His book, □ The 21st century Buddha's Message □ published in May 2005 became the best seller among the Buddhist books in Korea unprecedentedly for six consecutive months.
Korean Buddhism
has no future without their renovation
- The Dharma world of Great Monk Jajae Manhyon that has been revealed in the
collections of his Dharma teachings ㅁThe 21st Century Buddha's Messageㅁ
The writer of this article, Woo-suk Jo, is currently working
as Director of the Culture Department
of the JoongAng Ilbo, one of the three major daily newspapers in Korea,
and Exclusive Reporter on religion
The favorable evaluation on Korean Buddhism that we often make as part of well-wishing
remarks, is roughly like this. "We have cherished the tradition of practice of Seon Buddhism in Northeast Asia over ten centuries from the remote past until the present; it has become a precious heritage of our basic culture beyond the level of a particular religion."
There is a remark customarily following these evaluations which reflect average
perception of people. We take pride in possessing all kinds of Buddhism. We claim that
we have a department store of Buddhism which extensively covers the traditions of a sect focusing on Seon (chan meditation) practice as well as the school that advocates scriptural studies, and Tantrism. Even though this commonly accepted idea has not definitely been verified, we are often absorbed into too exces sive mood without any ground.
"Isn't our neighboring country China sending their students to Korea to learn Korean Buddhism, and to restore their traditions that have been destroyed after the cultural revolution? Japanese Buddhism? As their Buddhism has been centering on scriptural studies since Suzuki Daisets, I consider that the tradition of their Seon practice has been weakened. It has already been one and a half centuries since the Western society started to have interest in Buddhism from around the time of revolution in 1868; in the era of globalization of Buddhism, we should consider that the prospect of Korean Buddhism is bright."
Will it be true? The truth that has not been doubted will certainly go rotten. Is Korean
Buddhism that has the tradition of 1000 years truly healthy? In the Chosun Dynasty (the last dynasty of Korea), the school of Seon practice and the school of scripturalists were combined together. Since then, Korean Buddhism has continuously been reduced. Aren't we vaguely calling our Buddhist history that has been far from self-renovation, even though it has indeed been necessary from the mid-Chosun Dynanty until the present, as having possessed all kinds of Buddhism?
Questions continue. Is Korean Buddhism that is proud of having ten million Buddhists
fully satisfying the heart of our present contemporaries, indeed?
Seon (chan) Buddhism that started from the ancient Tang Dynanty of China in the ninth
century if the acculturation that has developed between original Buddhism of India and
Taoism of Chinese culture. Is the Patriarchal Seon alone all the Buddhist paradigms that
we can rely on? Has Patriarchal Seon become a lot dull and lost its vitality in the process
of long tautology?
These doubts are unavoidable any more in the era when the level of Korean Buddhism has clearly been revealed across the whole world.
It is because the present era at the beginning of the 21st century is the period when
Buddhism has gathered strength to the level of a global religion unlike the Ancient Times
and the Middle Ages.
In fact, Tibetan Buddhism, Southern Buddhism, Vipashyana meditation, etc. were
introduced to the west ahead of us, and they also exercise greater influence than Korean Buddhism. It has been some ten years since Tibetan Buddhism were reimported into the feeble Korean Buddhism.
The situation is that Buddhism-related books translated into English including those of
Great Monk the Dalai Lama, and Great Monk Thich Nhat Hanh, are pouring into book
stores. People hurriedly speak highly of the achievements of Great Monk Sungsan who
fostered his disciples graduated from renowned universities in the United States, but
contrarily that only reflects more interior complex about the west.
It has already been some two hundred years since the western world started to translate
oriental classics such as "Tao Te Ching" of Lao-tzu or "the Analects" of Confucius, etc.
admirably into their languages. It has already been a common sense that Buddhist Sutras including the Lotus Sutra were also translated far ahead of us. The practice of probing deep into doubts of Hwadu key phrase is only orthodoxy, and other practicing methods are driven away narrow-mindedly as non-Buddhists, but it is right now that we should ask ourselves again whether the well-wishing remarks or pride, that we are the stronghold of Seon Buddhsim in Northeast Asia, may be thoughtless remarks.
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