The Doctrine of True Emptiness and Marvelous Existence in Seon Buddhism Viewed from the Concept of Emptiness in Early Buddhism

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The concept of emptiness is developed in Mahāyāna Buddhism, and thus it is usually thought that there are no significant discourses regarding emptiness in Early Buddhism. However, not only is the term suññata used in some Pali suttas, but it is also described as the highest attainment of a series of meditational practices. This understanding of emptiness seems to have something in common with the doctrine of ‘true emptiness and marvelous existence’, the pivotal teaching of Seon Buddhism. The concept of true emptiness and marvelous existence is related to the highest wisdom, which grasps the nature of things as having no substance but being able to exist in a flux of momentary arising and disappearing according to the truth of dependent arising.
This paper will delve into the concept of emptiness in the Pali suttas to clarify how it can be identified as the highest state of mind upon the final liberation, and thereafter this understanding of emptiness of Early Buddhism will be compared to the doctrine of true emptiness and marvelous existence of Seon Buddhism in order to see their differences or similarities. In particular, Baekpa's interpretation of true emptiness and marvelous existence presented in his Three-fold Classification of Seon is used as the object of comparison. As a result of the analysis of the paper, parallels between the emptiness concept of Early Buddhism and the doctrine of true emptiness and marvelous existence of Seon Buddhism are to be found. Namely, when a monk abides in emptiness with the discernment of the presence of the body in the final stage of meditation in the Pali suttas, his abiding in emptiness corresponds to the marvelous existence of true emptiness realized by a practitioner of Seon meditation, who is fully liberated from all hindrances including the notion of his achievements and self-conceit.

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