Title: Zinuls line of thought (Korean Edition)
Korean Title: 지눌의 선사상
Author: Gil Hee Sung
Publisher: Sonamoo Pub.
ISBN: 9788971393147

Important! Please read before you order!

>>>This book is written in Korean.

About This Book

Since the Three Kingdoms period, when Buddhism was introduced to Korea, it has held an absolute position as the state religion. However, as the unified Silla and Goryeo periods progressed, the confusion and confrontation in the Buddhist world, which was divided into Kyo-sect and Zen-sect, deepened. Zinul emerged at this time and developed a "Seonju-Kyodhist Zen ecumenical thesis" that centered on Seonjong and embraced Kyodhism, and proposed a new way of practicing Zen based on his own path to enlightenment, establishing himself as the center of Korean Buddhism. This book provides a concise but accurate account of Jinnul's life and the core of his Buddhist theories. The author considers Zinul to be one of the three great monks in the history of Korean Buddhism, characterizing him as follows. The first is that although he was a Zen master himself, he was also a scholar. The author explains this further. In this sense, Zinnul's zen is definitely religiously oriented and intellectual in nature. The fact that Zinul, while being a Zen master, recognized 'those who seek to enlighten their minds through religion' is quite unconventional... In this sense, for Zinul, religion should not be understood in the narrow sense of doctrinaire Buddhism, which is antithetical to Zen. As such, the author explains that Zinul's Zen thought has an intellectual tradition, and that the process is crystallized around the Don'o, the Score, and the Ganhua line: only within the tradition of the Don'o, which is to "attain enlightenment in a short time," the Score, which is to "diligently cleanse the mind of defilements," and the Ganhua line, which is to "meditate on a topic and attain great enlightenment," can one truly attain enlightenment. The author reinterprets and reorganizes Zinul's Zen ideas, including his theory of mindfulness, don-o, score, and gan-hwa, and explains in depth the life and thought of Zinul, who has had such a profound impact on Korean Zen Buddhism that it can be divided into 'before Zinul' and 'after Zinul'.