원효의 세간관 고찰 - 『열반종요』를 중심으로 - = A Study of Wonhyo`s View of the Mundane Realm as Represented in the Yeolban jongyo

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The term “mundane realm” (世間) refers to the space in which sentient beings abide. This mundane realm has been regarded as an obstacle to be avoided and overcome. As Mahayana Buddhism spread, however, buddhas and bodhisattvas were venerated as the ones who abide in that realm and have a thorough insight into it without being defiled by it. This respect for them then led to the notion of “supra - supra mundane,” which mandates practitioners to transfer their merits to the mundane realm without being stuck in the pursuit of the “supramundane.” Such a change in the viewpoint of the mundane realm was brought by emptiness thought, which criticized discrimination between the mundane and the supramundane, and also by tathagata - garbha thought, which emphasized universality of buddha nature. Wonhyo (617~686), who is well known for his unhindered act, laid firm doctrinal foundations for the notion of “supra - supra mundane.” Influenced by the scholarship of the Dilun master Huiyan (523~592), he identified the intellectual hindrance, mentioned in the Awakening of Mahayana Faith, as the fundamental ignorance which discriminates the mundane from the supramundane. Such an attitude is also discernible in his Yeolban Jongyo (Thematic Essentials of the Nirvana Sutra). In this book he does not consider the nirvana without remainder to be an extinction of mind and body; he identified it as a unity of a sentient being`s thusness with the dharma-body of buddhas. He also criticizes the Hinayana attachment to the nirvana without remainder and upholds the idea of the nirvana with remainder, which underscores active involvement in the mundane realm. He finally emphasized the nirvana without any attachment to the abiding place. His view of nirvana is closely related to his life which recognized the value of the mundane realm and actively edified worldly people.