승조(僧肇)와 성철(性徹)의 중도(中道)사상 비교 = The Comparative study of Middle Way between Seungzo and Sungchol

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper is aiming at comparing the differences between Seungzo’s middle way and that of Sungchol, though their period is quite a part. The comparison has centered around their understanding as well as their practice of middle way. Seungzo seems to put more weight on Indian Buddhist tradition, especially on the Madhyamaka of Nāgārjuna. He tried to improve Chinese Buddhism through the correct understanding of Nāgārjuna’s middle path. By contrast, Sungchol seems to lean to the traditional Chinese Buddhist tradition, especially to Chan Buddhism of Hyeneung. Based on Hyeneung’s idea, Sungchol tried to understand the whole Buddhist teachings through middle way. In terms of practice, Seungzo focused on correcting the misunderstanding of the middle way, which made him concentrate more on its understanding rather than its practice. Sungchol instead has put more stress on the practice of the middle way. In his understanding of Korean Buddhism, enforcing correct seon practice could be the key to clear problems of contemporary Korean Buddhism. In this paper, I am going to discuss the background of their thoughts especially in their reaction to the real world and of their academic tendencies.