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| Korean Bhikkhunis and Social Engagement: Transforming Sentient Beings | ||
| 作者 | Jeon, Hye-song |
|---|---|
| 出處題名 | 國際佛教善女人大會（第11屆）=Sakyadhita International Conference on Buddhist Women(11th) |
| 出版日期 | 2009.12.28 |
| 出版者 | Sakyadhita: the international association of buddhist women |
| 出版者網址 | http://www.sakyadhita.org/ |
| 出版地 | HCM City, Vietnam [胡志明市, 越南] |
| 資料類型 | 會議論文=Proceeding Article |
| 使用語言 | 英文=English |
| 附註項 | 會議地點：越南胡志明市；時間：2009.12.18 - 2010.01.03；大會主題：傑出的女性修行者與典範=Eminent Buddhist Women |
| 摘要 | According to the 2006 Bulletin of Buddhist Social Welfare published by the Korean Buddhist Jogye Order Foundation for Social Welfare, the number of Buddhist social welfare institutions has rapidly increased in the past ten years. In 1995, there were only 95 such institutions, but by 2006, this had quintupled, up to 477. Among these 477 institutions, 144 are headed by bhikkhus and bhikkhunis; including 91 headed by bhikkhunis. These numbers suggest that Korean bhikkhunis are actively engaging in social welfare in recent years. How can this phenomena be explained? At first glance, the reasons appear to derive from the Mahayana Buddhist tradition of “transforming sentient beings,” which Korean Buddhism inherited and has implemented by accepting helpless orphans and elderly people in monasteries. However, this ancient tradition cannot be directly linked with the recent social engagement of Korean bhikkhunis; because for centuries Korean Buddhism has emphasized meditation practice (chamseon) and has hardly ever promoted actively “transforming sentient beings.” The acceptance of orphans and elderly people into the monasteries was a more passive type of support; resulting from the compassion of an abbot or an abbess who allowed them to stay in a monastery, but this assistance was not generally considered the primary task of ordained Buddhists. The direct cause of Korean bhikkhunis’ active social engagement was the new policy of the government in 1986 that urged religious groups to take on the task of social welfare, a task that was not being sufficiently handled by the government’s budget and personnel. As a result of this policy, the Jogye order, Korea’s largest Buddhist monastic organization, began to encourage the social engagement of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis and to support their education by establishing a new major in social welfare at Buddhist universities, in which many bhikkhus and bhikkhunis enrolled. The Mahayana Buddhist notion of “transforming sentient beings” consequently began to be re-evaluated and promoted in Korean Buddhism. The social engagement of ordained Buddhists may also have been prompted by competition with Christian groups, which have a long history of social work. Against this background, this paper will introduce Korean Buddhist social engagement by presenting three cases studies of social work directed by Korean bhikkhunis. In particular, it will examine the bhikkhunis’ motivations in beginning their work, public responses to their activities, their achievements, and their limitations. The paper will also consider the changes these new activities brought to the socially engaged bhikkhunis themselves and to Korean society. |
| 點閱次數 | 729 |
| 建檔日期 | 2010.01.18 |
| 更新日期 | 2015.08.17 |
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