KJC Korea
Journal Central

In the scholarship that spans more than a century, Indian Buddhist art has been studied under diverse premises as well as preconceptions. A considerable part of them has been derived from the scholarship on the traditions of East Asia where a greater amount of evidence in textual and epigraphical materials for Buddhist images is preserved and the creation of Buddhist visual objects continued with a much longer history right up to the modern time. In these circumstances, the knowledge from East Asian sources often played an important role, sometimes implicitly, in exploring and elucidating Indian Buddhist art, and the knowledge of the situation in East Asia was frequently projected to that of earlier India as its precedents or parallels. This paper will examine some of the notable aspects of this prominent phenomenon and its ramifications on the scholarship of Indian Buddhist art with a special focus on the exploration of Amitābha Buddha in Indian Buddhist art.

In the early days when Buddhism was introduced to Korean peninsula, it firstly was understood and accepted as an esoteric elements of Mahayana Buddhism for healing and salvation rather than a complicated and profound doctrinal understanding. Therefore, a deep understanding of the esoteric aspects of Korean Buddhism demands of understanding the overall background and flow of Korean Buddhism. One of the esoteric forms of Korean Buddhism is the Apothecary Faith of the Silla Dynasty. Bhaisajyaguru-belief(藥師信仰) of Silla Buddhism were widely practiced throughout the civilian and royal hierarchies of Silla from the time of the introduction of Buddhism, as evidenced by extant texts and artifacts of Silla Buddhism and historical works. Bhaisajyaguru-belief also had a significant impact on the formation of Silla Buddhism and the development of Esoteric Buddhism of Silla which the Samguk Yusa(三國遺事) and Samguk Sagi(三國史記) being be the central to the literature that conveys what Bhaisajyaguru-belief(藥師信仰) at that time. The Silla’s medical science and pharmacist faith can be characterized by its focus on curing disease, saving lives, and returning to the Pure Land of the East. The Silla society's Bhaisajyaguru-belief can be said to have shaped Silla's welfare worldview based on the Bodhisattva's idea of bodhichitta, which is in line with modern welfare ideologies. In Silla society, when sentient beings groaned under the temporal suffering of hunger, disease, and poverty, Bhaisajyaguru sought to relieve them from their temporal suffering. Therefore, Bhaisajyaguru's The 12 Great Vows are the ultimate embodiment of bodhichitta, actively realizing Bhaisajyaguru's bodhichitta to institutionalize and enlighten sentient beings so that they can be born in the Pure Land. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the unique culture of Silla Buddhism and the deep esoteric background of Korean Buddhism through the Bhaisajyaguru-belief.

이 번역 논문은 일본 하나조노 대학(花園大學)의 모로 시게키(師茂樹) 교수의 논문으로, Logic in Buddhist Scholasticism From Philosophical, Philological, Historical and Comparative Perspectives(Lumbini: Lumbini International Research Institute Lumbini, 2015)에 실린 논ans 「Gomyo’s Interpretation of the proof of vijñapti-mātratā」를 번역한 것이다. 교묘(護命)은 일본(日本) 나라(奈良) 말~헤이안(平安) 초에 간고지(元興寺) 법상종(法相宗)의 대성자로 활동하였던 일본 유식법상학의 대가(大家)이다. 그는 특히 인명학(因明學)에 조예가 깊었다. 『대승법상연신장(大乘法相硏神章)』은 그의 현존하는 유일본(唯一本)으로, 전 5권 총 14문으로 구성되어 있다. 그 중 제 4권은 「약현인명 입정리문(略顯因明入正理門)」으로 거의 전부를 차지하고 있는데, 교묘는 이곳에서 인명학에 대한 개론뿐만 아니라, 현장(玄奘)의 유식비량과 승군(勝軍)의 대승불설 비량(大乘佛說比量)을 다루고 있다. 본 논문의 필자인 모로 시게키(MORO Shigeki, 師茂樹)는 교묘의 유식비량에 대한 이해를 주제로, 『인명입정리론소(因明入正理論疏)』에서의 규기(窺基)의 견해와 신라(新羅)의 원효(元曉)/순경(順憬), 도증(道證)의 견해, 그리고 일본 젠안(漸安)의 『법상등명기(法相燈明記)』, 젠쥬(善珠) 등의 견해를 서로 비교·검토하면서 유식비량과 대승불설비량에 대한 교묘의 이해에 대해 서술하고 있다. 현장의 유식비량과 승군의 대승불설비량은 신라승(新羅僧)들에 의해 많은 비평이 전개되었는데, 특히 원효의 『판비량론(判批量論)』에서 집중적으로 비평을 가하고 있는 것을 볼 수 있다. 신라의 이러한 영향을 받은 일본에서도 이 두 가지 비량에 대해서 다양한 비평과 논쟁들이 매우 왕성하게 이루어지고 있었다. 그러므로, 비록 단편적이기는 하지만, 두 비량의 논쟁들과 관련하여 중국(中國) 과 신라, 일본에서의 전개 상황을 소개할 수 있다는 점에서, 이 논문은 번역할 가치가 있다고 판단하였다.