On June 29th, we had the honor of inviting Venerable Miao Guang from the Institute of Humanistic Buddhism to give us a small talk about localization efforts of Humanistic Buddhism in America. With over twenty people in attendance, we dove into many different topics surrounding local community efforts to raise awareness of Humanistic Buddhism. Many have also raised questions such as the differences between different sects of Buddhism, the possibility of standardizing Buddhist terminologies, and how faith and religion has shaped our society today. Through these topics, we were able to understand the vastness of the world of interpreting Buddhism and how different western countries understand our faith. One of the more prominent discussions we had talked about was Venerable’s travels around the world, giving lectures and workshops to all kinds of people. She stresses to us that even if she talks about the exact same topic in six different countries, she must change her way of talking in each country to cater to the sheer differences in understanding and thought. The differences in the interpretation of a topic can change the way one perceives and understands Humanistic Buddhism.
Venerable Miao Guang is the Deputy Chancellor of the Institute of Humanistic Buddhism in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and is the personal English translator and interpreter for Venerable Master Hsing Yun. Her unique experiences and personal interactions with the Venerable Master has shaped her practices in her faith as well has how she is able to propagate Humanistic Buddhism to the Western world. In addition to working alongside the Venerable Master, she also leads numerous translation projects, including the Fo Guang Dictionary of Buddhism. Her approach to translation has helped shape and foster dozens of aspiring translators and gave the tools that allow the English-speaking community the chance to learn about Humanistic Buddhism.