불교의 공익활동: 현황과 한계, 그리고 미래

Abstract

This article summarizes the public interest activities of Buddhism. For this summary, we examined the Buddhist interest activities focusing the ‘pain’. Then, we defined the Buddhist public interest activities as 'activities to relieve suffering with an interest in all life's suffering’. Based on this definition, we classified Buddhist public activities into two types and examined the contents. We also classified Activity agents into three types and summarized their status and limitations. To summarize, with the reform of the Jogye Order in 1994, the interest about public interest activities in Korean Buddhist society increased and public interest activities were as active as that. However, these results are limited to some fields. Contemporary the fields of public interest activities to overcoming contradictions, in which Buddhist civil society mainly are active, are stagnated. We presented the Alternatives to overcome this situation in three ways. First, it is necessary to maintain a cooperative relationship the between the service organization of the jogye order and Buddhist civil society until the Buddhist civil society is self-sustaining power and systematized. Second, we should be interested in socializing the world view and practice based on Buddhist values. In the field of conflict and pain, Buddhist values such as hwajaeng(和諍), mercy, and conditioned genesis present new directions for problem solving. It is also the point where the social role of Buddhism is clearly highlighted. Third, the atmosphere of Korean Buddhism, where distrust and defeatism are prevalent, must be changed more positively. The distrust and defeatism among members, which have accumulated the results of the past events, are obstacles that prevent Buddhism form exercising its positive assets and capabilities. The efforts of the members to accept the new viewpoint on the Korean Buddhism and the Jogye order instead of the past viewpoint are required.