Constructing

Koreas Won Buddhism as a New Religion:

Self-differentiation and Inter-religious Dialogue

Don Baker
University of British Columbia

Published in InternationalJournalfortheStudyofNewReligions3:1(2012),pp.4770.

(Image courtesy of Won Buddhist Headquarters)

Abstract: Won Buddhism is one of the largest and most respected of Koreas new religions,
yet it still encounters difficulties in wining recognition as a new religion because of the use of

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Buddhism in its name and some Buddhist elements in its doctrines. To strengthen its claim to
independent religious status, Won Buddhism makes sure its worship halls, its rituals, and its clerical
wear are quite different from what is seen in traditional Korean Buddhism. It also emphasizes
elements in its teachings that differ from those of traditional Buddhism. In addition, over the last
few decades, it has become one of the most active promoters of inter-religious dialogue in Korea.
Acting as an independent partner in inter-religious dialogue strengthens Won Buddhisms claim that
it is not simply another Buddhist denomination but is a separate and distinct religion in its own
right.
Key Words: Won Buddhism, Sotaesan, Ilwnsang, Chngsan, Ethics of Triple Identity

Won Buddhism is one of the oldest, largest, and most respected members of what are called
the native religions of the Korean people (minjok chonggyo). (Yoon, Kim, Yook, and Park. 2005)
Koreans use that term to refer to organized religions that emerged in Korea, distinguishing them
from religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity that were imported onto the
peninsula. Outsiders usually refer to the 14 religious organizations that are members of the
Association of Korean Native Religions (Hanguk minjok chonggyo hybihoe), as well as many
other new Korean religious movements such as the Unification Church, as new religions. Some of
the members of that association, such as Taejonggyo [the Religion of the Grand Progenitor], reject
that label, insisting that they are not new religions. Instead, they are revivals of the original religion
of the Korean people. Won Buddhism, however, does not shy away from being described as new. In
fact, it proudly proclaims that it is a new religion for a new age. The founder himself stated he had
founded what he considered to be a new religious movement. (Won Buddhism website b)
There are some among the leadership of Koreas mainstream Buddhist community, however,
who dispute Won Buddhisms claim that it is a new religion. They are joined by a few scholars who
agree with them that Won Buddhism is more Buddhist than new. (Kim Bokin 2000, 12) In fact, a
recent book on Buddhism in the twentieth century included Won Buddhism as an example of the
renovation and reformation of Buddhist faith and practice. (Heine and Prebish 2003, 7) Such
mainstream Buddhists and scholars do not deny that the religious movement known today as Won
Buddhism traces its origins to a group brought together in the second decade of the twentieth

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century by Park Chungbin (1891-1943), usually referred to by his sobriquet as Sotaesan. However,
they insist that Won Buddhism is nothing but another Buddhist denomination and therefore is quite
different from the other native religions of the Korean people, those which worship Korean gods
such as Tangun (worshipped by Taejonggyo) or Kang Chngsan (worshipped by Daesoon Jinrihoe
and several other new religious groups).1

Park Chungbin (Image courtesy of Won Buddhist Headquarters)

To understand the relationship of Won Buddhism to mainstream Korean Buddhism as well as

to Koreas community of new religions, it is necessary to examine briefly the religious environment
in the Republic of Korea. (Won Buddhism has no presence in the Democratic Peoples Republic of
Korea, on the northern side of the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula.) Korea
differs from most countries in that it has no single dominant religious community. According to the

1. For more on the relationship between Won Buddhism and traditional

Buddhism, see Kim Dogong 2010 and Daniel J. Adams 2009, 7.

