Intangible Culture ISSN:2799-3868(Print) 무형문화연구

The Dharani that protects the body(護身真言) adopted in the Hangul mantra (Jin-eon-jip) is the simplest and consists of only “om” and a single seed. The Dharani that protects the clothes that cover the body (護身被甲真言) was included in Hangul mantra starting from the Ansimsa manuscript, and it is thought to have been circulated in Korean Buddhism through Jebanmun (Jebanmun), Milgyo Gaeganjip (Milkyo Gaegan-jip), and the Yujeomsa manuscript’s Josanggyeong (Josanggyeong). The Hangul mantra included Dharani that transforms the body (化身真言) starting from the Ansimsa manuscript, and added it under the name Chulshilji (出悉地) from the Manyeonsa manuscript onward. The Hwaeui Jineon Dharani that transforms clothes(化衣真言) is included in the Hangul Mantra Collection, as well as in the 󰡔Suyuksujaeui-gwi󰡕 and 󰡔Beomeumsanbojip󰡕, but the name ‘Hwaeui Jineon’ cannot be found in the Tripitaka Koreana. The name Dharani praying to a pile of fire (火聚真言) can be interpreted as ‘a mantra that prays to a pile of fire.’ The name ‘Hwachui Jineon’ is only used in Korean Buddhism, but the mantra of expulsion of sin (出罪方便) described in the 󰡔Daeilgyeong󰡕 can be cited as its basis. In the first published version of the Joseon Dynasty, the Yongcheonsa version (1575) of the Josanggyeong recorded the contents of the expulsion method mantra as “a mantra to recite while thinking of the Buddha as a fire cluster (火聚).” Later, the Neunggasa version of the Josanggyeong (1697) gave this mantra the title ‘Hwachwijineon.’ This was incorporated into Hangul mantra collections starting with the Manyeonsa version (1777), and was fixed as the ‘Hwachwijineon’ in versions such as the Milgyo Gaeganjip, the Yujeomsa version of the Josanggyeong, and the Japanese colonial-era version of the Seokmun Uibeom. In these editions of each era, we can also see the trend of efforts to make the Korean spelling match the original pronunciation of the mantra.

This paper proposes the application of the Middle Way from early Buddhism to moral education as a means to enhance students' moral practice, suggesting it as a moral philosophy. An analysis of high school textbooks, "Ethics and Thought" and "Life and Ethics," revealed a lack of emphasis on the Middle Way. In early Buddhism, the Middle Way is Buddha's practical teaching, offering not just moral knowledge or concepts, but concrete methods for everyday practice through the Noble Eightfold Path. This approach can serve as an important educational principle linking moral knowledge and practice, and it is proposed as a philosophical tool for moral education.

Vijñāṇa is the mental function that identifies and recognizes objects, playing a crucial role in shaping sensory experiences and the flow of self. In the early Buddhist canon, Nikāya, vijñāṇa demonstrates various roles and functions in human cognition, samsaric continuity, and meditative practice. This paper aims to analyze how vijñāṇa operates and transforms as the subject of cognition in the process of Buddhist practice, focusing on the Khandha Sutta and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. In the Khandha Sutta, vijñāṇa functions as the central agent that perceives objects and integrates experiences among the five aggregates (pañca khandha). Each aggregate is interconnected and harmonized through vijñāṇa, resulting in unified experiences. As the core of perception and interpretation, vijñāṇa recognizes forms (rūpa), processes sensations (vedanā), discerns objects through perception (saññā), and shapes specific responses through mental formations (saṅkhāra). Moreover, vijñāṇa plays a pivotal role in sustaining the continuity of samsara in the context of the twelve links of dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda). Beginning with ignorance (avijjā), vijñāṇa combines with kamma (saṅkhāra) to maintain the continuity of existence, forming the cycle of suffering and samsara. Through this, vijñāṇa serves as a crucial bridge that links past, present, and future existence, going beyond mere cognitive functioning to become an essential connector in the process of samsaric transition. The Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta addresses how vijñāṇa can be transformed and regulated through meditative practice. This sutta provides a detailed explanation of the process in which practitioners observe their experiences without attachment and control the flow of cognition through mindfulness (sati). Mindfulness supports the practitioner in observing the present moment as it is, maintaining a calm and stable mind unshaken by external stimuli. The observation methods of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) enable practitioners to realize that all experiences are transient and inherently non-self. In Nikāya, vijñāṇa also functions as a crucial tool for realizing the wisdom (paññā) necessary for ultimate enlightenment. paññā, as insight into the nature of all experiences, liberates practitioners from ignorance and enables the realization of ultimate reality, leading to liberation (nibbāna). The suttas illustrate how vijñāṇa transcends its role as the subject of cognition, enabling practitioners to recognize the impermanent and non-self nature of all phenomena through wisdom. Consequently, vijñāṇa facilitates detachment from the cycle of samsara, guiding practitioners toward liberation. This study examines how vijñāṇa functions not only as a cognitive agent but also as a transformative tool for realizing wisdom and insight through practice. The Khandha Sutta presents vijñāṇa as the central agent of perception, encompassing the other aggregates while emphasizing its conditional and non-substantial nature. Meanwhile, the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta illustrates how vijñāṇa is regulated and recognized through mindfulness practice, ultimately leading to enlightenment. Vijñāṇa plays a vital role in helping practitioners observe all experiences without attachment, transcend the concept of self, and realize the essence of existence, aligning with the fundamental goals of early Buddhist practice.

