The Logic of Reconciliation and Harmonization (Hwahoe) in Wo˘nhyo's Thought

Kim, Young-tae International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

In conclusion, Wo˘nhyo's Buddhism shows no preference to either Dharma Nature school or Dharmalaksana school, the two great streams in the development of Buddhism; Wo˘nhyo's sole purpose of developing syncretic Buddhism lies in his intention to expose the world of One Buddha Mind. Seen in this context, Wo˘nhyo's Syncretism and harmonization is to be understood as a methodology instead of a major concern of his thought. What Wo˘nhyo took as his major teaching was One Mind, in which So˘ng and sang are not two. Immediately after obtaining enlightenment, it has been said, Wo˘nhyo shoyted: "Outside mind there is no dharma, what's the use of searching for truth outside mind?" His exclamation of enlightenment once again confirms for us that One Mind is the only ground on which Master Wo˘nhyo anchored his teaching.

On Translating Wo˘nhyo

Buswell, Robert E. Jr. International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

Translating a corpus of works as voluminos and varied as tat of Wŏnhyo in Buddhist catalogues, of which some twenty-five are still extant. These works cover virtually the entire gamut of East Asian Buddhist materials available during his time, from the flower Garland (Hwaaŏm) to the Mere-Representation (Yusik), to the Pure land(Chŏngt'o) traditions. Given this huge corpus and range of matrerial a multi-author project such as is being planned through Dongguk University is the only viable approach to the translation. In this brif talk, I seek to raise a few issues relevant to translation Wŏnhyo, in particular, as well as to the project, in general. Many of Wŏnhyo's works are exegetical commentaries to scriptures and treatises important in East Asian Buddhism. There is probably no redligious literature that is so deceptively simple, yet in fact so utterly prolix than is the commentarial literature of East Asian Buddhism, including that of korea. Commentarial literature may seem relatively straightforward to the first-time reader. Typically the scholiast will include a brief introduction outlining the significance of the scripture that is the object of exegesis and the broad structure of the commentary. This introduction will be followed by passages of the scripture, followed by the exegete's comments, which will often include a line-by-line, or even word-by-word, exegesis. But this simple style masks what is often an immensely complex hermeneutical structure that is superimposed over the commentarial sections. This massive interpretative schema challenges the resources of any translator. Wŏnhyo's commentaries are typical of this East Asian commentarial style. His kûmgang sammaegyông non (Exposition of the Adamantine Absorption Scripture), for example, uses a fourfold structure to explicate the scripture : a narration of its principal ideas, an analysis of its theme, an explanation of the title, and finally an explication of the text. The first three sections are essentially introductory, lasting only three Taishō pages, while the last goes on for some forty-five Taishö pages. In several typically complex sections of this fourth section, Wŏnhyo's commentary includes five levels of subheading in its explication. It is absolutely crucial when translation this dense commentarial literature that this hermeneutical structrue be carefully detailed, otherwise the train of Wŏnhyo's argument will be virtually inaccessible to the reader. Wŏnhyo's commentarial style is difficult but not intractable and it is up to the translator to clarify the argument for the reader by providing an adequate outline of the sections. In addition, it will be absolutely crucial to orient readers to the material before they begin to read the translation itself. An extensive introduction outlining the significance and contribution of the text, as well as an overview of its structure and style, should be an integral part of each translation. In addition, extensive annotation will be necessary in order to clarify the nuances of Wŏnhyo's writing, ferret out his own cryptic references and allusions to Buddhist scriptural literature, and to detail the frequent numerical lists that pepper all of Buddhist exegetical writing. Without such scholarly apparatus, even the most dedicated of readers will be apt to throw up their hands in despair when trying to work through these densely-packed translations.

