I'm reading The Circle of the Way by Barbara O'Brien, and she has half a chapter on Korea.
The story of Buddhism coming to Korea will be a complicated one. Maybe Sundo came from China in 372. Wonhyo and Uisang went from Korea (Silla) to China seeking teachings and Wonhyo had a realization on the way there and turned back. They were trudging through a muddy downpour and took shelter. Wonhyo found a gourd of water and drank deeply. In the morning they realize they were in a cipt and the gourd was a skull full of maggots. Wonhyo had a realization about how the mind makes the world and returned to Silla.
Uisang kept on going and returned later and founded a monastery. Wonhyo had an affair and a child and was defrocked. He kept writing about Buddhism and would travel around and play music to attract people to his talks. His writings work to make sense of the texts from China and making the doctrine into a coherent whole. After resisting it, the aristocracy embraced Buddhism, and the king was declared a Buddha.
There were all sorts of worldly struggles for power and the Buddhist monastic got involved in that. It was a reasonable life, avoiding peasantry and conscription, and there were times when families were limited to how many sons could join. When they gained too much power there was retrenching. There were exams, like civil service exams to become a monk. Women were not given power, but were also given more freedom to travel at times, and the women influenced things through being married to a rich man. There is a book on the influence of Korean women on Buddhism and Korea, in English.
Uicheon was the 4th son of a Korean emperor, and against his father's wishes went to China to study Buddhism, and propagated Buddhist scholarship in Korea. He did not like Zen.
Pojo Jinul lead a movement away from political influence to individual spiritual development (seen below)
Jinul wrote a fair amount. The book Robert Buswell, Jr., Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul's Korean Way of Zen (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991) is quoted a lot by O'Brien and Wikipedia. I couldn't find his retreat center called Samadhi and Prajna Retreat Society, but they moved when it became overcrowded to Songgwangsa. The story of his awakenings involve 3 readings of various sutras, though he thought meditation was the center of his practice.
The last master mentioned is Taego Bou. Then Buddhism seemed to be in and out of favor. Supposedly in 1593 and 1598 Hyujeong led a monk army against invading hordes.
A later master called Gyeongheo (1849—1912) brought back a resurgence.
O'Brien mentioned Myori Pophui (1887-1975) as a dharma heir to Gyeongheo, but I couldn't find anything about her except reference to books.
Hyobong Hangnul (1888—1966) was a judge, until he couldn't judge Japanese rules any more during the occupation, and turned to the spiritual life.
The story of Buddhism coming to Korea will be a complicated one. Maybe Sundo came from China in 372. Wonhyo and Uisang went from Korea (Silla) to China seeking teachings and Wonhyo had a realization on the way there and turned back. They were trudging through a muddy downpour and took shelter. Wonhyo found a gourd of water and drank deeply. In the morning they realize they were in a cipt and the gourd was a skull full of maggots. Wonhyo had a realization about how the mind makes the world and returned to Silla.
Uisang kept on going and returned later and founded a monastery. Wonhyo had an affair and a child and was defrocked. He kept writing about Buddhism and would travel around and play music to attract people to his talks. His writings work to make sense of the texts from China and making the doctrine into a coherent whole. After resisting it, the aristocracy embraced Buddhism, and the king was declared a Buddha.
There were all sorts of worldly struggles for power and the Buddhist monastic got involved in that. It was a reasonable life, avoiding peasantry and conscription, and there were times when families were limited to how many sons could join. When they gained too much power there was retrenching. There were exams, like civil service exams to become a monk. Women were not given power, but were also given more freedom to travel at times, and the women influenced things through being married to a rich man. There is a book on the influence of Korean women on Buddhism and Korea, in English.
Uicheon was the 4th son of a Korean emperor, and against his father's wishes went to China to study Buddhism, and propagated Buddhist scholarship in Korea. He did not like Zen.
Pojo Jinul lead a movement away from political influence to individual spiritual development (seen below)
Jinul wrote a fair amount. The book Robert Buswell, Jr., Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul's Korean Way of Zen (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991) is quoted a lot by O'Brien and Wikipedia. I couldn't find his retreat center called Samadhi and Prajna Retreat Society, but they moved when it became overcrowded to Songgwangsa. The story of his awakenings involve 3 readings of various sutras, though he thought meditation was the center of his practice.
The last master mentioned is Taego Bou. Then Buddhism seemed to be in and out of favor. Supposedly in 1593 and 1598 Hyujeong led a monk army against invading hordes.
A later master called Gyeongheo (1849—1912) brought back a resurgence.
O'Brien mentioned Myori Pophui (1887-1975) as a dharma heir to Gyeongheo, but I couldn't find anything about her except reference to books.
Hyobong Hangnul (1888—1966) was a judge, until he couldn't judge Japanese rules any more during the occupation, and turned to the spiritual life.
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