佛教青年之宗教献身与消费文化--以台湾慈济、佛光山为例

佛教青年之宗教獻身與消費文化--以台灣慈濟、佛光山為例
彭嘉麗
摘要
本研究試圖從慈濟與佛光山這兩個佛教組織來探討佛教團體對於佛教基本概念「佈施」的不同論述。

慈濟是個以慈善為主的佛教組織，強調佈施用以助人，濟貧扶弱、醫病救苦；所以平日生活要節約樸實，節源開流來捐獻助人。

佛光山則是個注重僧伽教育，同時也進行相關社會救助的佛教組織，認為所有佈施以「法」佈施為最。

本文以慈濟與佛光山的青年成員，「慈青」以及「佛青」為研究對象，觀察慈濟和佛光山透過何種機制，傳達該教團理念。

並整理這兩個次團體成員，如何理解「佈施」的概念，運用在日常生活的消費行為當中。

初步觀察發現，慈青成員恪守環保原則，出外用餐購物，皆自備環保碗筷及購物袋，若未攜帶餐具則寧願不用餐，避免製造垃圾以愛護眾生。

慈青時常儲蓄(投竹筒)以捐款助人，且減少購買衣物書籍等等。

佛青則未如慈青嚴格執行環保原則，但生活亦相當儉約，未特地儲蓄節約以助人，但樂於將現有錢財薪資，捐獻供養於道場相關事務。

在田野過程中，進一步發現，慈青在進行日常生活節約的同時，其實仍然進行為數可觀的消費活動。

慈青選擇購買慈濟所開設複合式商店「靜思書軒」的產品，如證嚴法師的書籍、大愛電視台連續劇的主題曲CD、環保餐具以及食品(五穀粉、泡麵)等等。

「靜思書軒」的產品琳瑯滿目，包羅萬象，不只是慈濟成員，甚至非信眾也會入內購買。

慈濟領導人證嚴法師強調其出家眾不接受供養，改以生產「有用的」產品(如嬰兒鞋、蠟燭)在市面上販賣，自食其力來代替供養。

因此，慈濟生產的產品對該教團信眾產生了一種連結，亦即購買慈濟的產品，是「護持」師父們的生活，也算是捐獻給慈濟用以行善助人。

慈濟甚至與中國信託商業銀行，聯名發行公益卡，消費者的刷卡費用會捐獻千分之二點七五，作為捐獻慈濟的款項。

慈濟更因應民眾日新月異的需求，生產美觀耐用的環保筷，也發明了許多慈濟特有的產品。

因此，形成了慈濟信眾購買慈濟產品，進行「生產性消費」的現象。

本文將慈濟信眾日常生活的節約行為，命名為「組織外節儉」，並將慈濟信眾對慈濟產品的消費行為，命名為「組織內消費」。

本研究貢獻在於，慈濟理念看似宣揚節約以助人濟貧，但其實將消費概念轉化為「組織內消費」，並非全然拒斥消費，而是征服消費。

慈濟信眾透過購買組織內的產品，深化信仰，進行另一種宗教實踐。

另一方面，佛光山並無明顯拒斥世俗消費，而是與消費互相融合，本文礙於田野時間限制，觀察多著重於慈青，佛青部分並未深入處理。

Abstract
Tzu Chi (Ciji) has been a famous and powerful NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) in Taiwan in the last twenty years. The Tzu Chi non-profit foundation carries out an array of tasks including delivery of charity, provision of medical treatment, running educational institutions and multimedia cultural promotions. The leader of Tzu Chi is the Dharma Master Cheng Yen. She has promoted the concept “Frugality to do almsgiving.” Therefore, Tzu Chi members not only donate what they don’t need anymore in their daily life, but also actively earn more money to help others. However, I discover an interesting point between the concept of frugality and consumption in Tzu Chi. Tzu Chi has run more than ten “complex shops” (Jingsi Shuxuan) around Taiwan these years, which offer coffee, powder of drinks, books and even the products designed by themselves(such as bowls, chopsticks, socks and so on) . In daily life the Tzu Chi members usually don’t purchase drinks except in Jingsi Shuxuan, and they often buy goods there. Tzu Chi emphasizes that all the material they have used on their products can be decomposed naturally to protect the earth. At first glamce, the concepts of consumption and frugality in Tzu Chi seem to conflict each other. Yet close observation and analysis reveal their complicated relationship. Outside this group, the members have to keep frugal in their daily life, while Inside this group, “consumption on Tzuchi products “is regarded as support to this group and, most important of all, to the leader Dharma Master Cheng Yen, whether in financial way or in spiritual way. Trying to solve the puzzle of the ideal “consumption”, I participated in the youth corps of Tzu Chi, known as the Ciqing Club, for about four years, doing participant-observation among the members in Hsinchu. In order to better my understanding of the comsumption behaviros in Tzu Chi, I try to compare it with another famous Buddist group in Taiwan—Fo Guang Shan, in hope to pinpoint the characteristics of consumption among the Tzu Chi youth. In this research, I propose the concept of “Outside(the group) frugality, Inside(the group)Consumption” to explain what I have observed in Tzu Chi. “Outside(the group) frugality” means that the consumption outside Tzu Chi should be avoided. For example, buying new books in bookstores (Tzu Chi would say that you can borrow them from library), buying drinks (it is regarded as “waste and unhealthy”), wearing beautiful clothes or makeup and so on. On the other hand, “Inside(the group)Consumption” means the consumption of products inside Tzu Chi, such as buying books written by the leader, drinks made by the nuns, and all the “green products” offered inside the group. While Tzu Chi promotes the norms such as frugality and charity, they also consume their own goods. In a word, Tzu Chi transforms the mode of consumption into a form of
almsgiving. My conclusion is that although Tzu Chi members avoid buying goods(outside the group), they actually turn the idea of consumption inward to strengthen their loyalty and belief towards their religion.。