Family Matters: Dramatic Interdependence and the Intimate Realization of Buddhist Liberation

The article presents a normative and philosophical exploration of the Buddhist family as a field of relational practice rather than a fixed social institution. Hershock argues that family, when viewed through Buddhist teachings on emptiness, karma, and interdependence, is not defined primarily by bloodline, household structure, or social convention, but by the quality of relationships that move beings from saṃsāra toward nirvāṇa. The article first establishes the Buddhist family in relation to the interdependence of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, then examines Chinese Buddhist materials on filial piety, karmic debts, repentance, and family responsibility, and finally turns to Buddhist biographies and narrative traditions to show that enlightenment is not merely an individual achievement but a communal and relational realization. Through this framework, Hershock reinterprets family as a possible site of liberating intimacy, where compassion, loving-kindness, joy, repentance, and shared karmic transformation become central to Buddhist practice.