Abstract: From the very beginning, Modern Humanistic Buddhism has had its value pursuit of adapting to modern social and cultural needs by reforming the shortcomings of the traditional Buddhism. Therefore, many people are accustomed to understanding Modern Humanistic Buddhism as opposite to traditional Buddhism. This paper holds that such an understanding of Humanistic Buddhism is not enough, and it fails to reveal the essence and value of Humanistic Buddhism. By referring to the concepts of "foresight" and "tradition" in Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics in Truth and Method, this paper attempts to clarify and explain Modern Humanistic Buddhism's real attitude towards and its basic idea of "tradition" since the 20^th century. The study shows that the main purpose of Modern Humanistic Buddhism's understanding of tradition is to achieve wisdom to break through the barrier between the ancient and the modern, eliminate the opposition between the old and the new and resolve the dispute between the traditional and the modern. This wisdom towards "tradition" is quite similar to the concept of "tradition" in modern Western philosophical hermeneutics. What's more, it can also provide some Buddhist inspiration to dispel the internal tensions between the traditional and the modern, rationality and foresight, subjectivity and objectivity, and particularity and universality in the context of Western philosophical hermeneutics.

Key words: Modern Humanistic Buddhism, tradition, philosophical hermeneutics, wisdom of non-attachment