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last government census, taken in 2005, almost 23% of South Koreans said they were Buddhists,
around 18% said they were Protestant Christians, and almost 11% said they were Roman Catholics.
47% said they had no religious affiliation at all. That leaves very few left to check the Won
Buddhist box on the government census form. Only 129,907 did so, out of a total South Korean
population of 47,041,434 at that time. (Tonggyero sesang pogi website) It is likely that
there are more Won Buddhists than that, since, even twenty years ago when census takers found less
that 90,000 people affirming that they were Won Buddhists, there were already at least 500 Won
Buddhist ritual halls in Korea and over 7,500 Won Buddhist clergy. Won Buddhist officials claimed
at that time that their religious community numbered over 1,175,000. (Hanguk Chonggyo
sahoe ynguso 1993, 1084) The actual figure of active Won Buddhists was probably
somewhere in between the census figures and what Won Buddhist headquarters claimed.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the Won Buddhism community is much smaller than the Protestant,
Catholic, and mainstream Buddhist communities and therefore Won Buddhist leaders have to work
hard to make sure their organization is not overlooked.
Attracting attention as a new Korean religion is made more difficult for Won Buddhists by two
features of Korean Buddhism today: the dominance of the Jogye order and the large number of
small Buddhist denominations. The Jogye order dominates the image of Korean Buddhism among
both Koreans themselves and among non-Koreans who study Korean Buddhism today. The Jogye
order is a Mahayana order founded in the aftermath of Koreas liberation from Japanese colonial
rule in 1945. It claims to be the legitimate successor to a long tradition of Buddhism in Korea
because of its promotion of traditional meditative practices and also because it is run by celibate
monks. Most monks during the 35 years of Japanese colonial rule were married, following the
example set by modern Japanese Buddhism. After 1945, successive nationalistic governments in
South Korea favored the celibate monks over married monks, seeing them as free of any taint of
contamination from Japanese Buddhism. The government even took major temples away from
married monks and gave them to the Jogye order. (Srensen 1999) As a result, the Jogye order is the
richest and most powerful Buddhist order in Korea today. On its websites, it even portrays itself as
simply Korean Buddhism, rather than one of many denominations of Buddhism in Korea. (Jogye
order website)

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 However, the Jogye order is not the only Buddhist organization in Korea today. In fact,
besides the Jogye order, there are 26 other Korean Buddhist orders enrolled in the Association of
Korean Buddhist Orders, ranging from the large Taego order of married clerics and the esoteric-
ritual oriented Chntae order, which is large enough to operate its own university, to many smaller
orders, such as the Korean Maitreya order and the Korean Pure Land order, that are much smaller
than Won Buddhism is. (Association of Korean Buddhist Orders website)
Won Buddhism is not a member of that association of Korean Buddhist denominations,
though there was an attempt to convince Won Buddhism to join several years ago. Actually, that was
an attempt, in 1999, to convince the Won Buddhist authorities to rejoin that association, since Won
Buddhism had been among the original members but had left in the 1980s to protect its properties
from disputes within the mainstream Buddhism community over the ownership of religious assets.
(Pulgyo chongbo sent website) Instead of joining that umbrella Korean Buddhist organization,
Won Buddhists authorities strive to maintain their orders autonomy as a separate and distinct
indigenous Korean religion, even though it differs significantly from other indigenous Korean
religions in that its worship services are not centered on worship of a Korean god.
Not only does Won Buddhism not promote the worship of a Korean god, it does not promote
the worship of any God at all. Instead, its practitioners direct their spiritual gaze at an empty circle.
Some might question, therefore, whether it is a religion at all. There are at least two other new
spiritual movements emerging from modern Korea that do not promote worship of any particular
God: Dahn World and Maum Meditation. (Dahn World website, Maum Meditation website) Both,
because of their promises of spiritual enlightenment, their reliance on prescribed rituals, and their
use of terminology similar to that used by Daoism and Buddhism respectively, appear to some
outside observers to be new religions. However, both Dahn World and Maum Meditation insist that
they are not religions at all. Won Buddhism does not share their aversion to the religion label.
Instead, as already noted, despite the fact that it is more anthropocentric than theocentric, it insists
that it is a real religion. After all, if Zen Buddhism can be called a religion, why cant Won
Buddhism be likewise?
If we accept self-definition as sufficient, then Won Buddhism is without a doubt a new
religion. However, just as some groups that say they are not religious have the religion label pinned

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on them by outside observers, it is possible that outsiders may not agree with the self-labeling of
Won Buddhism as a new religion, separate and distinct from old Buddhism. We therefore should
examine its origins, its doctrines, its scriptures, its rituals, and its distinctive practices to see
whether, in fact, it is truly a new religion or is merely one more occupant of the big tent that is
Buddhism. We should also examine how Won Buddhist authorities have tried to convince others that
Won Buddhism should be treated as a distinct religious organization rather than as a minor member
of the broader Korean Buddhist community. If we engage in such an examination, we will discover
that WonBuddhismhasestablisheditselfasanewreligionintwoways:firstofall,ithas
distinguisheditselfinternallybydevelopingnotonlyitsownscripturesandritualsbutevenitsown
architectureandterminology,and,second,ithasgainedrecognitionexternallythatitconstitutesas
separateanddistinctreligiouscommunityinitsownrightthroughecumenicalinteractionwithother
religiouscommunities.

