릴케가 본 붓다 - 동양과 서양의 문화적 ‘만남’의 의미에 대한 시론 -

Abstract

This paper is an experimental discussion on the meaning of cultural encounter between East and West, focusing on the Buddha on the three poems of the German poet Rilke. The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke&#401875-1926&#41 was inspired to write several poems about the Buddha&#40Gautama Siddhartha&#41 by a Buddhist image in the garden of the workshop of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin&#401840-1917&#41 in the process of advancing his writing. In Korea, there have been lots of literary accomplishments and researches on Rilke, at the same time, no study about Rilke and Buddha. In this paper, ‘Rilke and Buddha’ will be discussed from the viewpoint of intercultural philosophy rather than of German literature study. In particular, this paper will reveal how oriental culture, especially Buddhism, was possessed and discussed in the West. In this way, the meaning of cultural ‘encounter’ between East and West will be explained from the perspective of intercultural philosophy. For Rilke, the Buddha was not a mediator that triggered religious emotions or reactions, but a way of training a new perspective on the world and things which was triggered by Rodin or Cezanne. And the essence&#40=‘form’&#41 of the object captured by such a new perspective was expressed by Rilke’s deep internal ‘fresh language’. Leopard, Buddhist Image, etc., played a great role as instruments of Rilke’s own personal writing, but his reverence for the subjects themselves was low. In other words, Rilke did not understand Buddha in a religious sense. This means that he viewed Buddha as the object of his linguistic, not as the transcendental sacredness that Buddhists generally feel. Rilke wanted to create his own ‘best’, ‘fresh’ language that has not been spoken yet. It is, before being expressed in language, a material form that is reclining to silence. Rilke was looking for such language&#40=writing&#41, as if the ‘Greek temple’ sealed with ‘silence’ met the language and revealed itself to the world. Finally, the conclusions that can be drawn from this discussion are as follows: The encounter between culture and thought that is mediated through ‘language’ goes on to understand or organize itself and its own experience system in cognitive hybridization-metastasis-liquidity. Therefore, the meeting of cultures is the process of ‘going to a new big me’ while abandoning the small ego. In culture, ‘encounter’ is not a universalization process but an extremely sincere micro-process of seeking to be myself&#40like-me-ness&#41.