티베트 불교사원 종교 활동의 곤경(困境) ­-직공사원[直貢替寺]의 종교대법회 고찰을 예를 들어-­

Abstract

This paper is based on a field study. The author visited a tributary temple, a representative Tibetan Buddhist temple, located at Mukjukgongka-hyeon, the northeastern part of Lasa, the capital of Tibet which is located in the southwestern part of China. Through the interviews and observations, this paper was made. The tributary temple is a suzerain temple of Baekgyo, one of four big Buddhist sects in Tibet. From its foundation in the year of 1,179 to the present, the tributary temple has been positioned as the key temple of traditional Baekgyo so its existence is respected by Tibetans as the center of historical religious activities and faith. Historically, in the tributary temple, three traditional large Buddhist lecture meetings have been handed down and these lecture meetings are held every 12 years: one is in the year of pig, another in the year of snake, and the other in the year of monkey. Among these three lecture meetings, the lecture meeting held in the year of monkey is most respected by the believers of Baekgyo and attracted by the relevant field. The purpose of holding this esoteric lecture meeting is to commemorate a great Buddhist priest, Yeonhwasaeng, who was born on the 11th day of the month of monkey in the year of monkey of the Tibetan calendar. In the Tibetan calendar, it is a religious festival for Tibetans that is continued for about 7 days from June 6 to June 15 of the given year. While staying in the tributary temple that holds the Buddhist lecture meeting, the author could observe the relationship between Buddhist temples and the Chinese government (whether religious activities are free or not), the internal structure of a temple, and the actual difficulties with holding a traditional Buddhist lecture meeting. The visit to the tributary temple which is a suzerain temple of Baekgyo, Tibetan Buddhism, for research is the first case in Korea. This paper is positive consideration of the contents of the traditional religious festivals which have been handed down from ancient times, of the meanings in the contents, and the analysis of the reality of Tibetan Buddhist temples of today in the relationship with the Chinese government.