선사상에서 해오(解悟)의 함의

Abstract

In the Sudden/Gradual Dispute triggered by Seongcheol (性徹), various discussions were held to establish the position of intellectual enlightenment (解悟), but the question of the essential difference between intellectual enlightenment and ultimate enlightenment (證悟) was not raised. However, in the Sŏn/Zen tradition, enlightenment is not different from understanding—each is realized within the other. Intellectual enlightenment and ultimate enlightenment can be viewed as two aspects of mental change that occur simultaneously in the experience of enlightenment, instead of having a sequential relationship. Ultimate enlightenment is understood as the moment of reaching perfection, but on the contrary, it is the premise and starting point of enlightenment in that it is a “perceptual ability that has already been completely achieved.” If ultimate enlightenment can happen instantly, that is possible because it is already fully accomplished within us. In this case, ultimate enlightenment has ambivalent implications in terms of beginning and ending. Ultimate enlightenment is an experience that takes place within the world of intellectual enlightenment, and the two are not entirely separate. Ultimate enlightenment is not an end goal in the distant future, but a metaphor that keeps intellectual enlightenment from being categorized at all times. Intellectual enlightenment refers to the process of reconstructing the mind, not enlightenment through understanding. However, intellectual enlightenment is not just a linguistic understanding of a specific meaning, but an enlightenment thatincludes a meta-understanding that “no linguistic understanding is absolute.” Ultimate enlightenment, in contrast, refers to the deconstructive aspect of mind change. Ultimate enlightenment is the moment when the mind that has already been formed is dismantled without considering it real. It is not postponed into the eternal future, but is realized in every present moment.