퇴옹 성철의 산중담론 혹은 법어의 사회적 의미 분석 - 『자기를 바로 봅시다』를 중심으로 -

Abstract

In this paper, I have tried to analyze the social significance of Dharma talks delivered by Ven. Seongcheol, a late Patriarch of Korea’s Jogye Order. First, I clarified that Ven. Seongcheol thought that a monk’s duty was to make offerings to the Buddha. According to him, “offerings” consisted of bowing to and praying to the Buddha and helping and dedicating their lives to all sentient beings. He said that a monk’s duty was to study Buddhist teachings and to teach others about proper Buddhist offerings. He suggested two ways for people to realize their original Buddha nature (aka “original face”): the way of Hwadu (話頭) practice and the way of making offerings to the Buddha. The latter is not only a practice that reveals one’s Buddha nature to the world, it is also the duty of one who has awakened or discovered their original Buddha nature. It is no exaggeration to say that beginning in the 1990s, these ideas were often reflected in his Dharma talks. Colloquial modern Korean, not Sino-Korean, was a distinct feature of Ven. Seongcheol’s Dharma talks. He used colloquial Korean so everyone could understand the concept of our inner Buddha nature which everybody inherently possesses. He also used modern expressions to incite people’s curiosity about Buddhism. His Dharma talks dealt primarily with his view of a monk’s duty to study the Buddha’s teachings and teach everyone about proper Buddhist offerings. In addition, his use of colloquial modern Korean is evidence of his intent to propagate Buddhism to the greatest extent possible.