Intangible Culture ISSN:2799-3868(Print) 무형문화연구

In this paper, I will study the characteristics of Korean buddhism. In chapter two, I study interpenetrated buddhism as the characteristics of Korean buddhism. I describe the agreement and opposition about the interpenetrated buddhism briefly, and study the argument of Choi Byung Heon and Gil Hi Seong critically. Choi Byung Heon says that the discourse of ecumenical(tong) buddhism was coming into existence during the times of Japanese imperialism. And he criticizes that the discourse of ecumenical(tong) buddhism is restricted the thought of a few person that is Wonhyo, Uicheon, Jinul, HuJeong. But I does not agree the criticism of Choi Byung Heon. Gil Hi Seong insists that unity of the meditation and doctrinal schools to put weight on the meditation schools(zen) is the characteristics of Korean buddhism. I think the insistence of Gil Hi Seong has the validity, but I will study the characteristics of Korean buddhism from viewpoint of Wonhyo's hwajaeng thought, because I will survey the general flow of the history of Korean buddhism. In chapter three, I examine state-protecting buddhism as the characteristic of Korean buddhism. Here, I describe the activities of state-protecting buddhism during Goryeo dynasty and Joseon dynasty, and reexamine some critical perspectives on state-protecting buddhism. Although this critical perspectives have some validity, I agree with the argument that state-protecting buddhism can be the characteristic of Korean buddhism.

Bu-ston (1290-1364) is a symbolic figure that must be mentioned at least once when discussing the history of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1320, Bu-ston came as the head monk of Shalu Temple (夏魯寺), a representative temple of Sa kya pa, and in 1322, he published the Bu-ston Chos ’byung, which introduced in detail the writings of Classical Indian Buddhism. This text is an extremely important text that must be referenced by those studying Classical Indian Buddhism. Meanwhile, as most of the buildings of Shalu Temple, built in 1084, except the main temple were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, it was designated as a nationally protected major cultural property by the State Council of China in 1988, and active restoration work is being carried out recently. This temple is located in a small village about 20km southeast of Shigatse City, Xijiang Autonomous Region, China. Geographically, it is located in the southern part of Tibet, bordering India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar to the east, and connects to the inland of China through Lhasa and Qinghai Province to the east. Therefore, this temple has the characteristics of both the Zhuang and Han Chinese architectural styles, and the Buddhist statues and murals inside also exude a unique ‘Shalu Style’ that is a mixture of the art styles of India, Nepal, Tibet, and China. Accordingly, in this text, we will look at Sa skya pa, Shalu Temple, and Bu-ston, who led Tibetan Buddhism in the 13th and 14th centuries, from various angles. The year that I particularly paid attention to was 1320, which was not only the year that Bu-ston came to Shalu Temple, but also the year that King Chungseon of Goryeo was exiled from Daedo to Sa skya Temple. However, in this paper, due to space constraints, we will focus only on the former and leave the latter for future research.

In the Early Buddhist scriptures, there is a difference in the practices of the monks and the layperson, and the monks practiced precepts, meditation, and wisdom as the basis for the practice, but the Dāna is important for the layperson. Dāna is a practice of building merit, but it also has the meaning of practice, and in this article, the relationship between the practice of the four immeasurable minds and Dāna is reviewed. Dāna is deeply related to the four immeasurable minds, that is, Maitri and Karuna and Mudita and Upekkha. The practice of the four immeasurable minds is more meritorious than any other donation or the devotion of the precepts. Even for a moment, the merit of cultivating Maitri is very great, and it is said that the merit of practice of completing wisdom is greater than the merit of cultivating Maitri. The four immeasurable minds is a practice that both a layman and a Buddhist monk can practice, but the process of the Buddha's Enlightment makes it a prerequisite for complete liberation and nirvana through the four stages of dhyana. On the other hand, there is a view that complete liberation and nirvana are possible only by carrying out the four immeasurable minds, but if you look at the process of the Buddha's Enlightment, it can be said that the four immeasurable minds is an essential requirement in the process of reaching complete liberation and nirvana through the four stages of dhyana rather than practitioner of Buddha-dharma could be reaching complete liberation and nirvana through the four immeasurable minds only. Therefore, in the case of the Buddha, it cannot be said that complete liberation and nirvana are possible only by the four immeasurable minds. However, since the sincere Dāna of the layman enables the performance of the four immeasurable minds, the sincere Dāna of the layman can be a practice that meets the important requirements to reach complete liberation and nirvana. Therefore, a layman can live by accumulating goods with a good economic life, while pursuing liberation and nirvana through the four immeasurable minds with Dāna.

Among Buddhist offerings, the provide food and drink in particular must have been an important part since the time of Shakyamuni. It is the most necessary for maintaining the practitioner's body for correct enlightenment. The concept of Āhāra-dharma related to provide food and drink is a concept that still feels somewhat unfamiliar to this day. However, in Buddhist scriptures, Āhāra-dharma is a concept that is dealt with frequently. Begging for food of early Buddhist practitioners, the four seeds of holiness on which this begging for food is based, Buddhist disciples who do not follow the four uncleanness foods because they consider practicing purity to be a precept, the five restrains related to food in the twelve kinds of practices of intensified discipline, practitioners of the four worldly kinds of food and the five supramundane kinds of food, etc. It can be said to be the Āhāra-dharma of early Buddhism, including the precepts and rules related to food offerings, as well as the practitioner's attitude toward food. If these early Buddhist Āhāra-dharma focused on the precepts and mindset regarding food, the Āhāra-dharma in Mahayana Buddhism were developed into dharmic diet and developed into the practice of contemplating phenomena for the Dharma on food. For practitioners of esoteric Buddhism who focus on carry out or perform, the restrained Āhāra-dharma was further strengthened and applied, in particular, the offering of food to the three divisions, that is, Buddha-groups, a part of lotus flower, and vajra group, based on esoteric Buddhist scriptures, was different from the existing Āhāra-dharma. In the early Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, offerings of flowers, six dharma offerings, etc. are rituals of offering food to the three divisions through mandala rules of behavior, and began to appear for the first time in early esoteric scriptures such as Susiddhi-tantra and its offering method, and in middle period esoteric scriptures, from Mahāvairocana-sūtra, offerings began to be made to the three to five divisions. This kind of Āhāra-dharma for Buddhism seems to require additional research in the future under the proposition of ‘The Systematic of Buddhist Āhāra-dharma’.