In his 『observation of mind about āhāra-dharma』, Tian-Tai Zhiyi described the procedence of the dharma-āhāra of the great vehicle of observation of mind about āhāra. The new āhāra obtained through the begging for food is called prajñapti(假), the lack of substance of āhāra is called śūnyatā(空), and the mysterious distinction between old āhāra and new āhāra were called middle path(中道). In this way, meditation the perfect interfusion of the threefold truth through āhāra is also called the meditative insight about āhāra-dharma. The meditative insight about āhāra-dharma is a contemplating phenomena that includes the functionality of āhāra, which allows one to ultimately attain dharma-āhāra of the great vehicle such as the āhāra of joy in the dharma and the nourishment from meditative bliss, by contemplating āhāra as a restraint through begging and the āhāra of the perfect interfusion of the threefold truth during the process of eating food. In this paper, I examined the functionality of āhāra through the meditative insight about āhāra-dharma of Tian-Tai Zhiyi. This is because ‘bringing something’ that is related to physical and mental functionality is āhāra. In the four kinds of food, sensory āhāra, āhāra for thought, and cognition as nourishment can be operated smoothly by material food(段食) as an energy source, and through āhāra as an energy source, it can result in the dharma-āhāra of the great vehicle, such as the nourishment from meditative bliss, vow-sustenance, nourishment from thought, āhāra of liberation, and the āhāra of joy in the dharma. Therefore, the meditative insight about āhāra-dharma of Tian-Tai Zhiyi opens the path of the mind to the supramundane āhāra through the mundane āhāra, and can be said to be a representative contemplating phenomena of āhāra in the the dharma-āhāra of the great vehicle for the increase of nāma-rūpa.

The Buddhist ideological significance of the text was analyzed, focusing on the entries in the Daeseongsa copy of 『Somitacham』(1579, Ssanggyesa copy). Somitacham(小彌陀懺) was created by citing the ｢Yeombuljakbeop(念佛作法)｣ from the Mansuambon in 1529, but it is the origin of the ‘Yeombul Jakbeop’ that attempted to contain Korean Buddhism. He attempted to reveal the dharma lineage of Korean Buddhism through TaegoBowoo, Uisang Seunim, and Bojeonja. These efforts are still being passed down in Korean Buddhist rituals to this day as the “Yeombuljakbeop” and are still recognized as a practice method loved by the public. This is the meaning of writing 『Somitacha』. The remaining items will also be continuously studied in the future.

This study explores the spiritual experiences of bereaved families in the Buddhist death ritual known as the 49th day memorial rite or 49 Jae through the concept of the “performative turn,” as defined by modern theater critic Erika Fischer-Lichte. The “performative turn” is an aesthetic concept in performance theory that situates the origin of meaning on the stage of physical presence and focuses on the audience’s physical perception and transformative experience. This study regards the bereaved as co-performers in the 49th day memorial rite ritual and examines their spiritual transformation. In particular, it investigates how the spiritual needs of bereaved families in Korea’s increasingly secular and multi-religious society converge on the 49th day memorial rite, a specific religious ritual, through the lens of SBNR or “non-religious spirituality.” To this end, the study first compares and discusses the ritual structure of the 49th day memorial rite in relation to the aspects of performative turn in performance, and second, presents arguments for conceptualizing the spiritual pursuits of the bereaved participants in the 49th day memorial rite as non-religious “spiritual performativity.”

This paper is a sequel to the author’s ethnographic study, “The Tibetan Ritual of ‘Recalling the Soul’ (bla 'gugs tshe 'gugs): Translation and Commentary on a Prayer Text from the Nyingma Tradition with Ritual Explanation” (Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology, 2019, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 485–548). Building on the data presented in the previous work, this study aims to theoretically examine the magical nature of Tibetan folk religion. The first half of the paper provides an overview of various religions in the Tibetan-Himalayan cultural sphere and analyzes the religious and ideological status of the bla 'gugs tshe 'gugs ritual, drawing on insights from Tibetan studies and the author’s earlier research. The latter half explicates the concept of the “fundamental groundlessness of rituals,” extracted from Mitsuru Hamamoto’s seminal work, The Method of Order (2001). Traversing the ritual theories of Frazer and Wittgenstein, the paper explores how Freud’s dream hypothesis in psychoanalysis can serve as an analogy for understanding the magical nature of the bla 'gugs tshe 'gugs ritual and, more broadly, as a framework for comprehending magic in general.