The Buddhist Reform Movement in Modern Times

Mok, Jeung-bae International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

Buddhism was suppressed throughout the Choson dynasty. The conservative faction of the society intensified its efforts to destroy Buddhism. Yet, Buddhism managed to preserve itself in spite of the official policy of suppression. Korean Buddhism's strong resilience is an indication of its deep roots within the consciousness of the Korean people. This was the situation of Korea as it faced reform. Beginning in the late Choson dynasty, the culture and institutions of more advanced nations were suddenly introduced to Korea, leading to change in the official policy concerning religion. After a long period of persecution, Catholics were allowed to propagate their faith which led to an enormous influx of foreign missionaries. At the same time, many monks from the various Japanese Buddhist sects came to Korea. The foreign clergy of these different religions eagerly strove to popularize their faith. However, the government was bent on preserving itself through reliance on foreign powers and as Buddhism continued to represent the basic sentiments of the people, the government maintained its policy of oppression of Buddhism only. The Korean law-forbidding monks from entering the capital was rescinded through the auspices of the Japanese monk, Sano Zenrei, seeking to convert Korean Buddhists to the Nichiren faith, by asking Kim Hong-jip's administration to allow Korean monks to enter the capital. The government granted his request in 1895. Korean Buddhists were thus free to engage in propagation actvities, thich immediately provided japanese Buddhism with an opportunity to get a foothold in Korea. Hence the flip side of the repeal of the law-forbidding monks from entering the capital was that it opened up the possibility of Japanese monks becoming more active in Korea. The Korean government was finally spurred into action and repealed the policy of suppression towards Buddhism at the same time as trying to gain control of the administration of the Buddhist temples. And the Korean Buddhist community started to work for collaboration between the nation's temples. In 1899, Korean Buddhism established its plan for the unification of all Korean temples. Wonhunsa was built outside of Tongdaemun gate. It was to be the head office of Korean Buddhism. In addition, one head temple was established for each province, 13 all together. In this way, the administration of all Korean temples was unified. Moreover, the post of Ministerial Head was created as a representative of all the monks in the country; and the post of Minister of the Interior was created and made responsible for the temples in the Seoul area. A chief administrator was also appointed for each head temple in the provinces. These Buddhist activities stimulated the government to establish national administration of the temples. The government to establish national administration of the temples. The government thereby established posts for temple affairs within the temples in 1902. The posts belonged to the Ministry of the Interior. The government also proclaimed the Comprehensive Rules for temple Management an Affairs. Consistion of 36 articles, this cocument applied to all the nation's temples. With this the ate popsan and chung popsan systems came into effect.

Dharma, Interpretation and Buddhist Feminism

Jo, Seung-mee International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

This article aims to critically examine and re-evaluate androcentric Buddhist text from a feminist perspective, and to consider the relationship between interpretation and dharma in theory about women with the hermeneutic approach. Through the building process of bhiksuni￣ sangha the cognized dharma(Truth) and its interpretation(the world) are contradictory to each other. In early Buddhist texts, the ambiguous attitude towards both equality and discrimination of women is the product of male-centered interpretation being asserted as Truth. Therefore, the realm of truth and women are limited. As the interpretation of emptiness in the Maha￣ya￣na Buddhism strengthened, 'the theory of woman's 5 hindrances' has been criticized, and the concept of 'sexual transformation into male' for attainment of Buddha hood has been transcended. Hence, the creative interpretation by women appears in the sri￣ma￣la￣ su￣tra. This research shows the possibility for further projects in Buddhist feminism.

Introduction of Buddhist Ethics into the Korean Peninsula

Cho, Yong-Kil International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

On the Buddha as an Avata￣ra of Visnu

Lee, Geo-lyong International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

It is true that the concept of avata￣ra played a major role in mitigating regional and tribal separatism and extending bra￣hmanism to semi-civilized indigenous tribes. However, the Hindu doctrine of the Buddha as an avata￣ra of Visnu was a mere result of arguing from a self-centered perspective of Hindu philosophers. In other words, the great success of Buddha as a religious teacher induced them to adopt him as their own, rather than to recognize him as an adversary. Also, the Buddha avata￣ra concept betrays an attempt by orthodox Hinduism to slander Buddhists by identifying them with demons.

