it also provides the best technical support and a faster perspective platform for the spread of Buddhism. Modern young people and young monks have long been proficient in using computers and the Internet in their lives and work. The rational use and popularization of computers and the Internet have reached all levels of society. Therefore, in the process of continuous development of modern communication technology, Guiyuan Temple, as a typical city temple, has formed a set of mature and effective practices in using new media through continuous exploration and summary in recent years.

Keep pace with the times and adopt new media technology in an all-round way

(1) Update official website in time to make the online Guiyuan Buddhist Temple within reach.

The network is becoming more and more detailed, closer to all aspects of people's lives, and has changed people's behavior habits. Modern people want to know about a temple, instead of relying entirely on hearing or traveling as before, they often want to get a glimpse of the temple's portal website through the Internet first.

Guiyuan Temple official website is the window representing the cultural image of the temple. In order to let everyone browse the web more quickly, conveniently and comprehensively, and let everyone feel the "Buddhist culture in the website" more deeply, Guiyuan Temple official website strives to realize the interactivity and 3D visual effect of the website platform, and loads the ink theme animation, giving people an intuitive feeling of gradually entering the pure land; When displaying the overall plan of Guiyuan Temple, Guiyuan Temple introduced CAD three-dimensional drawing technology, which can give believers who visit the website an intuitive and three-dimensional visual effect to feel Guiyuan Temple. In addition, Guiyuan Buddhist Temple also set up a small game of "online counting arhats" in combination with the Buddha treasures of 500 arhats in the temple, so that online believers can experience the 500 arhats that Guiyuan Buddhist Temple is famous at home and abroad. Up to now, the click-through rate of Guiyuan Temple portal website is as high as tens of thousands of people every day, which makes the Buddhist culture get a brand-new display and promotion, with great social influence and significance.

(2) Make full use of Weibo and other new social media to make the Buddhist lecture hall audible and visible at any time.

Weibo, the latest online communication platform in recent years, is highly interactive, convenient and timely, and is deeply favored by modern society, especially young people. Its development and dissemination speed far exceeds that of traditional media. Guiyuan Temple paid attention to this communication platform in time. 20 10 On August 30th, Guiyuan Temple's Guiyuan Long Yin was launched in Weibo. The official Weibo of Guiyuan Temple was opened simultaneously. On this platform, in order to promote Buddhism and benefit students, according to the age characteristics of users in Weibo and the level of Buddhist practice, we should try our best to interact with online believers in easy-to-understand language and popularize Buddhist knowledge. At the same time, try to answer the questions encountered by believers in the process of learning Buddhism in time. This way of giving lectures and spreading Buddhism has narrowed the distance between ordinary people and Buddhism, and the response has been enthusiastic. At present, nearly 3 million netizens pay attention to and listen to "Gui Long Yuan Yin" to learn Buddhism online. Every blog post and every lecture on Buddhism will attract hundreds of netizens' replies, and more and more people begin to participate in the study and practice of Buddhism. With the construction of Weibo Middle Platform, Guiyuan Temple seized the favorable opportunity in time, making Buddhism an important territory.

(3) Clever use of QQ group, cohesion of volunteer strength, promote Buddhism in practice.

QQ is a network instant messaging tool, which is well known and used by many believers. With the help of QQ group management volunteers, immediate results can be achieved. In addition, QQ group is an open platform, and every user can directly participate in the topics in the group, which is highly interactive. Guiyuan Buddhist Temple * * * has set up four volunteer exchange groups and a charity student sub-group, and often organizes group friends to learn Buddhist classics and upload notices and photos of activities in Guiyuan Buddhist Temple in time; Make full use of mass mailing and postcard functions to send greeting cards to the public on holidays; At the same time, actively mobilize and organize Buddhist friends in QQ group to carry out some charitable activities. For example, during the Dragon Boat Festival on 20 10, Guiyuan Temple organized fellow practitioners in QQ group to visit the mentally retarded school in Jiang 'an District. On June 20th, 2065438+0/KLOC-0, the staff of Guiyuan Temple Cultural Center led some volunteers of QQ group to Wuhan Children's Welfare Institute to express their condolences. Netizens who have participated in these QQ group public welfare activities have said that this kind of love activity from online to offline is very cohesive and practical. Through practical charity, everyone learned Buddhism, increased their goodwill and trust in life, and made good friends through these activities. Many strangers have become friends since then. This kind of learning and activities of QQ group friends has greatly promoted the interaction between temples and believers, narrowed the sense of distance between the public and Buddhism, made Buddhism truly integrate into life, and made learning more amiable and credible.

(4) China's first electronic blessing incense bid farewell to customs and present modern civilization.

Blessing is people's wish for material, spiritual, safety and health, and blessing culture has always been an important part of religious culture. It is a traditional custom of local Buddhists in Wuhan and even Hubei to burn incense at Guiyuan Temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year and worship the God of Wealth on the fifth day. In previous years, due to the large number of people and the excessive burning of incense candles, the whole temple of Guiyuan Temple was filled with smoke and flames during the Chinese New Year, which had great security risks and posed a fire threat to a large number of residential buildings around the temple. For the convenience of the citizens, Guiyuan Temple, after fully respecting the guiding opinions and technical research of * * * *, began to cooperate with China Mobile on 20 1 1 and the convenient "electronic blessing" has been in use ever since. It is an innovative experiment to change the traditional way of burning incense and praying.

