불교와 무속의 생사관과 의례체계

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the ‘view on death’ in Buddhism and Shamanism, and the ‘aspect in which the problem of death is dealt with through rites’, thereby understanding the meaning of death in Korea. Investigated were the perspectives on spirit and afterlife as recognized in Buddhism and Shamanism. Both Buddhism and Shamanism combined around the concept of universality. While Buddhism was influenced by folk beliefs in its perspective on spirit, Shamanism enthusiastically accepted the thoughts on afterlife from Buddhism. In Buddhism, the recognition of existence after death is internalized in depth with the folk idea around the perspective on spirit. Regardless of the original teachings of Buddhism, a belief in the existence of spirit was actualized in encounters with believers, which eventually collapsed the boundaries between Buddhism and Shamanism. Shamanism first bore the characteristics of a natural religion in which there is no distinction between the two worlds without the solid concepts of judgment and salvation. This aspect has been merged into innate humanity, like the concepts of paradise, hell and retributive justice, since the gradual influence of Buddhism began. Next, the death rituals of Buddhism and Shamanism were examined. Based on 49Jae(a death ceremony held at the 49th day from the deathday) and Jinogi Gut(a ceremony for sending the spirit of the deceased to paradise), the structures of Cheondojae(a ceremony for guiding spirits in hell or spirits wandering around this world to paradise) in Buddhism and Neok Gut(spiritual ceremonies) in Shamanism were analyzed, and the aspect in which godly beings exist were dealt with. Subsequently, an analysis was conducted on the aspect in which the purposes of two death rituals having similar structures and afterlife views are fulfilled. First, as seen in the steps of the rituals, Cheondojae reinforces its purpose by pursuing discrimination and originality, while the same goes for Neok Gut by pursuing complexity and repetition. In Cheondojae, the purpose and contents in each step are original and are unfolded in a unilinear way. On the other hand, Neok Gut is separated into Yiseung Gut(a ceremony for this world) and Jeoseung Gut(a ceremony for the other world), and the journey leading to the other world is unfolded in multiple levels. In addition, in Neok Gut, the process of problem solving of the deceased is reproduced repetitively, which all indicate repetition as well as complexity. Second, a difference in the characteristics of communication between godly beings and mortals was found. In Cheondojae, mortals praise and pray to godly beings, and the godly beings show them the truth. On the other hand, in Neok Gut, the communication is rather avant-garde and radical. Godly beings bestow different words depending on their status and role, while the deceased also express their ideas drastically. Particularly in the conversation between the deceased and the bereaved, the boundaries between the two worlds are torn down, and a pinnacle of emotional correspondence is reached, which works as a primitive force born in the rites of Shamanism. Third, a difference in the festival feature for the sublimation of sadness and regeneration was found. Unlike the solemnness and grief of Confucian rituals, death in Buddhism and Shamanism is viewed as a path to the next world, which make the festival feature visible. The songs, dances and amusements brought into the death rituals of Buddhism and Shamanism are a means to send the dead to a better place and to lead living beings back to their normal lives in good shape. This indicates that the rituals are mirrors to the view on life and death, which turns a ‘sad and bleak death’ into a ‘blessed and hopeful life.’