Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen

Korean Buddhist Nuns and Laywomen PDF

Author: Eun-su Cho

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2012-01-02

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1438435126

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Uncovering hidden histories, this book focuses on Korean Buddhist nuns and laywomen from the fourth century to the present. Today, South Korea's Buddhist nuns have a thriving monastic community under their own control, and they are well known as meditation teachers and social service providers. However, little is known of the women who preceded them. Using primary sources to reveal that which has been lost, forgotten, or willfully ignored, this work reveals various figures, milieux, and activities of female adherents, clerical and lay. Contributors consider examples from the early days of Buddhism in Korea during the Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla periods (first millennium CE); the Koryŏ period (982–1392), when Buddhism flourished as the state religion; the Chosŏn period (1392–1910), when Buddhism was actively suppressed by the Neo-Confucian Court; and the contemporary resurgence of female monasticism that began in the latter part of the twentieth century.

Women in Gray Robes

Women in Gray Robes PDF

Author: Chungwhan Sung

Publisher: Dorrance Publishing

Published: 2023-02-28

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1649138172

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About the Book Women in Gray Robes explores the lives and practices of the Korean Buddhist nuns of the famous seminary of the Unmunsa by combining historical analysis and ethnographic research and by applying a hermeneutic perspective. About the Author Chungwhan Sung received her B.A. and M. A. with a concentration in Buddhism from Dongguk University. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Religion at the University of Florida. Throughout her academic career, she has studied Buddhism through the intersection of texts, history, and culture. She has worked on issues relating to cultural heritage in religion and Buddhism during globalization.

Korean Religions in Relation

Korean Religions in Relation PDF

Author: Anselm K. Min

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2016-09-30

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1438462778

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Examines Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity in Korea, focusing on their mutual accommodation, exclusion, conflict, and assimilation. Instead of simply being another survey of the three dominant religions in contemporary Korea—Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity—this unique book studies them in relation to each other in terms of assimilation, accommodation, conflict, and exclusion. The contributors focus on major issues that have historically challenged the relations between the three religions from the Goryeo period to the present and how each religion has responded to them. The essays bring a new perspective to the study of Korean religions, one that is especially pertinent in the current age of religious pluralism with all its tensions. Anselm K. Min is Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University and the author and editor of many books, including Dialectic of Salvation: Issues in Theology of Liberation, also published by SUNY Press.

Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun

Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun PDF

Author: Kim Iryŏp

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2014-03-31

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0824840232

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The life and work of Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971) bear witness to Korea’s encounter with modernity. A prolific writer, Iryŏp reflected on identity and existential loneliness in her poems, short stories, and autobiographical essays. As a pioneering feminist intellectual, she dedicated herself to gender issues and understanding the changing role of women in Korean society. As an influential Buddhist nun, she examined religious teachings and strove to interpret modern human existence through a religious world view. Originally published in Korea when Iryŏp was in her sixties, Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun (Ŏnŭ sudoin ŭi hoesang) makes available for the first time in English a rich, intimate, and unfailingly candid source of material with which to understand modern Korea, Korean women, and Korean Buddhism. Throughout her writing, Iryŏp poses such questions as: How does one come to terms with one’s identity? What is the meaning of revolt and what are its limitations? How do we understand the different dimensions of love in the context of Buddhist teachings? What is Buddhist awakening? How do we attain it? How do we understand God and the relationship between good and evil? What is the meaning of religious practice in our time? We see through her thought and life experiences the co-existence of seemingly conflicting ideas and ideals—Christianity and Buddhism, sexual liberalism and religious celibacy, among others. In Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun, Iryŏp challenges readers with her creative interpretations of Buddhist doctrine and her reflections on the meaning of Buddhist practice. In the process she offers insight into a time when the ideas and contributions of women to twentieth-century Korean society and intellectual life were just beginning to emerge from the shadows, where they had been obscured in the name of modernization and nation-building.

From Eternity to Eternity

From Eternity to Eternity PDF

Author: Bulpil Sunim

Publisher:

Published: 2024-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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A vivid, firsthand account of life as a Buddhist nun, by the most respected female Zen master in Korea.

New Perspectives in Modern Korean Buddhism

New Perspectives in Modern Korean Buddhism PDF

Author: Hwansoo Ilmee Kim

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2022-12-01

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1438491336

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New Perspectives in Modern Korean Buddhism moves beyond nationalistic, modernist, and ethnocentric historiographies of modern Korean Buddhism by carefully examining individuals' lived experiences, the institutional dimensions of Korean Buddhism, and its place in transnational conversations. Drawing upon rich archives as well as historical, anthropological, and literary approaches, the book examines four themes that have gained attention in recent years: perennial existential concerns and the persistent relevance of religious practice; the role of female Buddhists; clerical marriage and scandals; and engagement with secular society. The book reveals the limits of metanarratives, such as those of colonialism, nationalism, and modernity, in understanding the complex and contested identities of both monastics and laity, thus demanding that we diversify the methods by which we articulate the history of modern Korean Buddhism.

