Jinul Puril Bojo Daesa (, "Bojo Jinul"; 1158–1210), often called Jinul or Chinul for short, was a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

n monk of the

Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean kingdom founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korean Peninsula until 1392. Goryeo achieved what has been called a "true national unificat ...

period, who is considered to be the most influential figure in the formation of

Korean Seon Seon or Sŏn Buddhism ( Korean: 선, 禪; IPA: ʌn is the Korean name for Chan Buddhism, a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism commonly known in English as Zen Buddhism. Seon is the Sino-Korean pronunciation of Chan () an abbreviation of 禪那 ( ...

(Zen)

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. He is credited as the founder of the

Jogye Order The Jogye Order, officially the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism (대한불교조계종, 大韓佛敎曹溪宗), is the representative order of traditional Korean Buddhism with roots that date back 1200 years to the Later Silla National Master Do ...

, by working to unify the disparate sects in

Korean Buddhism Korean Buddhism is distinguished from other forms of Buddhism by its attempt to resolve what its early practitioners saw as inconsistencies within the Mahayana Buddhist traditions that they received from foreign countries. To address this, the ...

into a cohesive organization.

Biography

Bojo Jinul's birthname was Jeong and by age 15 he left his family to ordain under Seon Master Jonghwi of the Sagulsan School, one of the nine mountain schools of Seon, receiving the ordination name "Jinul". This occurred in 1173. By 1182, Jinul passed the royal examination for monks and qualified for a higher administrative position, but turned it down to join the Seon

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

at Bojesa in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

. The community being uninterested in his efforts to reform the retreat community, he moved to Cheongwonsa at Changpyeong, then Bomunsa on Hagasan. During this period of travel and study, Jinul was said to have studied the entire

Tripiṭaka ''Tipiṭaka'' () or ''Tripiṭaka'' () or ''තිපිටක'' (), meaning "Triple Basket", is the traditional term for ancient collections of Buddhist sacred scriptures. The Pāli Canon maintained by the Theravāda tradition in ...

and had a series of awakenings. Jinul sought to establish a new movement within Korean Seon which he called the "

samadhi ''Samadhi'' ( Pali and sa, समाधि), in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path. In the Ashtanga Yo ...

and prajñā society" (). This movement's goal was to establish a new community of disciplined, pure-minded practitioners deep in the mountains. Jinul eventually accomplished this mission with the founding of Songgwangsa on Jogyesan, and in the process the

, which taught a comprehensive approach to Buddhism including meditation, doctrine, chanting and lectures. By 1209, he completed his magnum opus the ''Excerpts from the Dharma Collection and Special Practice Record with Personal Notes'' (), an extensive exploration of various schools of

Chan Buddhism Chan (; of ), from Sanskrit ''dhyāna in Buddhism, dhyāna'' (meaning "meditation" or "meditative state"), is a Chinese school of Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century Common Era, CE onwards, becoming e ...

in China, with extensive commentaries on the writings of the Chinese monk

Guifeng Zongmi Guifeng Zongmi () (780–1 February 841) was a Tang dynasty Buddhist scholar and bhikkhu, installed as fifth patriarch of the Huayan school as well as a patriarch of the Heze school of Southern Chan Buddhism. He wrote a number of works on th ...

as well as personal notes. This earned him the respect of the

, and in particular King Huijong, who ordered that Mount Songgwangsan be renamed Jogyesan in his honor. Upon his death in 1210, he was given a posthumous title of honor by King Huijong as well.

Teachings

Essence-Function

Essence-Function Essence-Function (體用, Chinese pinyin: ''tǐ yòng'', Korean: ''che-yong''), also called Substance and Function, is a key concept in Chinese philosophy and other Far-Eastern philosophies. ''Essence'' is Absolute Reality, the fundamental "cause" ...

() is a key concept of

. Essence-Function takes a particular form in the philosophy and writings of Jinul.Charles A. Muller, "The Key Operative Concepts in Korean Buddhist Syncretic Philosophy: Interpenetration (通達) and Essence-Function (體用) in Wŏnhyo, Chinul and Kihwa" cited in ''Bulletin of Toyo Gakuen University'' No. 3 (March 1995): 33-48.

View of Nirvana

Jinul viewed

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...

as a sublime essence that is present in all beings. This essence is the very nature of Buddha and has always been present in beings. Writing on the faith in such matters held by his own school, Jinul states: Jinul further believed that the true nature of all people is unchanging and that their minds are ultimately numinous and marked by awareness, even when seemingly in a state of delusion. In a discussion of Buddhist schools, he writes:

Biography

Teachings

Essence-Function

View of Nirvana

Footnotes

Further reading

External links

See also