112 年 國立政治大學宗教研究所《專業英文》

For centuries, mountains were believed to be the abodes of the gods, a set of spatial symbols that compete with each other among different sacred geosystems. Viewed as the place to encounter the gods, a mountain is also an ideal space for retreat and practice. A hermit living in seclusion, strolling through mountainous terrains or meditating in mountain caves, feeling content and one with nature; this is the image of a hermit, cultivated person with superior attainments, and a core theme within landscape art. Buddhism and Daoism ascribe a kind of sacred and mysterious power to physical mountains. As physical settings they functioned as important sites of state sacrifices, active centers of Buddhism, Daoism and Neo-Confucianism, and nuclei of popular pilgrimage. Immortality seekers must dwell in the world of mountains and caves to be able to enter the world beyond the mundane, and reach a state of transcendence and enlightenment.

New forms of disseminating information that give precedence to self-media have transformed observers into the principal force of dissemination. Such a development has overturned the core operations of traditional media, which functioned in a top-down manner, and created a model that is just the opposite. The circulation of media is no longer divided along the lines of transmitter and recipient; every individual is now a transmitter, forming a multiplicity of voices. At the same time, participants can both observe and traverse networks; that is, through social networks, they can see beyond their friends' networks. Because of this, they are able to examine multiple perspectives when faced with similar situations or information. Moreover, through this continuous extension across other networks that allows users to access a wider range of information, participants can connect with one another in an endless and dynamic process.

「宗教經濟」是把社會中的所有宗教活動置放在一個現存的或潛在的信徒市場當中去探討,這些宗教機構組織會創造宗教文化,試圖維持並吸引信眾,爭取更大的市場佔有。學者以供需原理來理解宗教的動態關係,想藉此量度宗教,甚至試圖將這種量度予以圖像化,因此出現所謂的「宗教地圖」,從一些數據,去進行宗教分類與區域分布的視覺化,而從地圖當中看出各宗教的分布、互動、消長。這種視覺化的研究讓人一目了然,也提供了許多新的研究議題。宗教分布視覺化有助於學者探討宗教市場理論,而在拉丁美洲與後共產時期的東歐宗教研究上,這種研究方法已經有豐碩的成果。以這種研究方法探討宗教活力成為許多學者取代宗教世俗化理論的新方法。

學者開始將信徒的日常生活當作宗教研究的主要課題,並稱以「生活宗教」、「宗教實踐」的觀點,來克服「菁英」與「民間」宗教的二分觀點,從知識菁英的歷史觀點轉為多重意義、甚至相互衝突的角度與實踐。由此進路去研究信徒的生活方式與內心活動及其與宗教敘述之間的關聯與互動,這也是透過實踐者來探討宗教公共論述與個人內在的宗教心理之間的關連性。如此,宗教的考察不再僅僅是宗教組織與機構,而且「非正統」與「正統」具有同等的重
要性,改革性的宗教與民間宗教也同等重要。另外,宗教實踐不隸屬於任何宗教組織的,甚至不涉及信仰的,也正在興起,這些都是生活宗教所關心的範
疇。可以看到的是,新的時代宗教的邊界正逐漸瓦解,靈性正在崛起,各種混
合、跨界、多重宗教認同成為普遍的現象。因此,宗教認同的表述並非是特定
神學的差異,而是在社群中的個人,在諸多的選擇當中作出自我認同,與傳教
士及其神學沒有必然的關係。