The Woodenfish Project Sponsored by Fo Guang Shan, the Woodenfish program aims to advance Humanistic Buddhism through a series of projects geared toward young adults. Woodenfish works with them to promote a spiritual, academic, and socially relevant understanding of Buddhism. The Humanistic Buddhism Monastic Life Program (HBMLP) is a month-long program for students and young adults at Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Taiwan. Participants live as monastics while taking academic classes on Buddhism and participating in traditional practices. The program welcomes participants from all countries, faiths and academic fields. Through the "Buddhism in China" program series, the Woodenfish Project aims to aid the development of young scholars in the West with research interests in Chinese Buddhism and related fields by offering them the opportunity for direct, intensive academic engagement with the major historical centers of Buddhism in China. The Sutra Translation Project aims to produce innovative versions of several sutras in the Buddhist canon, translated into English from the original Chinese. These are unique, bi-lingual editions, created in collaboration with Fo Guang Shan’s publishing company, Buddha’s Light Publishing.
What is a "Woodenfish?" At Fo Guang Shan Monastery, the “woodenfish” drum poises the mind and establishes a tempo so that an assembly of people can chant in unison. Further, because fish do not have eyelids, their eyes always remain open even when they sleep. To the Buddhist practitioner, thus, the woodenfish symbolizes community, wakefulness, and unceasing awareness.
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