근대시기 ‘종교’ 인식과 한국불교의 정체성 논의

Abstract

This study inquired into the perception and countermeasure against the influx of Protestantism and the contact with the outer world, which Korean Buddhist world took in the process of constituting its identity. The introduction of Protestantism was a threat to Korean Buddhism and also gave an impetus to the Buddhist self-examination in modern Korea. Education, propagation and nurturing talent were the targets for modernizing Buddhism but the change was made for discovering talented people not for modernizing the system of Korean Buddhism. The Buddhist world could not have the chance to establish its organization autonomously because it was directly influenced by Japanese Buddhism and Japanese Imperialism right after the fall of Joseon. So the problem of the existence of Buddhism should be solved by the individual change. Buddhist monks led the efforts to change the Buddhist world in modern Korea and lay practitioners were excluded. Monks looked at Buddhism from a social perspective and thought that they should be well grounded in modern culture to communicate with the modern society. So they thought that they could change the precepts which hindered their activities for people. The precepts are the most fundamental principles for religious practice and Prātimokṣa is the most pure practice. Precepts should be kept thoroughly until practitioners attain the enlightenment so those who discard the precepts are not Buddhist practitioners any more. Thus, renouncing the precepts could be reviewed only for understanding modernity. Buddhist monks in modern Korea considered that the accomplishment of religious practices and its social roles were issues of choice, not comprise. Therefore, those who would keep their precepts and hold their religious practices were considered as Buddhist practitioners who would leave human beings and discard Bodhisattva ideal. They tried to perform roles of religion in society as religious practitioners by becoming modern people and they thought that they could accomplish Mahāyāna teachings by doing that.