The Taiwan-based Buddhist charitable organization Fo Guang Shan has set up a free college in the Philippines. Launched just last year, according to its website the new college currently runs two courses: Buddhist Studies and the Performing Arts. Thirty-nine students are enrolled in the academic year 2014–15, all of whom have been given grants to meet the costs of their lodging, food, and other needs.
Fo Guang College, Philippines. From Fo Guang Shan Philippines website
From 17–19 January this year, Fo Guang Shan’s founder Master Hsing Yun visited the Philippines to check on the college’s development. “Americans used to set up universities in our country, and now we are also able to set up universities in other countries,” the Focus Taiwan News Channel quoted him as saying. Master Hsing Yun highlighted the potential for religion to help society, and particularly the disadvantaged, by fostering education and culture.
According to the news channel, the new college is the fifth tertiary school to be established by the organization, following Fo Guang University and Nanhua University in Taiwan, University of the West in the United States, and Nan Tien Institute in Australia.
The president of the new college, Helen Correa, remarked that because the Philippines is a predominantly Catholic country, for some the idea of enrolling in a Buddhist college may present a challenge. However, she said that there was no obligation for attending students to be Buddhist.
While the college will eventually be located in the City of Tagaytay, the building has not yet been completed. In the meantime, classes are being held at the Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Temple in Manila, where the students are also being housed. Located opposite Century Park Hotel and next to the Vietnamese Embassy, the temple is the main branch of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order in the Philippines, which follows the teachings of Humanistic Buddhism as propagated by Venerable Hsing Yun.
Master Hsing Yun. From Mabuhay Temple Facebook
According to the Fo Guang Shan Philippines website, the first Fo Guang Shan temple in the Philippines—Fo Guang Shan Chu Un Temple—was established in Cebu in 1989. Over the years, branches have been set up in different provinces—FGS (Fo Guang Shan) Yuan Thong Temple in Bacolod, FGS Mabuhay Temple in Manila, and Fo Guang Yuan in Iloilo.
The Mabuhay Temple hosts regular Dharma services in both English and Chinese. Anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of culture or ethnicity. Three elements are incorporated in every service: Cultivation Through Practice, or chanting the name of the Buddha Amitabha and various Buddhist sutras in order to eradicate the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion; Increasing Prajna (Wisdom), which consists of teachings on cultivating generosity, kindness, and compassion; and Morality, namely observing the Buddhist precepts, performing virtuous deeds, speaking kindly, and generating wholesome thoughts.
The temple also organizes other activities, such as guided tours with introductory talks on Mahayana Buddhism and Eastern culture, youth summer camps, children’s summer camps, and Filipino children’s classes.
Through these activities, the organization hopes to uplift and transform the lives of the Filipino people. According to the Fo Guang Shan Philippines website, their motto is to “give others joy, give others confidence, give others hope, give others convenience.”