Buddhism Research Paper

Buddhism has gone through many ups and downs in its acceptance and popularity in Korea. It has a 1,500 year history in Korea which began 4th century CE, during the Goryeo period, when Korea was first introduced to Buddhism. Part of the success of Buddhism at this time is owed to the fact that Shamanism, the indigenous religion of Korea, was allowed to blend with Buddhism. At this time Buddhism was widely accepted until the Joseon period which lasted for over 500 years from 1392-1910. During this period Neo-Confucianism domineered over Buddhism, Buddhist were persecuted with Confucianism being enforced. In 1910 Korea was annexed by Japan, a dominant Buddhist country. This began the 35 year colonialism Korea experienced under the rule of …show more content…
During the interview he goes on to explain the other part that has caused a decline which is the high standards monks are held up to. "Few want to bear the great responsibility of being a monk," he says, "when even the smallest mistakes have huge consequences." "People have a different attitude about Buddhism in Korea. For example, in Thailand, you can go to be a monk for 3-6 months, and then return to society. But in Korea it's not that simple. Korean people believe you have to give your life to it. So when they see monks squabbling over petty things, they feel sad." With this Ven Sung Jin is referring to scandals that have harmed the reputations of different Buddhist orders. These scandals are said to be helping in the decreasing …show more content…
With Christianity now gaining a lot of momentum with an increase of 70% of membership in the Catholic Church. As of 2014 30% of the South Korean population has declared themselves as Christian. With these numbers of Christians in South Korea tensions between Christians and Buddhists have flared. An article by Asia Sentinel titled Korea’s Buddhists in Revolt the tensions between these two groups are discussed, explaining how Buddhists have accused the former President of South Korean Lee Myung Bak’s administration of showing bias towards Christians because of this many Buddhists believe that Buddhism has begun being persecuted in South Korea once again. “The perception has risen that Christianity represents a superior religion, a western faith with progressive thinking while Buddhism is old and tradition-bound, at the level of folk belief, mainly sustaining itself vague promises of good luck and fortune.” In 2008 a protestant priest was caught defacing a Buddhist temple, although he acted alone many believe that this is a reflection of how many people in South Korean society view

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