Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies ISSN:1598-0642(Print) 불교학연구

After the 1970s, studies on Buddhism in the late Goryeo have maintained their focus on two Buddhist Communities, i.e., Samādhi and Prajñā Community (Suseon Gyeolsa) and White Lotus Community (Baengnyeon Gyeolsa). Gyeolsa has been highly rated as reformist, popular, and regional movement of Goryeo Buddhism. Nowadays, however, criticism of such argument has been raised and this brings needs of re-research on Gyeolsa to the academia. Gyeolsa of late Goryeo was started in order to criticize Buddhism of those days, not to pursuit rebirth in pure land. Yose found his solution in the tradition of Tian-tai of Song period, not in Uicheon‘s Cheontae school. Most of researches have said Baengnyeon Gyeolsa chose easy practise for the public who had lower intellectual, practise level and ability. However, practise of Baengnyeon Gyeolsa was never easy, because Tiantai’s traditional meditation and method of repentance were not easy and faith of pure land was accepted in context of Tiantai faith and practise. Whether Baengnyeon Gyeolsa aimed at common people or not, it is clearly relevant that Gyeolsa was opened to low class people who lived in province and had lower intellectual. In addition, it was an important social phenomenon that young Confucian scholars who passed national examinations renounced world to Gyeolsa. Recent criticism that if we view late Goryeo Buddhism only focusing on Gyeolsa, it will mislead us to pass over various aspects of late Goryeo Buddhism is correct. Nevertheless, it is also clear that Gyeolsa was new attempts and efforts in the late Goryeo and, being the most notable Buddhist movement in the late Goryeo period, it is still the most important points to understanding Goryeo Buddhism.