Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun

Iryŏp Kim

Iryŏp Kim

Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun

Translated by: Jin Y. Park
Edited by: Robert E. Buswell

University of Hawaii Press | 2014

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824840235

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About this book

The life and work of Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971) bear witness to Korea’s encounter with modernity. A prolific writer, Iryŏp reflected on identity and existential loneliness in her poems, short stories, and autobiographical essays. As a pioneering feminist intellectual, she dedicated herself to gender issues and understanding the changing role of women in Korean society. As an influential Buddhist nun, she examined religious teachings and strove to interpret modern human existence through a religious world view. Originally published in Korea when Iryŏp was in her sixties, Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun (Ŏnŭ sudoin ŭi hoesang) makes available for the first time in English a rich, intimate, and unfailingly candid source of material with which to understand modern Korea, Korean women, and Korean Buddhism.

Throughout her writing, Iryŏp poses such questions as: How does one come to terms with one’s identity? What is the meaning of revolt and what are its limitations? How do we understand the different dimensions of love in the context of Buddhist teachings? What is Buddhist awakening? How do we attain it? How do we understand God and the relationship between good and evil? What is the meaning of religious practice in our time? We see through her thought and life experiences the co-existence of seemingly conflicting ideas and ideals—Christianity and Buddhism, sexual liberalism and religious celibacy, among others.

In Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun, Iryŏp challenges readers with her creative interpretations of Buddhist doctrine and her reflections on the meaning of Buddhist practice. In the process she offers insight into a time when the ideas and contributions of women to twentieth-century Korean society and intellectual life were just beginning to emerge from the shadows, where they had been obscured in the name of modernization and nation-building.

Author information

BuswellRobert E.:

Robert E. Buswell, Jr. holds the Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Humanities at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he is also Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and founding director of the university’s Center for Buddhist Studies and Center for Korean Studies.ParkJin Y.:

Jin Y. Park is professor of Asian and comparative philosophy and religion and founding director of the Asian studies program at American University.Jin Y. Park is professor of Asian and comparative philosophy and religion and founding director of the Asian studies program at American University.

Reviews

Park’s translations of Kim Iryop provide a valuable glimpse of the diversity of individuals that comprise Korean modernism and Buddhism in the early twentieth century.

Park’s important edition of Iryŏp’s writings will interest those readers concerned not only with modern Korean intellectual history and Korean Buddhism but also with examples of reflective or philosophical autobiography, experiences of crisis and conversion, and how one singular person responds to her existential condition.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Free access PDF PDF	ix
Translator’s Introduction: Kim Iryŏp, Her Life and Thought Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
Part One
1. Preface Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	29
2. Life Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	33
3. Buddhism and Culture Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	45
4. In Memory of the Great Master Man’gong on the Fifteenth Anniversary of His Death Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	55
5. On New Year’s Day of the Twenty-Fifth Year after Joining the Monastery Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	78
6. A Proposal to the World Fellowship of Buddhists Conference Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	87
7. Why Has Buddhism Launched a Purification Movement? Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	92
8. Is the Mind One or Two? To Mr. C., Who Has Recently Converted to Catholicism Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	97
9. What Is Faith? Contemplation upon Reading a Letter from My Friend M. Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	110
10. The Path to No-Mind: A Letter to Mr. R. Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	120
11. Having Burned Away My Youth: A Letter to Mr. B. Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	140
12. With a Returned Gift in My Hand Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	199
13. Having Prepared a Clean Copy of My Master’s Manuscript (by Yi Wŏlsong) Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	206
Part Two
14. Return to Emptiness Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	213
15. Meditation and the Attainment of the Mind Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	224
16. Prayer and Chanting Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	227
17. Path to Eternity: A Message to Journalists Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	229
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	237
Character Glossary Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	275
Bibliography Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	279
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	289
About the Translator Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	303

Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun

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