Compared with the traditional way of blessing, electronic blessing is more "civilized" and environmentally friendly, breaking through the limitations of time and space. Many people who didn't come to the scene can click on the official website online offering incense in Guiyuan Temple, or they can move users to edit short messages to send greetings, and then play them continuously on the LED display screen next to the double-sided Guanyin statue in the temple. At the same time, the blessings from Guiyuan Buddhist Temple are also sent to the blessed relatives and friends' mobile phones synchronously, which makes them feel cordial, novel and practical. The successful launch of electronic blessing is to stimulate the public's enthusiasm for blessing, and it is not a happy and beautiful new way to gently send your original blessing through your mobile phone. Saying goodbye to the original way of burning incense and sending a heart incense with a mobile phone will become a new characteristic form of Buddhist blessing culture.

Constantly innovating, the traditional way of Buddhism communication has opened new flowers.

Guiyuan Temple has adapted to the development of society in order to guide believers to learn Buddhism skillfully and conveniently. On the one hand, using the new era electronic media technology such as computer, online video, etc., the Buddhist platforms such as Guiyuan Temple official website, QQ Group, Weibo, electronic publications, electronic reading rooms, etc. were established, which provided a faster platform and environment for the ten good people to study and think about Buddhism. On the other hand, the traditional way of spreading Buddhism is carried forward, and the media elements of the new era are injected to expand and update it, which has become a popular form for the majority of believers.

(1) Join hands with traditional media to help students and create a new charity model for Guiyuan Temple.

"Kindness and Righteousness" is a charity activity that persuades ten people to donate money to poor students who are admitted to universities but can't afford tuition. Since 2009, guiyuan buddhist temple, together with the Youth Foundation of Hubei Province and local newspapers and periodicals of Hubei Province, has started the "Charity Help" activity, which has been held for three times so far, and * * * has raised nearly 6,543,800 yuan. All the money raised was used to support more than 700 poor students who were admitted to key universities and could not afford their tuition fees, and a new model of cooperation between Buddhism and the media in social charity was established.

Students with excellent academic performance are the future of the motherland. The core meaning of good karma is to be kind to others, become attached to people, help poor students admitted to universities, and teach them to be kind to others and help others. This is the best form to embody the essence of good karma. Guiyuan Temple keeps in touch and communicate with students through "students QQ group", life videos and other media, encourages them to face life positively, and teaches them to be grateful and help others, so that students not only get timely help in material terms, but also have spiritual support. Helping students grow up healthily in the true sense is the meaning of kindness and righteousness. With the active promotion of traditional media and online platforms, the activity of "kindness and righteousness" has become a charity brand in Wuhan Buddhist circles.

(2) There is a good relationship between Zen calligraphy and painting, and Buddhism is interpreted from an artistic perspective.

Ink painting is the quintessence of China. China's traditional painting and calligraphy art has a profound appeal, which turns Buddhism into a beautiful poetic image for people to appreciate and shows the unique simplicity and elegance of Zen to share with the world. Zen calligraphy and painting are shaped by the sense of six realms and enlivened by love for all beings. This art is beautiful because of Zen and sublime because of good thoughts.

The ancestors of Guiyuan Temple were merciful, made good friends and devoted themselves to charity for a long time. Elder Chang Ming, the late abbot of Guiyuan Temple, made a big wish before his death, to make a fortune with Zen calligraphy and painting, to repay kindness with kindness, and to enrich all beings with kindness. Guiyuan Temple promotes Buddhism with artistic beauty and promotes the affinity between Buddhism and the public, which is also a new experience. Guiyuan Buddhist Temple Shanyuan Painting and Calligraphy Institute, established on 20 1 1, provides believers, painters and calligraphy lovers with a lotus flower method to explain Buddha, love people and repay society, and provides a cultural attraction for tourists and believers who come to Guiyuan Buddhist Temple. Perfect combination of calligraphy and painting art and Buddhism, enhancing the overall cultural atmosphere of Guiyuan Temple; Carry forward Buddhism, prosper art and serve the society. While planning various calligraphy and painting exhibitions, works exchange meetings and charity auctions, official website of Guiyuan Temple also opened a column of "Auspicious Calligraphy and Painting" to let more believers know the beauty and feel the goodness.

There is no end to distinguishing good from bad and exploring ways to spread Buddhism.

Buddhism is in the world and inseparable from the world. In the flexible use of modern media, the results of these explorations and efforts are becoming more and more obvious. At present, the number of believers coming to Guiyuan Temple has gradually increased from more than four, that is, "there are many elderly people, many women, many disabled people and many illiterate and semi-illiterate". More and more young people are beginning to pay attention to Buddhism, get in touch with Buddhism and understand Buddhism.

Of course, it is the speed and convenience that the new media network platform can't control, and some unhealthy, out-of-step and suspicious Buddhist information also has a negative impact on the promotion of Buddhism. This requires us to distinguish between good and bad at all times and be good at guiding people to abandon ignorance and trust.

In a word, the impact and influence of social knowledge, informationization and networking on traditional temple culture are booming, so how to widely publicize Buddhism by using modern media in modern society is an unavoidable topic before us. We believe that we should adhere to the concept of "let those who have not planted grow, let those who have planted grow, and let those who have grown mature grow" and give full play to the role of modern media technology. The form of propaganda should not only keep the original concept of Buddhism, but also let the public participate in it and let more people share the happiness of Buddhism. The comprehensive and rapid development of social economy and the state's policy of protecting religion provide us with unlimited space to choose media forms. With the help of modern media, keeping pace with the times and updating the mode of Buddhist communication is also a mode of communication that will be widely adopted by the Buddhist community in China and even the world. I believe that Buddhism will be better promoted by changing ideas, being brave in innovation, breaking the mindset and adopting communication channels that adapt to modern social civilization.