This text examines the characteristics and features of the ritual ceremony at Seoul Yeongsan Beophwasa, which is the head temple of the Yeongsan Beophwa sect, one of the traditional Buddhist sects in Korea, in comparison to the Avalokiteshvara ritual ceremony of traditional Buddhist sects. The ceremony at Yeongsan Beophwasa is based on the "Cheondo Beopyo Sik" and, following the general structure of ritual ceremonies, involves requesting the presence of deities, praising and making offerings, and conveying the spirits back to their original places. According to the standard criteria, the ritual structure of “Cheondo Beopyo Sik” at Seoul Yeongsan Beophwasa can be divided into three stages. The first stage includes the initial steps from inviting the deities during the Sambo ceremony to the second stage, which involves requesting the presence of the spirits (娛神), praising, offering, and conducting rituals such as Juwon (a ritual to request divine protection) and Chukwon Danggu Gapi (a ritual to drive away evil spirits). The third stage consists of the sending-off ceremony. In contrast to traditional Buddhist sects, “Cheondo Beopyo Sik” at Yeongsan Beophwasa emphasizes “just contemplate” without a separate ritual for inviting deities. Additionally, there is no distinct ceremony for requesting divine protection during the Sambo ceremony, and there are no teachings after the chanting. It is evident that all the ceremonies focus on contemplation, and the ritual of seeking divine protection is understood as Gapi (加被) for the ears.

The Suvarṇabhāsottamasūtra (Sutra of Golden Light) was one of the popular Indian Mahāyana Buddhist scriptures widely circulated in both Central and East Asia. In this text, “Vyādhi-praśamana parivarta,” the “Chapter on Eliminating Disease”(除病品), while relatively short, contains some fundamental Indian medical knowledge that can be estimated to have circulated in India before the 5th century. Through translations of this text, the knowledge was transmitted to the East Asian countries Korea, China, and Japan, and later, by the various commentaries and their cross-references made by the eastern Buddhist scholars, the Indian medical knowledge was discussed in more detail. This “Chapter” addresses the change of seasons, the arising of disease, and the quality of food. As the “Chapter” shows, in ancient India it was understood that the material worlds all possess three energies, or “Tri-doṣa,” which assigned distinct qualities of all living beings based on a certain composition ratio. These energies could be correlated with seasons, the human body, and the qualities of food. Furthermore, as seasons changed, imbalance in these energies within the body arose and could lead to illness. Treatment was based on the intake of foods to complement these imbalances in accordance with the constitutional qualities of one’s own body and the seasons. The “Chapter” conveys the fundamental principles of Indian medicine regarding the causes of illness and their remedies. However, it seems that the Indian medical knowledge has not been well accepted into the East Asian countries or understood without confusion to the translators or the scholars. This is due to the fact that their own medical system, established on the basis of the concepts of Yin-Yang(陰陽) and the Five Phases (五行, Wuxing), was flourishing for centuries in East Asia, and thus the people have their own understanding of the causes of diseases and their treatments. The Indian medical knowledge likely was compromised or even nullified through the channel of the traditional Chinese medical system. Understanding the Indian system of nutrition for treating diseases or identifying a food’s qualities was also deemed challenging. Wonhyo, the eminent Korean Buddhist scholar in Silla, for example, sought to interpret the causes and treatments of diseases in terms of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements theory in his own commentary on the “Chapter,” which can be evaluated as a very proactive, yet almost inevitable, choice in his era.

Durgatiparishodhana Tantra introduces the contents of esoteric Buddhist rituals such as maṇḍala and ābhiṣeka, which are built to escape the dead from the worlds of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals after death. In addition, there are funeral ceremonies and rituals for saving living beings from evil worlds, rituals for the long life of saved living beings. And It explains how to perform the four types of homa to save living beings: śāntika[息災], pauṣṭika[增益], vaśīkaraṇa[敬愛], abhicārika[降伏]. Ācārya, who has been awarded the ābhiṣeka of the esoteric Buddhism, creates a maṇḍala and performs the ābhiṣeka to save the dead who have fallen into evil worlds. ‘Infinite Life Maṇḍala’ is a maṇḍala that is intended to bring benefits to both ordinary people who are afraid of falling into evil worlds and practitioners who aim to achieve enlightenment by obtaining longevity. ‘Life Achievement Maṇḍala’ is a maṇḍala to save living beings from unexpected death and achieve long life by obeying the god of death. ‘Wrath Maṇḍala’ is an wrathful Buddha maṇḍala that drives away all the hindrance demons that bring misfortune to living beings. Ācārya creates this maṇḍala and performs a ābhiṣeka ritual. The ābhiṣeka ritual enables the union of the ācārya and the specific buddha that make up the maṇḍala, and the ācārya can use the power of the buddha. According to this principle, ācārya invites the dead to the place of ābhiṣeka so that they can enter the maṇḍala, the world of Buddha. And at this time, the dead is freed from evil worlds by the mercy of Buddha.