금오태전의 계율관 一考

Abstract

Ven Keumo Taejeon is a representative priest of high virtue today. In addition, he committed himself to his own duty as a bhikku, a Buddhist priest. He has often been regarded as a leading priest in the movement of Buddhism purification and this historical fact has made a great impression on many people today; he was a president of committee of national purification movement for bhikku. However, he was a bhikku beyond the simple evaluation about him. Bhikku's responsibility he thought was studying and obeying Buddhist precepts. Thus, he didn't stop keeping initiating a topic of conversation and following Buddhist commandments. Though they were natural characteristics as a bhikku, the reality of that time was far way from what it should be; Buddhist commandments were neglected and Buddhist rituals were not put in practice in reality. Therefore, he emphasized rebirth of Buddhist precepts with his humble point of view about them. His Buddhist precepts are summarized as followings: First of all, he put a life high by not killing any lives and put this in practice. For instance, he freed every possible lives after feeling empathy and generosity. He even mentioned that one fish was just like his life, which can be regarded as the influence of Caturvarga vinaya, a book of Buddhist basic precepts and Brahamajala sutra, a great scripture of Buddha. Also, Ven Keumo thought Dharma, an established rule, very critical as it could be a base to establish Buddhist precepts. In his point of view, purification of Buddhism was not a scramble for authentic power but assertion of returning Dharma. He wanted to go back to Buddha's teachings as Buddhism of that time was not Dharma. In addition, he added that married Buddhists who were against Buddhist precepts had no possess of Dharma but Buddhist priests had it. This point of view was closely related with the idea of Buddhist precepts from the Mahanivana sutra. On the whole, Ven Keumo did not criticize married buddhists violently. What he intended was a warning to all monks who forgot and disobeyed their duties. He even said "I will break down pillars of headquarter of Korea Buddhism with ax." Even though he did make a lot of public speech, his teachings based on his Buddhist writings were of great significance to believers in Buddhism at home as well as monks.