This dissertation aims at investigating the life and the thought of Samyungdang Yoojung. His life belonged to the middle of the Chosun dynasty. In this period, the Chosun dynasty was in severe social and political confusion. The Buddhist society also ...
This dissertation aims at investigating the life and the thought of Samyungdang Yoojung. His life belonged to the middle of the Chosun dynasty. In this period, the Chosun dynasty was in severe social and political confusion. The Buddhist society also experienced the upmost dipression called sanjoong Buddhism, which had started from the beginning of the dynasty based on Confucianism.
Samyung was born in Milyang, a southern part of Korea in 1544. His parents passed away at the early age of him. This provided him with one of motivations why he became a Buddhist monk. Samyung was first a disciple of Shinmook at the Jikjee temple. He studied not only Buddhist sutras and shastras but also other Chinese religious texts. In result, Samyung was a renown Buddhist scholar and gave a chance to become the head priest of the Bongeun temple that was the main temple of Seon sect at that time. Leaving all his fame behind, however, he became a disciple of Seosan, and got experienced enlightenment at his age of forty three. During Japanese invasion of Korea in 1952, he gave a great contribution to Korea both politically and diplomatically. He died at Haein temple in 1610. There are two works of Samyung, which have been present up to now: the Samyungdangdaesajeeb (7 Vols.) and the Talchungsearanrok (1 Vol). Both of them were compiled after his death. The first work consists of Samyung's poems and essays. It was edited by his disciple, Hyegoo. The second work includes some very important stories, such as Buddhist sect conflicts and Buddhist economics in the Chosun dynasty. It was edited by Shinyoogan.
It is certain that Samyung had a deep insight into sutras and shastras, although his work has not been remained with regard to them. The most crucial texts to see his perspective of Kyo studies are the Wonreungjangrobubhwahoobal and the Hwaumkyungbal. Through the reading of the first work, we can know Samyung's views of Miruekjungto and Bubhwashinang. Through the second work, we can understand his view of Hwaum. But this second work has almost the same content of Bowoo's Hwaumbal. Samyung was a successor of yimjea seon. The essence of his Seon thought is that there is no difference between human natures. He follows the teaching of Daehye. It focuses on mooja hwadoo as a method of pursuing the truth of nature. All these ideas of Samyung appear in his work, Sadaesasangdangsea. In this text, he understood the yimjea seon as the original of Seon, and tried to prove it.
Other thoughts of Samyung are with reference to his wide study of Taoism and Confucianism. He made an attempt to find a way to unite them in the same context. The concept of mind had played an important role. It was related to the arguments of Buddhists in that period that Buddhism is also a useful religion in the Chosun society, like other religions, especially Confucianism. In these contexts, Samyung had a close relation with famous scholars of Confucianism, like Sungyong Yoo and Dukhyang Lee. In the Chosun dynasty, Buddhists, such as Bowoo and Seosan, made an effort to put the position of Buddhism higher in the society. The contribution of Samyung was made in two ways. First, he realized in society compassion, which is a highly regarded concept of Buddhism, during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1952. He took part in the war against Japan in order to protect people, and recommended the king, Seonjo a several politics to recover from the damages which remained from Japanese invasion. He also corrected a misunderstanding that Buddhism is a religion which ignores the system of knigship. Together with his teacher Seosan, he collected monks and confronted Japanese army. His victory played a crucial role in retreating Japanese from Korean Peninsula.
Samyungdang was also a great thinker of Seon in the Chosun dynasty. He liked to practice in calmness and to pursuit the harmony of activity and inactivity. His understanding of dharma lineage is not much different from that of Seosan. Seosan argued that Daehyu and Gobong followed the lineage of Byuksong. It is clear that Samyung was the successor of Seosan. Boohyu reported him as the main successor of Seosan. It is also certified in a report on Samyung in Japan. In this report, Samyung was written as the thirty seventh lineage of Boddhidharma.
Later, some Buddhists regarded Samyungdang as the follower of Kyojong. It was a wrong intention to ignore his achievement. And this reflects that some Buddhists do not like his relation with the royal family. However, there is no doubt that Seosan approved Ssamyung as a true lineage of yimje seon. On the monumental inscription of Seosan, which was built in 1632, Samyung appears at the very beginning of enumerating his students. This proves that he was already proved to the successor of Seosan's Seon lineage.