On the Problem of the Origin of Cakravartin

Park, Kyoung-joon International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

There are scholars who maintain on occasion that the original position of Buddhism is not concerned with the real problems in society, politics, economy and so on. However, examining the various su￣tras we can find evidence that, historically, Buddhism expressed very positive concerns about the actual problems facing society. Such thought is well expressed in the idea of Cakravartin or Universal Emperor who can realize the ideal empire by governing according to the Dharma, that is, the highest Truth. This paper expounds on Cakravartin in order to establish a foundation for studies in the political thought of Buddhism. Thus, in this paper, I have scrutinized anew two kinds of conflicting hypothetical theories: The Problem of the Theory of the Pre-Buddha Age and the Post-As´oka Age. Accordingly I have reached the conclusion that the archetype of Cakravartin was formed in the Buddha's Age and it had greatly influenced the king As´oka, and conversely, after As´oka's Age it was inspired and developed by As´oka's political and religious activities as a model.

Supplement and Suchness in Deconstruction and Buddhism

Han, Sung-ja International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

In recent years we have heard many ambiguous notions about deconstruction and Derrida, among other similar, vaguely defined concepts such as postmodernism, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis etc. But if we have an idea of their critique of the subject as a unitary and originating consciousness as well as critique of authority for meaning and truth, then the question arises if there is any similarity between recent western philosophical thoughts and Buddhism. In this context the aim of the present paper is to review some concepts of deconstruction and to reflect upon them from the viewpoint of Buddhism. At first deconstruction's concept of 'non-presence' is confronted with the 'impermanence' concept of Buddhism. 'Non-presence' of deconstruction denies the presence, because the things regarded as the presence in our consciousness are in fact different from the things themselves and are 'later arrived'. Meanwhile the 'impermanence' concept of Buddhism understands that everything in the world is impermanent, because their existences are dependent on their conditions and last only one moment. It means there can be no permanent substance. Now at the very starting point of each reflection of 'non-presence' and 'impermanence' we can see an undeniable difference between them. The issue of deconstruction is the possibility of our true consciousness, that is, the coincidence of the things with our consciousness. The question about the existence of the things is not its concern. On the contrary the concept of impermanence is an alternative to an existential question about the existence of everything. The key to the solution is the doctrine of 'dependent co-arising', in which everything is dependent upon conditions and can not exist permanently. If all phenomena come to be in dependence upon other conditions, so the movement of their dependence goes on further, ad infinitum. The infinite process is similar to the state of 'dissemination' of deconstruction, which describes a movement from signifier to signifier in the linguistic system. It denies the constant meaning of signified, it is, the positive entities of signified. Also confirmed by the concept of 'diffe´rance', there are only infinite movement of signifiers in the linguistic system and the divergent meaning of signified. Eventually the denying of positive entities and the constant meaning of signified mean the denying of the subject, who is supposed as the owner of the text. But now in Buddhist thought lecture any negation as well as affirmation is regarded as perverted views. The best way of thinking is to see it as it is. So the consciousness of the self exists, or does not exist, according to the conditions. The concept of supplement is considered as a conclusion of Derrida's reflection, which gives the priority of writing over speaking. The denying of the presence, positive entities and consciousness affirms the act of infinite writing, endless supplement to speaking, which is regarded as an origin, presence of consciousness. But it is still based on dualism as well as logocentrism, which gives priority to speaking. According to the Buddhism any kind of discrimination is also a perversion. Only 'Such ness' alone can be free from the perverted knowledge. The self exists, or does not exist.

Relic Worship : A Devotional Institute in Early Buddhism

An, Yang-Gyu International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

The Maha￣parinibba￣utta (hereafter MPS) provides a direct canonical warrant for Buddhist pilgrimage and stu￣pa worship. Pilgrimage and stu￣pa worship convey a new dimension of Buddhist practice quite different from the practice of Dhamma and Vinaya. There is an emotional element in both pilgrimage and stu￣pa worship. Both of them are connected with the physical aspect of the Buddha. They are reminders of events in his life rather than of his teachings themselves. Some intelligence-oriented monks express anxiety about this cultic movement. These devotional practices were originally regarded as ideal for lay people. Such practices provide a religious opportunity for Buddhists, especially lay people, to express their devotion for the Buddha. In particular relic worship plays a significant role in the formation of Buddhism as a religion. This paper will discuss the origin of relic worship and its nature by focusing on participants in relic worship in early Buddhism.

Translation of Su￣tras and Its Characteristics in the Period of North and South Dynasties in China

Chang, Ae-soon International Association for Buddhist Thought & C 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-