The non-Buddhist origins of Won Buddhism

There is already enough English-language scholarship on the teachings and practices of Won
Buddhism that I do not need to go into much detail here. (Chung, 1984; Pye 2002) Instead, I will
focus on aspects the leaders of Won Buddhism have emphasized in order to promote an image of
Won Buddhism in which its distinctiveness is highlighted.
There are two reasons often cited for declaring Won Buddhism a new religion rather than just
another Buddhist denomination. First of all, when Sotaesan has his enlightenment experience on
April 28, 1916, he had not received any Buddhist training or been directed in his search for
enlightenment by a Buddhist master. (Kim Pokin 2000, 3-4, Yang 2008, 81) In fact, he claimed that
he didnt even realize that his insight into the interconnectedness of all phenomena, and that behind
all those interconnected phenomena lay one unified cosmic Thusness, was similar to what the
Buddha had taught 2,500 years earlier until he read the Diamond Sutra. (Park Kwangsoo 2003, 170)
Since he reached his insight independently, Won Buddhists say, it is accurate to say that his insight
is similar to that of the Buddha but is not a Buddhist insight.
Secondly, Won Buddhism emerged out of a series of non-Buddhist changes to Koreas

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religious culture in the late eighteenth and into the nineteenth century, before Won Buddhism itself
was formed. The first non-Buddhist alteration to Koreas traditional religious culture in modern
times came from the introduction of Christianity, in the form of Roman Catholicism, in the last
quarter of the 18th century. Catholicism introduced a radical new idea to Korea--monotheism.
Traditionally Koreans, when they believed in gods, believed in many gods. They may have believed
that some of those gods were more powerful than the other gods, but they never singled out one God
and one God only for worship. (Baker 2002) Even Buddhists in Korea worshipped many different
manifestations of Buddha and never used the sort of exclusivist language we associate with
monotheism (There was no equivalent of Japans Nichiren Buddhism in pre-modern Korean).
However, Catholics insisted that there was only one God and no other spirits should be worshipped.
The first modern Korean new religion, Tonghak, which emerged in the 1860s, accepted this
Catholic notion of monotheism. Although it did not teach worship of the Catholic God, it focused its
spiritual gaze on a single supernatural presence called Sangje (C. Shangdi), Chnju (the Lord of
Heaven, the Catholic word for God in Korea), or Hannullim (a variant vernacular version of the
Lord of Heaven) and did not talk about or try to interact with other supernatural personalities. Early
in the 20th century, another new religion appeared which then fragmented into a cluster of new
religious organizations focused on the worship of Kang Chngsan (1871-1909), whom they call
Sangjenim, the Lord of High. Though the Kang Chngsan religions are not strictly monotheistic,
since they preach the existence of many powerful supernatural personalities, their emphasis on
Sangjenim as the incarnation on earth of the supreme lord on high and the most powerful by far of
all the gods shows that they, too, have been influenced by the monotheism Catholicism introduced
to Korea. Won Buddhism emerged after Tonghak had been preaching its theology for over half a
century, and a decade after Kang Chngsan left this earth. However, Won Buddhists didnt adopt the
God of Catholicism, of Tonghak, or of the Chngsan religions. Instead, they promoted what may be
called a mono-devotional rather than a monotheistic approach. Influenced by the new trend away
from polytheism, Won Buddhists have excluded from their worship halls the many statues found in
traditional Korean Buddhist temples. In their place, they have a circle, called Ilwnsang, which they
use to represent the undifferentiated thusness of ultimate reality. (In a bow to the Buddhist elements
in Won Buddhist teachings, they also call that circle the Dharmakaya Buddha). (Chung, 1987)

7
 Directing the spiritual gaze at the Ilwnsang (Photo courtesy of Won Buddhist Headquarters)

Moreover, Won Buddhism shows in its scriptures that it picked up some key ideas from earlier
non-Buddhist Korean new religions. A very important idea in Won Buddhism is that Korea is
undergoing a great transformation (Kaebyk) that will create a paradise on this earth. This is an idea
that had been earlier promoted by Tonghak as well as by Kang Chngsan. The Won Buddhist notion
of Kaebyk is a little different from theirs. In Won Buddhism, Kaebyk does not refer to an actual
physical cosmic cataclysm out of which the new world will emerge. Instead, it is used in a more
metaphorical sense to refer to the dramatic changes science and technology are bringing to the
modern world, and the spiritual transformation that should accompany that transformation in the
material world. This is not a Buddhist notion, yet it is core to the teachings of Won Buddhism. Won
Buddhism also reflects some influence from the there is a spark of the divine in every human
being teaching of the Tonghak religion as well as some influence from the assertion of Kang

