진각국사(眞覺國師) 혜심(慧諶)의 문도와 후원세력 및 월남사 탑비 건립 배경에 대한 검토

초록

Rev.Hyeshim, the National Preceptor of Jingak, has been regarded as the faithful successor of Buddhist reformer Jinul, the founder of Suseon-sa society. But he has also been criticized to have perilled the Buddhist reformist movement by initiating close relations with the general-dictator Choe Woo. In this article we tried to check these contradictory opinions by examining his major monastic and lay disciples who were regarded as his major supporters. His major lay disciples have been found out to have close relations with either King Shinjong or his premier Choe Seon, both of whom had been the lay disciples of Jinul. So we can infer that their following and supporting Hyeshim had little to do with the good relations between Hyeshim and Choe Woo, but was the succession of the early sponsorship established during Jinul’s period. Even Choe Woo was influenced by his Grandfather- in-law, Choe Seon. He participated in the Suseon-sa society before Hyeshim became the leader of it, as the successor of Jinul. In Hyeshim’s letters to Choe Woo, we can find no hint of the relation between the ruler and his favorite monk. There are much of atmosphere between the spiritual instructor and the follower, or the religious colleagues. Choe Woo asked Hyeshim to tonsure his two sons to be the Buddhist monks of Suseon-sa society, not to control the society as thought by some scholars, but to prevent the power struggle between his bastard sons and son-in-law from noble family by entrusting the former to his confident and respectful monk. Choe Woo’s two sons have been notorious for corrupted monks, but their deviated deeds were made after Hyeshim’s death. They respected Hyeshim and followed his teaching at least during his lifetime. CHOE Hang, the younger of them, built Wolnam-sa as his base temple after Hyeshim’s death. He also erected Hyeshim’s stele at the temple when he return to the secular life to succeed his father. It was to admire his own teacher as well as to sanctify his priesthood.

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