Korea Journal of Buddhist StudiesISSN:1598-0642(Print)불교학연구회

This article analyzes the root causes responsible for the destruction of the harmony in the Korean saṃgha currently marked by conflicts and rivalries, and explores the measures conducive to promoting harmony in saṃgha from the perspective of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. This article seeks the causes of disharmony in Korean saṃgha in terms of economic imbalance, election system, clan-centered culture, and the councils for the policy of the order. The “economic imbalance” mainly arises from the phenomenon of the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. The “election system” is examined in terms of the limitations inherent to the majority decision when dealing with the problem of factionalism of saṃgha resulting from the situation of winner-takes-it-all. The “clan-centered culture” is characterized by the exclusiveness and imperviousness of a clan mentality to share power and economic assets only among the clan members. The issue of “councils for the policy of the order” is associated with the issue of factional struggles accelerated during the coalition and dispersion among different sub-orders. Drawing on the problem analysis thus performed, this article presents measures for promoting harmony in Korean saṃgha: equitable distribution and satisfaction with the “one part (一分)” assigned to each monk, de-secularization of the order system and dispersion of the power of the order, and establishment of the framework for the Buddhist community of the disciples of single Buddha (一佛弟子). Each of these three measures (satisfaction of individual monks, de-secularization of the order, and structuration of the disciples of single Buddha) relies on individual monks’ perceptions and value judgments, which are built by education. Therefore, this article proposes “to educate the order in accordance with the Dharma (如法化)” as the prerequisite for the implementation of the aforementioned three measures for achieving harmony in Korean saṃgha.