8
Chngsan that the problems of the world today arise from the competitive nature of the human
community and that those problems can be overcome if we learn to work together for mutual benefit
rather than against each other for individual benefit. (Chung, 2003b) These are not traditional
Buddhist ideas either. Yet they are core to the Won Buddhism worldview. Nor are the similarities
between Won Buddhist ideas and those of Tonghak and the Chngsan religions simply a
coincidence. Both Sotaesan and his most important immediate disciple, Song Kyu, better known
today as Chngsan (1900-1962), had contact with the ideas of Tonghak and Kang Chngsan before
the founding of Won Buddhism as a separate religious tradition. (Chung 2003b)

Buddhist elements in Won Buddhism

Won Buddhist leaders do not claim, however, that there are no traditional Buddhist elements
in Won Buddhism. Won Buddhists do not hide the fact that they believe in karma and reincarnation.
For example, Sotaesan is quoted as saying, in support of belief in karma and reincarnation,

"A person who upsets someone deeply by making false insinuations will suffer from heartburn
in his next life. A person who enjoys furtively probing into or eavesdropping on others secrets will
suffer humiliation and embarrassment in his next life by being born as a bastard, and so forth. A
person who readily exposes others secrets and readily embarrasses them in front of other people so
that they blush with shame will, in his next life, have some ugly marks or scars on his face that will
hamper him all his life." (Committee for the Authorized Translation of Won-Buddhist Scriptures
2006, 241)

Won Buddhists also believe that the problems we see in the world around us are caused by our
own minds and can be cured when we become enlightened. Won Buddhism is similar to traditional
Buddhism in its assertion that we do not need to rely on a divine being to help us overcome our
problems. Instead, we only need to look within to discover the strength that lies within our own true
nature. Moreover, Won Buddhist publications promote sitting meditation as one approach to
discovering our own true nature. Though it is not as central in Won Buddhist practice as it is in the

9
monasteries of Koreas dominant Jogye order, many Won Buddhists find it a favored spiritual
practice. (Cha 2003) Most of these traditional Buddhist ideas are not as prominent in Won
Buddhism as they are in mainstream Buddhism in Korea. In addition, they are often overshadowed
by Won Buddhist teachings that are quite different from what is taught in Buddhist temples and in
Mahayana sutras.
One traditional Buddhist idea that is prominent in Won Buddhism appears in the founders
statement of why he founded this new religious movement: our founding motive is to lead all
sentient beings, who are drowning in the turbulent sea of suffering, to a vast and immeasurable
paradise by expanding spiritual power and conquering material power. (Committee for the
Authorized Translation of Won-Buddhist Scriptures 2006, 1) However, the Won Buddhist approach
to saving all sentient beings from suffering differs in many significant aspects from traditional
Buddhist approaches.

The Unique Appearance of Won Buddhism

After Won Buddhism gained formal recognition as an independent religious body separate and
distinct from mainstream Buddhist organizations in Korea in 1948, it took steps to reduce its use of
traditional Buddhist terminology in order to highlight its distinctiveness. Won Buddhists still refer to
their meditation practices as sn, the Korean pronunciation for the Chinese character Japanese
pronounce Zen. They also refer to chanting the Buddhas name as ymbul, the same term used in
Jogye and other mainstream Korean Buddhist temples for that practice. However, in 1963, when
they issued a new edition of their scriptures, they distanced themselves from mainstream Buddhism
by dropping from those scriptures some technical Buddhist terms that had not become part of
everyday Korean Buddhist discourse.

