The Cult of the Hwaom Pure Land of the Koryo Period as seen through Self-Power and Other-Power

Abstract

The classifications of self-power and other-power are important analytical tools in the discussion of Pure Land thought. During the Three Kingdoms period, Wonhyo early on presented a method of practice that differentiated between self-power and other-power. Nevertheless, there has been no attempt to pursue the meaning or significance of the Pure Land cult in the Hwaom tradition during the Koryo period from the standpoints of self-power and other-power. In this study I will attempt to analyze the cult of the Pure Land in the Hwaom tradition in the Koryo period from the standpoints of these two methods of faith. In order to accomplish this purpose, I will analyze Kyunyo's views on the Pure Land of the Lotus Storehouse Realm in the early Koryo period and Ch'ewon's belief in Avalokitesvara in the late Koryo period in the context of the adoption and development of Chinese Huayan. The result is that the distinctive features of the Pure Land thought of these two Hwaom monks can be explained as "absolute self-power" and the "interfusion of self-power."