한국 불교의 미래를 위한 지식인의 역할

Abstract

Korean buddhism is a going concern always. The subject of “Sang-gu bori hawa jungsang”(Pursuing the truth upwardly and edifying the people downwardly“ is the highest task, but it is regarded as difficult to realize it. Perhaps, it seems that the goal aims too high. But Korean society runs and the buddhism develops too while it maintains the current level. The roles of the intellectuals for Korean buddhism, social welfare, issue of Korean buddhism innovation and the international relief activities of Korean buddhism were discussed in this study. Korean buddhism tries to make the future Korean society of realizing the land of Buddha, but it is difficult because Korean society is dynamic and there are consistent conflicts. With regards to Korean buddhism and social welfare, the subjects of social welfare workforce supply and demand in Buddhism society, development of customized education program, education system for buddhism identity and establishment of the exclusive organization for welfare education in buddhism society were discussed in the study based on the dignity of life. The innovation of Korean buddhism shall be focused on the old traditional values approved as practice for long duration and Korean buddhism shall be modernized, popularized and made to be a way of life. The points to be overcome are listed for the transparency in finance, problem in the statistics of buddhism believer, non-utilization of the merits of urbanization and the lacking the capability for missionary work to teenagers and youth. And the problems in buddhism formalities were pointed out. As for the issues of religion affairs adminstration, abuse of religious body and familism, representation of religious body and lacking of duty sense, non-establishment of the professional religious staff system, headquarters of diocese, less human resources in the terminal temples and deepened financial differences among the temples were listed and the countermeasures were suggested. The international relief activities of Korean buddhism are developing considerably even though it is not in the mature stage. The material and human assets, professional manpower and networking among the buddhism related organization shall be acquired for international relief activities. The role of intellectuals for the future of Korean buddhism is to establish the innovative thought for arranging Korean social structures and acquiring the mind of pursuing the self and other’s interest (Win-win). This is the reason of emphasizing the role of the intellectuals for the development of buddhism.