For example, in the doctrinal chart in which Won Buddhism displays what it considers its
most important tenets and practices, there is a significant difference between what is seen in the
1962 edition from what was seen in the 1943 edition. The current version of that chart has near the
top a box in which is written The Threefold Study: Cultivating the Spirit, Inquiry into Human
Affairs and Universal Principles, Choice in Action. That box replaces a box in which had been

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written Threefold Practice: Mindful karmic action (sla follow the nature), Spiritual Cultivation
(samdhi nourish nature), Inquiry into facts and principles ( prajsee into the Nature).
(Compare Chung 2003a, 116, with Committee for the Authorized Translation of Won-Buddhist
Scriptures 2006, viii-ix.) It is obvious that Won Buddhist authorities have tried to expunge from
their scriptures terms that Koreans would see as imported Buddhist terms rather than original
Korean terms.

The official explanation for this change appear in the History of Won Buddhism, where it is
explained that the parts that underwent partial revision and reprinting in Won Buddhist year 34
(1949), the parts that could be interpreted as if Sotaesans original purpose had been confined to a
certain region or a certain religious denomination, were rectified to follow his real intention.
(Department of International Affairs 2010, 108) In other words, they did not want Sotaesan to
appear as if he were tailoring his message to the followers of a certain religious denomination,
meaning traditional Buddhism. However, in the eyes of one scholar of Won Buddhism, During the
redaction process some tenets crucial to the integrity of the doctrine were altered with the effect that
the light of the original writers wisdom was significantly dimmed. (Chung 2003a, xiv)

That same scholar is also unhappy with the shift within Won Buddhism away from a focus on
Ilwn, the Buddha-body perceived as the ultimate undifferentiated ground of reality, to a focus on
the Ilwnsang, an actual circle drawn to represent Ilwn. Bongkil Chung writes, Beings of lower
capacity might mistake Ilwnsang, the circular symbol, for Dharmakya Buddha just as they
mistake the finger for the moon when the moon is behind the clouds. He changes the line in the
official scriptures today from to know one's own mind which as perfect, complete, utterly fair as
impartial as Irwnsang to what he says is the original wording: to know one's own mind which as
perfect, complete, utterly fair as impartial as Irwn, namely praj-wisdom. (Chung 2003a, 81)2

Won-Buddhism is not only moving away from some traditional Buddhist terminology, its
leaders have also taken steps to make it look quite different from traditional Korean Buddhism. Not
only have Won Buddhists coined their own terminology, Won Buddhists also wear distinctive

2 For more on Chungs complaint that Won Buddhism has distanced itself
from the original Buddhist teachings of Sotaesan, see Chung, 2003a, 353-
56.

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clerical clothing, and conduct their distinctive weekly rituals in buildings with their own distinctive
architecture. Won Buddhist clerics, both men and women, are called kyomunim, which literally
means someone devoted to the teachings. Mainstream Buddhist clerics in Korea are called
snim instead. Moreover, the majority of Won Buddhist clerics are women (1,300 Won Buddhist
clerics are women compared to only 700 men) and wear a modified version of the traditional
Korean womens clothing rather than the traditional Buddhist nuns robes. They also do not shave
their head like traditional nuns do. Instead, they wear their hair up in the bun worn traditionally by
married Korean women. Despite their hairstyle, like mainstream Buddhist nuns Won Buddhist nuns
are celibate. However, male Won Buddhist clerics tend to be married. Moreover, except when they
are performing some ritual function, male Won Buddhist clerics dress like any other Korean man
living a white-collar life style. They do not shave their head or wear monks robes. The clothing
styles and hair styles for Won Buddhist clerics are not used just to distinguish them from traditional
Buddhist monks and nuns. Instead, they dress the way they do to emphasize that Won Buddhism is a
Buddhism that is integrated into everyday urban life, not a Buddhism of remote mountain
monasteries. (According to Won Buddhists, as well as many scholars of the history of Korean
Buddhism, under government pressure mainstream Buddhism during the Chosn dynasty (1392-
1910) withdrew from society into isolated temples in the foothills of Koreas many mountains.)

From left to right, a Won Buddhist nun, a mainstream Buddhist nun, and a Catholic nun.
(Photo courtesy of Won Buddhist headquarters)

