정도전과 권근의 불교 이해와 그 의의 -공적심(空寂心) 및 진공묘유(眞空妙有) 개념과 조선불교의 맹아적 세속화론을 중심으로-

Abstract

This paper discusses Cheong Do-jeon (鄭道傳, 1342～1398) and Kwon Geun's (權近, 1352～1409) understanding of Buddhism by focusing on the idea of Mind-Nature theory (心性論) and Buddhist phenomenology. There has been the opinion that Cheong Do-jeon's criticism of Buddhism was based on that of Chu Hsi (朱熹, 1130～1200), but this paper argues that Cheong and Kwon's understanding about Buddhism was a reflection on the condition of Koryo (高麗, 918～1392) Buddhism. They received the Buddhist tradition of Im-jae-jong (Lin-chi-tsung, 臨濟宗) of the latter Koryo Seon (Ch’an, 禪) Buddhism and conceived the notion that Buddhist Mind-Nature theory was inane, especially in the viewpoint of ethics, in comparison to that of Neo-Confucianism. This understanding is the result of their neglect of Jinul's (知訥, 1158～1210) Mind theory. To Jinul, the human mind was empty and inactive but able to make judgements on ethics and the conditions of the phenomenal world. Cheong and Kwon, on the other hand, saw that Buddhist phenomenology lacked a consideration of social reality. This was namely due to their lack of understanding of the doctrine of dependent origination in dharma-dhātu (法界緣起論) which has been discussed mainly in Hua-yen school (華嚴學). Cheong and Kwon's understanding of Buddhism reflected the opinion that Buddhism was basically transcendent, and such perception forcibly continued to spread reductionist ideas of Buddhism. In other words, their understanding made the image of Buddhism fit transcendent notions hence making it easy for Choseon Neo-Confucian ideology to suppressed Buddhism. Paradoxically, the efforts of Neo-Confucians added to Choseon (朝鮮, 1392～1910) Buddhism in becoming conceived as religion in the modern sense. Buddhism which had been a world-view and normative over the entire society and culture before the foundation of Choseon dynasty, began to go through the process of becoming a personal religion and pseudo- secularized. This paper calls this process "incipient secularization." Neo-Confucianism which was oppressive and intolerant of other world-views has been another prevalent world-view and normative over the Choseon society and culture. It also gradually became transcendant, at last becoming and remaining as a premodern religion. It seems that this prevented Neo- Confucianism from transforming into a modern religion after the arrival of modernity. In short, Neo-Confucianists of early Choseon period such as Cheong Do-jeon and Kwon Guen falsely saw Buddhism as inane to the extent that it didn't concern societal issues. While they were able to dismiss Buddhism and at the same time establish the foundation to construct the Neo-Confucian system for Choseon dynasty, paradoxically they contributed to the process of incipient secularization of Buddhism.