근대 한국 비구니 선수행 양상과 印可에 대한 문제 (A Consideration on the Aspects of Korean Bhikshuni’s Seon Practice and Approval of the Enlightenment in the Early Modern Era)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 대각사상연구원
· 수록지 정보 : 대각사상 / 23호 / 317 ~ 355페이지
· 저자명 : 강문선

초록

한국 불교의 근대기는 왜색불교 도래로 인한 체제와 조선불교의 순수성을 계승하려는 체제가 대응하는 혼돈과 갈등의 시대였다. 당시 승려의 교육과 수행을 위한 기관은 주로 비구중심이었으며 비구니를 위한 별도의 시설은 없는 실정이었다. 비구니들의 수행은 대부분 선참구가 중심이었으며 치열한 구도행각으로써 得道하여 선지식에게 인가를 받기도 하였다.
본 논문은, 이러한 비구니납자들의 수선의 양상과 인가의 형태를 究明하는 것이다. 이는 현대 수행교육체제에서 득도한 비구니가 전무함을 생각해 볼 때 그들의 수선과정과 구법정신을 살피는 것은 의의가 있다고 본다. 고찰해 본 결과 근대기 니승납자들은 거의 교학적 배경이 없이 선지식의 가르침과 이에 대한 믿음이 확실했다. 화두참구와 문답상량으로서의 공부점검은 득도의 불가결한 조건이 되었다. 득도한 니승들은 제방의 선지식과 선문답으로 견처를 보이고 서로 이끌었다. 선지식은 혹은 수행지침서가 되는 게문과 득도한 니승에게 전법게, 더불어 당호를 주었다. 간혹은 후학들이 전하는 전법게라고 여기는 게문은 전법의 형태가 아닌 수행지침을 위한 經錄의 구절이나 화두점검을 위한 것이었음을 살필 수 있었다. 후학들의 잘못된 이해와 인식이었다. 견처를 보인 니승들은 선지식의 유도로 후학을 지도하거나 제접 했으며 결제법어도 대신 하였다. 또한 득도이후 이들은 선원과 강원을 시설하고 가람수호하였다. 이상의 근대기 니승납자들에게서 나타난 수선의 양상과 득도를 생각해 볼 때, 현재 종단의 禪敎의 교육제도는 재고되어야 하며 따라서 이에 대한 방안제시도 모색해 보았다.

영어초록

The early modern era was that of confusion and strife when there had been conflicts between the Buddhist system established by the arrival of Japanese Buddhism and that of Korean Buddhism trying to inherit its purity. At that time institutions for Buddhist monk’s education and practice focused mainly on Bhikshu, and there were no separate facilities for Bhikshuni. Bhikshuni’s practice centered on investigating the phrase, and there were some Bhikshunis who got enlightenment through rigorous practice. The purpose of this paper is to ponder on the facets of Bhikshuni’s Seon practice and the form of approval of the enlightenment. Considering the fact that there have been no Bhikshunis who attained enlightenment within the modern educational system of practice, I think it is meaningful to trace the practice process, the spirit for seeking the Dharma of those Bhikshunis who attained enlightenment, and their enlightenment.
The fact is that Bhikshuni practitioners in the early modern period had almost no backing of scriptural study and they firmly believed in their masters. Investigating hwadu (key phrase) and checking the study through estimation by question and answer was indispensable conditions for attaining enlightenment. Those Bhikshunis who attained enlightenment showed their spiritual realm relevant to hwadu practice through question and answer with many masters of high virtue in many areas and helped one another. Those masters of high virtue gave Dharma-transmission verses to those Bhikshunis who attained enlightenment or granted them Dharma-names together with sentences in the form of verse as a guidebook for practice. The so-called Dharma-transmission verses that younger disciples handed down were the phrases chosen from Buddhist scriptures or treatises not for Dharma-transmission but for hwadu practice. Bhikshunis who showed their high spiritual realm relevant to hwadu practice taught younger disciples and also gave Dharma-words to them at the beginning of retreat.
Comparing the above-mentioned practice form of Bhikshuni practitioners and that of modern practitioners, I think the Jogye Order’s educational system should be reconsidered. The Jogye Order should ponder on first-doctrine-later-Seon 先禪後敎 rather than first-Seon-later-doctrine 先敎後修, estimation by a master of high virtue through question-and-answer for effective genuine hwadu Seon practice and a proper system for the approval of the enlightenment, qualification for a Dharma-transmission verse of an approved practitioner and recipes for using the verse in guiding and teaching practitioners, and discrimination between Dharma-age and spiritual realm relevant to hwadu practice for boosting the heated spirit of seeking the Way. The crux of phrase-observing Seon is self-and-others’ way of checking the enlightenment. The plan of checking the enlightenment lies in a master of high virtue. However, seeing that many eminent masters of high virtue in the early modern period led Bhikshuni practitioners to get the approval of the enlightenment from many masters in many regions to say nothing of one master, the Order also should extra carefully suggest some measures for this.
The elaborate steps of Seon study and Seon master’s scrupulous warning staffs should be added to the Seon practice process of practitioners who aim to see one’s own nature and accomplish Buddhahood through phrase-observing Seon. These basic reforms should be made at the Order’s level.

참고자료

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