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 Similarly, Won Buddhist temples, both inside and outside, tend to look more like the Christian
churches so common in Korean cities than like traditional Korean temples found in mountain
valleys. They call their temples kyodang, which means a place for teaching, and do not use the
mainstream Korean Buddhist terms sachal or chl. Moreover, you enter a typical Won
Buddhist parish temple through a foyer, where you can pick up a copy of the weekly parish bulletin.
On a Sunday morning, you then normally sit in pews during a service that one prominent
contemporary Won Buddhist admits, is similar to that of a Protestant service. The ceremony is held
on Sundays, and includes meditation, hymns, and preaching. (Yang 2008, 87) I have found some
newer Won Buddhist temples that have pushed the pews to the sides of the main worship hall to
leave room in the middle for cushions for the use of those who prefer the traditional Buddhist
practice of sitting on the floor during rituals. Nevertheless, no one familiar with traditional Korean
temples would mistake a Won Buddhist temple for a typical Korean Buddhist temple or a Won
Buddhist ritual for a traditional Korean Buddhist ritual. Someone who walked into a Won Buddhist
temple expecting the usual display of multiple Buddhist statues would be particularly struck by the
lack of such statues. In their place, prominently displayed on the front wall, in front of an altar, is a
large circle, the Ilwnsang. It is toward that circle, rather than Buddhist statues, that Won Buddhists
direct their devotions.

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 A typical Won Buddhist urban temple. (Photo by author)

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 A typical Sunday service (Photo courtesy of Won Buddhist Headquarters)

Unique aspects of Won Buddhist Teachings

The central role of the Ilwnsang is just one feature of Won Buddhist ritual that Won Buddhist
leaders point to as evidence that the differences between Won Buddhism and mainstream Korean
Buddhism are more than matters of appearance. Significant doctrinal and philosophical differences
can also be found. For example, little is said in Won Buddhist scriptures or Won Buddhist sermons
about the world being unreal or about a need to cultivate detachment from the phenomenal world
of constant change. Nor are Won Buddhists told to still all their desires. Instead, they are told that
they need to make sure that their actions are informed by correct knowledge and appropriate desires.
Though Won Buddhists agree with mainstream Buddhists that everything in the world is
connected to everything else, for Won Buddhists, as it was for Koreas Neo-Confucians, those
interconnections do not subtract from the reality of the world of experience. Instead, they constitute
reality. Won Buddhists are encouraged to understand the network of interconnections so that they

15
can act in accordance with it. They are not encouraged to try to rise above it.
Similarly, though Won Buddhists sound at first like mainstream Buddhists when they describe
the original human mind as empty, they do not use that term to focus on the mind as originally
undifferentiated thusness. Instead, their discussions of the human mind resonate with Neo-
Confucian descriptions of the fundamental human mind as empty of biases and partiality. In other
words, an empty mind is not a mind empty of all specific content. Rather, it is a mind that is calm
and clear and therefore is able to perceive the world around it as that world really is, in all its
complexity and diversity. Just as in mainstream Buddhism, one goal of Won Buddhist cultivation is
cognitive clarity. However, in mainstream Buddhism cognitive clarity is a tool for gaining release
from this world of suffering by seeing clearly the illusory nature of the things of this world. In Won
Buddhism, on the other hand, cognitive clarity is presented as an important pre-condition for the
sort of appropriate action that will bring an end of human suffering by making this world a better
place. Even when Won Buddhists engage in the quiet sitting-meditation that is a hallmark of
Buddhism, they do not do so simply to cultivate an awareness of the true nature of the universe.
Their main objective is to calm the mind so that it can show them how to act appropriately. (Chong
1997, 19) As Sotaesan explained,

"The reason a person cultivating the Way endeavors to see the nature is to know the original
realm of the nature and, by using ones mind and body without fault like that realm, to achieve
perfect buddhahood. If one only tries to see ones nature but not to achieve Buddhahood, this would
be of little use, like an axe that is well crafted, but made of lead." (Committee for the Authorized
Translation of Won-Buddhist Scriptures 2006, 285)

In other words, enlightenment is not true enlightenment if the insight enlightenment has
provided is not realized in action.
Another way to promote recognition that Won Buddhism is very different from mainstream
Buddism is to point to the originality of the Won Buddhist solution to the problems of human
suffering. According to Won Buddhist texts, ignorance of the illusory nature of the world of
everyday experience is not the primary reason we suffer. Nor do we suffer primarily because we

