First Malaysian Buddhist Journal launched at 8th International Symposium on Buddhism

The Buddhist Channel, 9 December 2023

Shah Alam, Malaysia -- Dato' IR Ang Choo Hong, President of the Buddhist Research Society Malaysia (BRSM), said academic research was one of the ways to open up new horizons for the propagation of the Dharma in Malaysian Buddhism.

Dato Ang said this during his keynote speech at the 8th International Symposium on Buddhism in Malaysia, held at Shah Alam Bodhi Park on 3 December 2023. His speech was titled "Developing a New Frontier for Dharma Promotion in Malaysian Buddhism".

He said that Buddhism began to grow in the country in the mid-19th century and began to show signs of revival at the beginning of the 20th century, which intensified after the Second World War and continues to this day.

However, for the future development of Buddhism to be more effective, academic research must be emphasized. According to him, academic research is the source of ideas, and with the foundation of ideas, it can provide a constant source of spiritual food for the development of Buddhism.

He cited as an example the thought of Ven. Yin shun (印顺导师, 1906-2005¹), which laid a certain foundation for the development of Buddhism. On the contrary, Master Taixu's (太虚大师, 1890-1947²) thought lacked academic depth and was difficult to move forward, which made Master Taixu's frank reforms fail.

Dato Ang also believes that academic research can increase the discourse of Buddhism and fulfill its social function in various fields of human life, including politics, economy, education, and culture.

He also pointed out that the introduction of Buddhism to the West was mainly based on academic research first, and then from academic research to popularize the people. This point can be used as a reference for the promotion of Buddhism in Malaysia.
In addition, he said, academic research could also help raise the image of Buddhism.

In his keynote speech, he suggested a "Everyone a Dharma Preacher" programme to be developed, encourage ritual innovations and the use of technologies to open up new horizons for Buddhist outreach.

The seminar was organized by the Buddhist Research Society Malaysia (BRSM) and co-organized by the Yayasan Belia Buddhis Malaysia (YBBM) and the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia (YBAM).  Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) was the supporting organization.

Prof. Dato' Dr. Ewe Hong Tat, President of University Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), was invited to officiate the opening ceremony of the symposium. He also launched the first academic journal of Malaysian Buddhism, the Malaysian Journal of Buddhism. This journal is published by the Malaysian Buddhist Academic Research Society.

The theme of the symposium was "Exploring Contemporary Issues in Dharma Advancement" with 10 papers presented by 14 scholars. The contents of the papers were very fruitful and wide-ranging, including film and drama, educational technology, online Buddhism, creative teaching, literature, monasticism, archaeology, etc. The symposium was organized by the Buddhist  Research  Society  Malaysia (BRSM).

1. https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-my/%E9%87%8A%E5%8D%B0%E9%A1%BA

2. https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-my/%E9%87%8A%E5%A4%AA%E8%99%9A