사성제(四聖諦)를 통해 본 불교의 생사관 고찰

Abstract

This study tried to explore the meaning of death found in ‘Four Noble Truths’ of Buddhism which are well-known as universal truths and collections of works of Buddhism. The meaning of death has been largely understood and interpreted from ‘samsara’, ‘nirvana’, and ‘karma’ perspectives, however, it has not been explored from the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism despite the perspectives are integrated in ‘Four Noble Truths.’ Those are core teachings representing to Buddhism, and also contain that the death is a part of consecutive process of living, neither independent or separative one recognized by fear of death. Therefore, the death in the Buddhism means on the same line of living, and also the living places on the same of death as well. From the early Buddhist scriptures, Mahyana Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism, the living-death does not mean the start and end in the process of living. Also, there is no afterlife, and since the living-death is merely moving in the ‘samsara’ circle, the ultimate goal is being out of ‘samsara’ circle through ‘nirvana’ with enlightenment. The meaning of birth in Buddhism relatively to the death is seldom interpreted, which comes from human being’s unenlightenment. From the Buddhism, the birth-death of living is not allowed to discuss because the cognition of the start-end of living makes the meaning of nirvana disappear. Therefore, the meaning of death through the Buddhism’s four noble truths found that we should be out of notion and cognition of birth-death of living because living itself is suffering, and we are able to escape from real suffering by offending supersensual frame positioned in our mind.