16
look for permanence in an impermanent world. According to those texts, those traditional Buddhist
explanations are too vague to serve as useful guides for how to overcome suffering. Won Buddhism
focuses instead on four specific reasons it identifies for unhappiness and suffering. They are 1) our
inability to rely on our own resources, which causes us to be financially dependent on others who
may not be able to provide us what we need; 2) the lack of wisdom in our leaders, who therefore
mislead us into acting against our own best self-interest and the best interest of our community; 3)
the lack of universal education, which keeps us from learning how to better our lives, and 4)
selfishness, which leads us to act in ways that in the long run hurt us more than they help us. (Chung
1984, 24)
Won Buddhists often draw outside observers attention to the fact that, according to Won
Buddhist doctrine, the most effective way to relieve human suffering is not to encourage detachment
from the things of this world but instead to promote more appropriate ways of interacting with this
world. That includes promoting universal education in all sorts of subjects, no just religion, since
universal education allows everyone to gain the education they need to become economically self-
reliant. Won Buddhist texts also encourage helping people recognize which potential leaders are
wise and which are not, and encouraging them to follow those who are wise rather than those who
are not (though Won Buddhism, as an organization, does not endorse any particular political
leaders). And Won Buddhists, both clergy and laity, engage in various public service and charitable
activities in order to counteract selfish tendencies.
These are not just abstract prescriptions. One of the first things Sotaesan did after his
enlightenment experience was lead his followers in a project to reclaim some coastal wasteland for
farming. (Chong 1997, 5, Adams 2009, 5) The Won Buddhist organization has also built schools,
including Wonkwang University, which includes one of Koreas best medical schools teaching
traditional (Chinese-style) medicine. And the Won Buddhist organization runs orphanages and social
welfare centers in Korea and also dispatches medical missionaries overseas. (Won Buddhism
website b)
Won Buddhist leaders try to direct our attention to the fact that Sotaesan taught that
appropriate action in this world to reduce and eventually eliminate human suffering should be based
on the assumption that we suffer because we do not realize what the interconnectedness of all things

17
means to us personally and therefore we do not let our connections to everything around us direct
our actions. In other words, we suffer because we do not realize how dependent we are on others,
and how much we owe to others, and as a consequence we end up acting inappropriately, acting in
ways that are contrary to both our own long-term self-interest as well as the best interest of our
community.
In another striking departure from traditional Buddhist teachings Won Buddhist leaders like to
point out, according to Won Buddhist publications it is more important to cultivate an attitude of
gratitude than an attitude of detachment. In particular, according to Won Buddhist teachings, there
are four things we need to be grateful for. These four graces, as Won Buddhist texts call them, are
heaven and earth (nature), for providing us with the air we need to breathe, the water we need to
drink, and the earth we need to stand on and cultivate crops in; our parents, for giving us our lives;
our fellow human beings, for providing us with such things as houses, roads, machines, medical
care, and all other things we cannot provide for ourselves acting alone; and, finally, law, by which
Won Buddhists mean the rules and regulations that make a safe, orderly, and predictable society
possible. (Committee for the Authorized Translation of Won-Buddhist Scriptures 2006, 9-22, Chung
1988, 437-38)
Sotaesan was not the first to talk about the need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. In Japan
several centuries earlier Nichiren (1222-1282) has also preached about four things to be grateful for.
However, Nichiren taught the need to be grateful for those things that had made it possible for him
to live as a boddhisattva on this earth. Sotaesan was more down to earth. He taught that we need to
cultivate an attitude of gratitude toward nature, our parents, our fellow human beings, and our laws
in order to work together more effectively with others to reduce and eventually eliminate the causes
of suffering in this world. (McCormick 1997)

Interfaith Dialogue and Independence of Won Buddhism

Differences in doctrine and practice are not the only features Won Buddhist leaders point to in
order to argue that Won Buddhism is separate and distinct from mainstream Buddhism. Before 1945
the relationship between Won Buddhism and mainstream Korean Buddhism was somewhat blurred,

18
although Won Buddhists already had established a distinct community marked off by differences in
both doctrine and practice from other Buddhist groups in Korea at that time. However, the term Won
Buddhism was not used. Instead, the group we now call Won Buddhism called itself the Society
for the study of the Buddhist Dharma. It was only in 1948 that Won Buddhism formally became
Won Buddhism. (Chong 1997, 34)

