근기론으로서의 돈점론 (Spiritual Capacity; Basis of the Theories of Sudden and Gradual Enlightenment)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국불교학회
· 수록지 정보 : 한국불교학 / 67권 / 269 ~ 293페이지
· 저자명 : 박문기

초록

선 수증론의 핵심 요소인 돈점론은 선종의 오랜 역사 속에서 때로는 논쟁의 중심이 되기도 하고, 때로는 많은 수행자들에게 큰 길잡이의 역할을 하며 존재해 왔다. 그간 돈점론에 대한 연구가 상당하지만 그 내용은 의외로 특정 부분에 치우쳐 있음이 살펴진다. 예를 들어 悟⋅修 및 돈점 자체의 내용에 대한 것, 돈점 논쟁의 역사와 주요 내용, 그리고 특정 선사의 돈점관에 대한 것 등이다. 반면 돈점론을 보다 근본적 입장에서 고찰하고 논점을 다루려는 글은 그렇게 잘 보이지 않는다.
본 글은 달마 이후 선종사 최초로 돈점을 다룬 육조혜능의 ‘법에는 돈점이 없고 사람에게 이둔이 있다’는 ‘法無頓漸 人有利鈍’의 구절을 돈점론의 핵심으로 보고 여기에 입각해 돈점론을 재조명하고자 한 글이다.
육조와 이후의 여러 선사들은 대체적으로 획일적이지 않은 돈점의 가르침을 보이고 있다. 반드시 돈오돈수해야 한다든가 혹은 돈오점수만을 주장하고 있는 선사가 없는 것은 아니나 신회, 마조, 황벽, 위산 등 거의 대부분의 선사들이 양자를 함께 언급하고 있다. 이는 오로지 수행자들의 근기를 살피고 거기에 입각해 가르침을 주고 있기 때문인 것으로 보인다.
특히 여러 선사들이 돈오는 상근기가 하는 것이요, 돈오돈수는 상상근기가 할 수 있는 것, 돈오점수는 상근기에 해당되는 것이라 하고, 또 중하근기자는 부지런히 수행하라는 勉修를 설하고 있다. 해당 근기자에 적합한 돈점의 오수가 있다는 내용이다.

영어초록

Throughout the long history of the Seon (Zen, Chan) School,sudden and gradual enlightenment, the two core theories of Seonpractice, sometimes stood at the center of controversial debates and atother times functioned as guiding principles for many practitioners.
Although a considerable amount of research on sudden and gradualenlightenment has been done, it has concentrated too much on certainspecific areas. Most of the research has dealt with the following:enlightenment, cultivation, the theories of sudden and gradualenlightenment, the history and essential content of the debates onsudden versus gradual enlightenment and specific Seon masters’ viewson sudden and gradual enlightenment. However, little research has beendone to explore in a general way the theories of sudden and gradualenlightenment from a fundamental stance and to resolve the issues ofthe debates.
The Sixth Patriarch Huineng was the first to deal with the issuesof sudden and gradual enlightenment since Bodhidharma; he said,“Dharma is not sudden or gradual. Rather it is people who are sharpor dull.” I regard this quote by Huineng as the core issue of the suddenversus gradual controversy and will try to shed light on the sudden vs.
gradual debate based on this quote. From this perspective, Huinengtaught the Dharma and guided students to internalize it. When teaching,Huineng took into account the individual circumstances of each student; that is, he taught each student according to their spiritual capacity. Thismethod of teaching has been described in various ways, including theexpressions: “sudden enlightenment,” “sudden cultivation,” “supremecapacity,” and the admonition to “practice diligently after listening tothe teaching of sudden enlightenment.”Many Seon masters after Huineng were not consistent in teachingsudden and gradual enlightenment. Some masters believed exclusivelyin “sudden enlightenment and sudden cultivation,” others in “suddenenlightenment and gradual cultivation.” Still others taught both.
Without considering the concept of “student capacity,” I think it isimpossible to explain sudden and gradual enlightenment, as well asenlightenment and cultivation. I base this statement on the fact thatvarious Seon masters specifically mentioned certain practices for certaincapacities, saying such things as: “Sudden enlightenment is for the[student of] higher capacity”; “Sudden enlightenment and suddencultivation is for the [student of] supreme capacity”; “Suddenenlightenment and gradual cultivation is for the [student of] highercapacity”; and “The [students of] medium and lower capacity shouldpractice diligently.” Moreover, their emphasis on faith, arousal of theaspiration for enlightenment and right view, attests to the excellenceof a teacher’s means in teaching Seon practice and doctrine in that theyadmonish practitioners not to take a narrow-minded view of inherentcapacity but rather to maximize their own enlightenment andcultivation.

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