출가, 재가, 그리고 비승비속(非僧非俗) -야나기 무네요시(柳宗悅)의 『나무아미타불』 제17장을 중심으로-

Abstract

The Buddhist order is comprised of Renunciation and Laybuddhism. How should the appropriate Buddhist monks be like and the appropriate lay believers be like? I have discussed again by referring to the lives of the three patriarchs in the Japanese Pure Land Buddhism addressed in Chapter 17 of NAMU-AMIDABUTSU(南無阿弥陀仏) by Yanagi Muneyoshi(柳宗悅1889-1961). The example of renunciation is living by the Dharma of Buddha. The founder of the Japanese Pure Land Buddhism(淨土宗), Honen法然is an excellent example. He widely recommended the Buddhist chanting to the public and faithfully followed the precepts. However, there are some cases when the duties as a monk were not fully satisfied by merely abiding by the religious precepts. That is the case when a monk merely left home but thought to himself that he has to abandon everything including even the temple. The founder of Shijong(時宗), Ippen(一遍1239-1290) was such a case.He visited various places to widely recommend Buddhist chanting to the public after abandoning his home and even the temple. This can be seen as enhancing the standard of monks. This is why I call him 'Transcendent monk(超僧)'. Meanwhile, in the case of Layman, who first renounced the secular lives transferred to Layman after becoming a non-monk through the transgression. This is Neither Monk Nor Layman(非僧非俗). The founder of Japanese Shin Buddhism(浄土真宗), Shinran(新鸞1173-1262) fits in definition. He deeply thought that he is a neither monk nor layman. In that process, Shinran explored the way for Neither Monk Nor Layman to be also saved. With regard to Neither Monk Nor Layman, Kaneko Daiei(金子大榮) interpreted that who is already not a monk, should also not be a layman. This means that the outside can be irrelevant whether it is monk or not when the inside is non layman. This perspective is the assessment based on the inside. It points out that non monks are not just set free from their obligations As Ippen has stated, in a sense, layman, who is not a monk has to be not a layman, can be managed asceticism only being an superior faculties processing superior religious faith and insight. Shinran took the path of difficult practices. So do lay believerstake the path of difficult practices like Shinran.