Out of the Shadows

Out of the Shadows PDF

Author: Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Publisher:

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13:

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Contributed Articles Presented At The 8Th Sakyadhita International Conference On Buddhist Women Held In Seoul, Korea From June 27 To July 4, 2004. This Collection Of Essays Sheds Light On Buddhist Women`S Vast Achievements. These Essays Recount Women`S Struggles Against Tremendous Odds, Their Earnest Spiritual Practice, And Their Earnest Spiritual Practice, And Their Diligent Efforts To Relieve The Suffering Of The World. Beginning With The Story Of The Buddha`S Wife And Spanning More Than Two Thousand Years Of History, The Essays Illuminate The Lives Of Buddhist Laywomen And Nuns, From A Diversity Of Cultures Throughout Asia And Beyond. The Richness And Variety Of Their Struggles And Accomplishments Are A Valuable Chapter In Women`S History And An Inspiring Legacy.

Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities

Buddhist Feminisms and Femininities PDF

Author: Karma Lekshe Tsomo

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2019-01-01

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1438472579

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Silver Medalist, 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Religion (Eastern/Western) Category This groundbreaking book explores Buddhist thought and culture, from multiple Buddhist perspectives, as sources for feminist reflection and social action. Too often, when writers apply terms such as "woman," "femininity," and "feminism" to Buddhist texts and contexts, they begin with models of feminist thinking that foreground questions and concerns arising from Western experience. This oversight has led to many facile assumptions, denials, and oversimplifications that ignore women's diverse social and historical contexts. But now, with the tools of feminist analysis that have developed in recent decades, constructs of the feminine in Buddhist texts, imagery, and philosophy can be examined—with the acknowledgment that there are limitations to applying these theoretical paradigms to other cultures. Contributors to this volume offer a feminist analysis, which integrates gender theory and Buddhist perspectives, to Buddhist texts and women's narratives from Asia. How do Buddhist concepts of self and no-self intersect with concepts of gender identity, especially for women? How are the female body, sexuality, and femininity constructed (and contested) in diverse Buddhist contexts? How might power and gender identity be perceived differently through a Buddhist lens? By exploring feminist approaches and representations of "the feminine," including persistent questions about women's identities as householders and renunciants, this book helps us to understand how Buddhist influences on attitudes toward women, and how feminist thinking from other parts of the world, can inform and enlarge contemporary discussions of feminism.

Buddhism

Buddhism PDF

Author: Chun-sik Ch'oe

Publisher: Ewha Womans University Press

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9788973007585

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This book is an easy-to-read general introduction to how Buddhism developed and spread to Korea. The author traces Buddhism's profound influence in China, Japan and Southeast Asia as well as in Korea and how it contributes to the cultural interaction of East and West today.

Women and Buddhist Philosophy

Women and Buddhist Philosophy PDF

Author: Jin Y. Park

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2017-02-28

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0824858816

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Why and how do women engage with Buddhism and philosophy? The present volume aims to answer these questions by examining the life and philosophy of a Korean Zen Buddhist nun, Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971). The daughter of a pastor, Iryŏp began questioning Christian doctrine as a teenager. In a few years, she became increasingly involved in women’s movements in Korea, speaking against society’s control of female sexuality and demanding sexual freedom and free divorce for women. While in her late twenties, an existential turn in her thinking led Iryŏp to Buddhism; she eventually joined a monastery and went on to become a leading figure in the female monastic community until her death. After taking the tonsure, Iryŏp followed the advice of her teacher and stopped publishing for more than two decades. She returned to the world of letters in her sixties, using her strong, distinctive voice to address fundamental questions on the scope of identity, the meaning of being human, and the value of existence. In her writing, she frequently adopted an autobiographical style that combined her experiences with Buddhist teachings. Through a close analysis of Iryŏp’s story, Buddhist philosophy and practice in connection with East Asian new women’s movements, and continental philosophy, this volume offers a creative interpretation of Buddhism as both a philosophy and a religion actively engaged with lives as they are lived. It presents a fascinating narrative on how women connect with the world—whether through social issues such as gender inequality, a Buddhist worldview, or existential debates on human existence and provides readers with a new way of philosophizing that is transformative and deeply connected with everyday life. Women and Buddhist Philosophy: Engaging Zen Master Kim Iryŏp will be of primary interest to scholars and students of Buddhism, Buddhist and comparative philosophy, and gender and Korean studies.