Essay of the President : Contemporary Relevance of W&nhyo Thought

Suk Ku Song 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

Belief in Indra and Development of this Belief in the Kory& Dynasty

Yoon Kil Suh 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

The thought of Indra belongs to Esoteric Buddhism like that of Doseon in the Kory* Dynasty. Taejo, who was the first king of the Kory* Dynasty, declared in his Ten Articles of Exhortation`s Summation that his ultimate wish was to practice the Rites of the Lotus Lamp and Eight Gateway, as a national observance. Belief in Indra has a close relationship with these Rites, so that studying the thought of Indra and development of this belief will contribute to an understanding of Esoteric Buddhism which supported the foundation of the Kory* Dynasty, and also reveal the development of Esoteric Buddhism during the Kory* Period.

Sunyata in Chinese Hua-yan Thought

Ae Soon Chang 국제불교문화사상사학회 2002 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.1 No.-

This paper is concerned with the concept of sunyata in the Hua-yan teachings. In contrast to the viewpoint that things originate interdependently, is the position that things are not fixed, that which is fixed is self-nature, that which negates this is sunyata or non-self nature. This is the underlying basis of Buddhist thought and practice. However, there is another viewpoint which arose because of the sunyata thought in the Hua-yan Doctrines which has a simple but complicated point of view that the original destination of sunyata is emptiness and this should be pursued in a transcending manner. Fa-zang endeavored to see the original aspect of things from a position transcending both existence and non-existence, although the primary meaning of emptiness lies in negation. In other words, he recognized things in front of the eyes as concrete ones, but he did not fix them and accepted them without obstruction. Thus, things do not disappear by force and are seen more clearly as what inherently does not exist. Thus is maybe understood that, if the sunyata in the Wu-jiao zhang means non-self-nature, that in the Zong-zhi-yi-ji means boundlessness. According to the Hua-yan interpretation, `perfect and interfused emptiness and existence[Zhen-kong-miao-you] become one and, there is no obstruction between them. This is because the basis of `non-obstruction between phenomena[shi-shi-wu-ai] is `non-obstruction between principles and phenomena[Li-shi-wu-ai], which is supported by non-obstruction between emptiness and existence. In this context, sunyata in Huu-yan thought cannot be pursued without yuan-jiao because endlessly repeated dependent origination, affirming the reality itself is sunyata.

Special Topic of W&nhyo : W&nhyo`s Faith System, as seen in his Commentaries on the Awakening of Mah2y2na Faith

Sung Bae Park 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

There are two key aspects to W*nhyo`s conception of Buddhist faith: complete negation and complete affirmation. W*nhyo`s commentaries generally begin with a lengthy discussion of the t`i(體) or body of the text under consideration, characterized by a series of compounded negations. His Commentary on the Awakening of Mah2y2na Faith(大乘起信論疏) follows this pattern, with the opening section beginning by negating all kinds of linguistic expressions. W*nhyo does not stop at negation, however. Once mok4a(解脫) is attained, his next step is to affirm everything fully and absolutely from the perspective of the liberated or enlightened person. He is careful, however, to distinguish how this enlightened affirmation is different from other forms of affirmation, which remain tangled in conceptual understanding. Indeed, he implies that unenlightened practitioners should practice Buddhist faith in terms of negation, not affirmation. By this he means not a passive or destructive practice, but one that focuses squarely on the limits of conceptual understanding and linguistic expression. This conception of Buddhism is the underpinning for his non-sectarian, synthetic approach to Buddhist doctrine.

Special Topic of W&nhyo : W&nhyo`s View on Rebirth of the Sentient Beings to the Pure Land

Hwee Ok Jang 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

During his life, W*nhyo was a most venerable Master of Bodhisattva practices as well as a master of doctrinal teachings. He is called a bodhisattva of the first stage of bhumi and his works contain deep concerns on the sentient beings. As an illustration of his intention, I have studied his view on rebirth(往生) of the sentient beings(凡夫) to the Pure Land in his Muryangsu gy*ng chong`yo(無量壽經宗要, the thematic essential of The Larger S^tra on Amit2yus). The sentient beings should arouse the Mind to enlightenment in order to be reborn in the Pure Land, but that is very difficult. So W*nhyo rescues us, the sentient beings, by saying that Sa &ihok chungsaeng(四疑惑衆生, four kinds of doubting sentient beings) could be born in the Pure Land because of his eager faith. And his suggestion as to how one can be rescued comes from his long career of cultivation and practices and from his compassion for the sentient beings.

