A Study of Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu’s Concept of Death before Death

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Since ancient times, death is a mysterious problem that surrounds all human beings. In Buddhist teachings, dread of death can be defeated by facing and understanding the physical body as the characteristics of the Five Aggregates which are not our own selves, and then avoiding attachments by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path.
This thesis study proposes the concept of “death before death” taught by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu as a practice towards achieving the extinction of all defilements and suffering in this life here and now. This concept is known as “the death of attachment to the self-idea of I and mine.”The aim of this study is to study the real meaning of death (maraṇa), to analyze and criticize Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu’s concept of “death before death” as related to nirvana (nibbāna) the supreme goal of Buddhism; and also to compare his demythologization and his own hermeneutic method with the teaching that appears in Buddhist texts.
This thesis study uses the descriptive and comparative method in order to reflect the ideas of various scholars of anthropology, sociology and phenomenology of religion through aspects of Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu’s thought, in order to build bridges of intra-faith and inter-faith dialogues among people of different religions.
In addition, this study also offers a practical method for adjusting our attitudes towards death taught by Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu that is related to the pure nature of religious doctrine for delivering people of all religions from the world of materialism.

참고문헌 (Reference)

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