Tag: Buddhism
In this volume, we catch glimpses of Buddhism in the Koryo period at its height. It was a time when the religion made significant contributions to the development of Korean culture. Korea was recognized as one of the great centers of Buddhist life in East Asia. Koryo Buddhism was in many ways a royal religion.
Buddhism in Koryo
As a practice community, Buddhism attracted individuals with a great variety of backgrounds. There was little power or financial resources available to the Buddhists and most monasteries were struggling concerns. Nevertheless, out of this community, so despised and persecuted by the governing officials, came a succession of religious leaders, recognized and honoured for their practice. In a sense, Choson Buddhists discovered the old Indian formula for life's torment. They found that the 'ascetic solution' was available and effective. Like their founder, they had to turn away the palace and in a place of austerity and concentrated meditation, find their destiny.
Choson Buddhism had a dark side to its history. Often unrecorded in the official documents of the time, the development of the religion continued. There is a need to look more carefully at the story of the meditation masters of this period. From their isolation and humble positions in a society dominated by Confucian elites, these master have left a tradition of practice and teaching which survives to this day. They deserve to have some recognition. The idea that Choson Buddhism was only a declining tradition, fading away to oblivion, needs to balanced by an objective exploration of the strengths of the tradition.
Buddhism in the Early Choson
The unified Silla dynasty period (669-935AD) that followed the Three Kingdom period in Korea was a time when Buddhism was being assimilated into the Korean culture and taking on certain aspects not borrowed from China. Buddhist specialists will be interested to see the ways in which the various schools were being adopted and changed in this time period.
During the Silla dynasty, the Buddhism which had been introduced to Korea from China, was being assimilated in the culture of the peninsula. Given generous support from the court and officials of the nation, Buddhism attracted thousands of monks and nuns for the order. This Buddhist community began to interpret Buddhism within the Korean society and in the process became less dependent on missionaries from the Buddhist strongholds to the West. In the process of assimilation, the Koreans adapted much of their own ways of thinking to fit more closely the teachings of Buddhism and at the same time created a form of Buddhism which was unique.
Assimilation of Buddhism in Korea
A collection of articles dealing with the introduction of Buddhism in Korea and its subsequent spread from there to Japan. The studies contained in this volume cover the Three Kingdom period.