[Buddha-l] Re: on the South Korean hostages

[Michael Wilson]

My opinion is not academic so don't bet any money on scholastic accuracy.  I
lived in a small town in the center of South Korea for almost 4 years.
There were many church steeples in town. (I hate the neon crosses sometimes
hoisted on nearby hill tops)   The buddhist temples looked marginalized in
surrounding hills/mountains.  It has been that way every since the
Confuscian suppression of buddhist, when? 14th century?  Koreans could not
believe me when I told them I was interested in buddhism.

The fact is buddhism is older in Korea than it is in Tibet or Japan, and
buddhist spirit infuses the entire culture.  Korean buddhist culture
flourished in Kyongju, 9th - 11th century and perhaps one of the greatest
buddhist civilizations ever.  (Kyong means sutra)  That power still exists -
there were two buddhist TV networks when I was in Korea.

I was told one reason Koreans have converted to Christianity so much is they
resent the Japanese colonial invasion and corruption, which began as a
buddhist missionary force.  Since that time Korean buddhist priests are able
to marry and run a temple like a kind of business.   Another  interesting
idea is that Christianity is similar in spirit to the native religion of
shamanism and the mudang.  The mudang becomes a trance healer and vision
seeker accidentally through divine intervention or spirit obsession.  That
kind of spiritual charisma is similar to the Christian priest. Yah there is
a whole lot of shakin going on.

Korea has hundreds of universities, most of them founded by Christian
missions. Koreans are a scholastic culture and not a warrior culture.  There
are only several buddhist universities, the most famous being DongKuk.  Dr.
Frank Tedesco, a long time resident in Korea, might be the only American, if
not the only foreigner, to obtain a PhD in Korean buddhism from DongKuk -
and he did this mostly in the Korean language.

It has always puzzled me why 50% of Koreans report as having no religion.
Definitely the Confuscian ethic is out the door and there are books about
how it must die in order for Korean society to advance.  I have heard that
many converted Christians are going back to buddhism.  Like I said, that
buddhist spirit is very deep in the culture, but still not as deep as the
culture itself, which is quite ancient.

The Korean government refused to give the Korean missionaries a visa to
Afghanistan but I read the church threatened to sue the government if they
were not permitted to go.  Similar unnecessary travel warnings are issued by
many foreign affairs departments, but it doesn't mean you still can't go  I
read the  Korean Christian missionary force is the second largest in the
world.

Missionary forces can't be all bad. I went to Bodh Gaya India twice.  The
first time we went to Mahakala cave, just outside the village, the local
people were almost not to be seen.  The second time, we saw schools and
exercise classes - the result of Korean buddhist missionary aid
apparently.

Michael J. Wilson