Introduction: The Life and Thought of Chinul

I. Korean Buddhism Before Chinul

Characteristics of the Korean Buddhist tradition

When examining Korean Buddhism and the role played by philosophers like Chinul in the forging of that tradition, it is essential to remember that—its later "hermit kingdom" appellation notwithstanding—Korea was in no sense isolated from other areas of northeastern Asia. Descriptive and nativistic considerations aside, by ignoring the greater East Asian context in which Korean Buddhism developed and treating the tradition in splendid isolation, we stand a greater chance of distorting the tradition than clarifying it.

In fact, there was an almost organic relationship between the Korean, Chinese, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the Japanese Buddhist traditions. All Korean Buddhist schools have as their basis earlier doctrinal and soteriological (concerned with salvation) innovations on the Chinese mainland. Although Korean scholars and adepts training at the mecca of the Chinese mainland participated personally in such achievements, and Koreans in their native land made signally important contributions to the development of East Asian Buddhist philosophy, China had closer ties via the silk routes to the older Buddhist traditions of India and Central Asia. In addition, its very size, both in territory and population, allowed it to harbor a variety of Buddhist schools without undermining the vigor of the tradition as a whole. Both factors led to Chinese precedence in establishing trends within the religion.

Early on, however, the Koreans—somewhat like the Buddhists of the Chinese Sung dynasty—found an important role for themselves as preservers and interpreters of the greater Buddhist tradition. By treating evenhandedly the vast quantity of earlier material produced by Chinese Buddhists, the Koreans formed what was, in many respects, the most ecumenical tradition in Asia. It is this feature which makes Korean Buddhism so fascinating today, for the tradition is a repository of many forgotten qualities of ancient Chinese Buddhism. With the apparent obliteration of Buddhism from China, Korean Buddhism...