Faith and the Resolution of the Four Doubts in Wonhyo`s Doctrinal Essentials of the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (Muryangsu-gyeong-jong-yo)

Charles Muller 국제불교문화사상사학회 2007 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.8 No.-

Among the numerous distinctive aspects of the work of the noted Korean scholar-monk Wonhyo is the broad range of traditions and texts that he accorded treatment-along with the unusual level of fairness and seriousness he brought to such works-an indication of his lack of sectarian bias. Another distinctive aspect of his work as an exegete is the extent to which his "religious" attitude-his concern for the nurturance of the faith in the minds of his readers inevitably rises to the forefront of his works. Thus, what he has to say about the idea of "faith" 信 in the context of a Pure Land work is a matter of considerable interest. On the other hand, given the way that the Pure Land tradition is currently perceived by its modern adherents, one might be given to assume that the notion of "faith in other-power" constitutes the backbone of the arguments made in seminal Pure Land scriptures such as the Sutra of Immeasurable Life (Larger Sukhavati-vyuha; K. Muryangsu-gyeong, C. Wu-liang-shou-jing). This paper shows, based on Wonhyo`s analysis, how in fact the main form of faith expounded by the sutra is something much more like that seen articulated in mainstream Yogacara and Tathagatagarbha texts. The paper also shows how Wonhyo uses Yogacara-based hermeneutics to unravel the conundrum of the four kinds of cognition dropped, without explanation in the final lines of the sutra.

Special Topic of W&nhyo : W&nhyo and the Commentarial Genre in Korean Buddhist Literature

Robert E. Buswell 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

Articles : Localized Asian Characteristics in the Development of the Concept of Buddha-Nature: Mainly Focused on Indian and Japanese Buddhism

( Suk Hwan Lee ) 국제불교문화사상사학회 2014 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.22 No.-

When we review the spread of Buddhism in Asia, we come to know that early Indian Buddhism was not transmitted to Japan in its original form. First of all, from the perspective of time, Buddhism was spread and expanded across central Asia over a long period of time. When Buddhism was first transmitted from India to China, it was already a mixture of early Buddhism and Mahayana Buddhism. Also, from a regional perspective, early Indian Buddhism, heavily influenced by the Indian worldview and its values, differed greatly from Chinese culture and thought. And when Buddhism was transmitted to Japan via Korea, it also contained characteristics of East Asian culture, including Korean values. Therefore, for these reasons, it was impossible for Japanese Buddhism to receive early Buddhism in its original form. If we examine the process of how Buddhism was propagated in Asia, we can see that the concept of Buddha-Nature became much more important than it had been in India. The Consciousness-only School and Esoteric Buddhism developed in India, but the concept of Buddha-Nature developed more profoundly in China. In Asia, including China, the concept of Buddha-Nature was developed based on the book Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana and that concept was transmitted to Japan. Therefore, when we examine the development of the concept of Buddha-Nature, we come to find that early Indian Buddhism was introduced to China, after which a Buddhism modified to suit Chinese culture was spread to Japan through Korea.

Special Topic of W&nhyo : W&nhyo`s Interpretation of the Mah2-praj@2p2ramit2-s^tra: Apparatus Criticus and Translation

Yong-Pyo Kim 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

The present article is concerned with the problems of the textuality and hermeneutics in translating the Taehyedogy*ngjongyo (TDG) of W*nhyo. Even though W*nhyo wrote many commentaries on the praj@2 scriptures, such as the Kumgangbanyagy*ngso, the Panyashimgyungso, the Taehyedogy*ngjongyo, etc., the Taehyedogy*ngjongyo is the only one extant. It deals with the essentials of the Mah2-praj@2-p2ramit2-s^tra (s^tra of Perfection of Great Wisdom). W*nhyo used the title arbitrarily by translating `Praj@2` as `wisdom`, and `p2ramit2` as `crossing over`. It indicates `the crossing over from this shore of birth and death to the other shore of nirv29a`. W*nhyo`s scriptural hermeneutics does not aim to synthesize M2dhyamika, Yog2c2ra, and Tath2gatha-garbha teachings. However he asserts the praj@2 s^tras convey the ultimate teaching of the Buddha Dharma (n6th2rtha) as other teachings also contain the utlimate meaning of the Buddha. W*nhyo seems to penetrate the system of Buddhist scripture with the principle of free to unfolding and folding, free to negation and affirmation, construction and destruction. In this way, W*nhyo`s hermeneutics might solve the problem of the conflict of truth deriving from scriptural plurality in Buddhism. W*nhyo`s idea of harmonization and interpenetration of all Buddhist teachings leads to the middle way (Madhyama-pratipad) of the scriptural truth.

Special Topic of W&nhyo : W&nhyo on the Muryangsugy*ngchongyo and the Yusimallakto

Richard D. McBride 국제불교문화사상사학회 2003 International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Cultur Vol.2 No.-

I feel a great sense of satisfaction as I write this brief report on the progress of my small portion of the W*nhyo translation project. I am pleased to report that I have completed the translations of the Yusimallakto (遊心安樂道, Traveling the Path to Mental Peace and Bliss) and the Muryangsugy*ngchongyo (無量壽經宗要, Thematic Essentials of the Larger Sukh2vat6vy^ha-s^tra [Wuliangshou-jing]), as well as complete drafts of the scholarly introductions that will precede them. I have learned much about W*nhyo`s complex thought and the difficulties of translation through the liberal commission of errors and the struggle to correct them. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my mentor Dr. Robert Buswell whose profound knowledge of the Buddha-dharma and keen eye for editorial work made the process of translation a great learning experience and an important part of my training both prior and subsequent to my earning of a graduate degree in Buddhist studies. In the brief report that follows I will touch upon a few philological issues, textual issues, and philosophical issues associated with my translations. The report that follows is based mainly on my translation of the Muryangsugy*ngchongyo, which was executed for the most part this year.