That raises the question of why Won Buddhist leaders waited until after 1945 to insist on a
separate and distinct identity for their religious community. I would like to suggest a possible
answer. Before 1945, Korea was under Japanese colonial rule, and the Japanese imperial
government tried to bring all Buddhist organizations in Korea under Japanese rule. The main
concern of Won Buddhists at that time was shared by other Korean Buddhist groups. They all
wanted to maintain some autonomy within the parameters established by the Japanese colonial
government. In 1945, the Japanese were sent home and were no longer a threat. However, Won
Buddhist leaders wanted to disassociate themselves from the battle within mainstream Buddhism
that broke out after the Japanese withdrew. As noted earlier, the Japanese had strongly encouraged
monks to marry, as Japanese monks did. Most Korean monks in the 1920s and 1930s did so. The
new government of the Republic of Korea (better known as South Korea), which emerged in 1948,
viewed married monks as a legacy of the despised Japanese colonial rule. Married monks were
treated as collaborators with the Japanese and therefore the anti-Japanese government of South
Korea wanted to keep them from playing an important or respected role in post-colonial Korea. This
led to a battle between married and celibate monks for control of temples and Buddhist institutions
that lasted into the 1970s. (Srensen1999, Kim Kwangsik 2000)

Male clerics in Won Buddhism are more often married than not. However, Won Buddhists did
not want to be associated with the married monks in mainstream Buddhism for fear of incurring the
disfavor of the government. Nor did they want to join the government-favored organization of
celibate monks, since that would have forced them to conform to mainstream Buddhist expectations
of what Buddhist rituals, Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist clergy, and Buddhist temples should look
like. In order to maintain the autonomy that allowed them to practice their unique approach to
Buddhism, they resisted pressure to become a sub-denomination within the umbrella Jogye Order
that dominates mainstream Korean Buddhism today.

19
 Once Won Buddhism felt confident that the government recognized it as a new religious order
(that recognition wasnt official until the early 1960s) (Department of International Affairs of Won
Buddhism 2010, 123-24), it began reaching out to other religious communities to try to gain their
recognition as well. Interfaith dialogue became an important means for Won Buddhism to establish
its distinctive identity. By convincing leaders and representatives of other religious organizations to
meet with Won Buddhist leaders and representatives and treat them as worthy of dialogue in their
own right, rather than as representatives of the Jogye order or other branches of mainstream
Buddhism, Won Buddhism gained recognition as separate and distinct from mainstream Buddhism.

Inter-faith dialogue is particularly important in a country like South Korea, in which, as noted
earlier, no one religion dominates. According to the most recent census, in 2005 53% of Koreans
claimed a specific religious affiliation. (There are over 100,000 practicing shamans in Korea, but
their clients do not appear on the census as shamanists, so it is likely that that actual percentage of
the South Korean population engaging in religious practices is far above 53%.) Of those 53%, as
noted earlier, 22.8% (10.7 million) said they were Buddhists, 18.3% (8.6 million) said they were
Protestant Christians, 10.9% (5.1 million) said they were Roman Catholics, and only 0.03% said
they were Won Buddhists. Such division of the religious community provides Won Buddhism room
to maneuver for attention, since no one religious organization is so dominant that it can ignore the
rest. Moreover, religious leaders in Korea have tried to create broad-based coalitions of religious
leaders to ensure that they will not be ignored by the government, which otherwise might be
inclined to dismiss individual religious organizations as representing only a minority of the
population. Bringing Won Buddhism into such coalitions allows them to add one more person to
their executive committees, making them appear even larger and more powerful. Won Buddhism
has taken advantage of this situation and has become very active on the inter-faith front in Korea.

This is despite the fact that, officially, there are very few Won Buddhists. The number of Won
Buddhists is surely higher than the 130,000 the governments census takers found. There may be as
many as half a million to one million Won Buddhists out of a South Korean population of 50 million
today. Nevertheless, it is clear that Won Buddhism is a relatively small religion, when compared to
the size of the mainstream Buddhist, Protestant, and Catholic communities. There is a real danger
that Won Buddhism will be overlooked when religions in Korea are counted. To ensure that does not

20
happen, Won Buddhism has actively participated in inter-faith dialogues with its larger partners.

Won Buddhist interest in inter-faith dialogue is not simply out of a desire to be recognized,
however. There is an inter-faith element to the core teachings of Won Buddhism. That inter-faith
element reaches all the way to the founder, Sotaesan. We already pointed out that Sotaesan
reported that he reached enlightenment without going through the usual formal Buddhist training or
guidance given those pursuing that goal. Moreover, after his original enlightenment experience, he
read seminal books from a variety of religious traditions, including Confucianism, Daoism,
Buddhism, and even Christianity (he read the Bible). Only then, he says, did he realize that the
insights he gained from his enlightenment, insights into the nature of reality and how to overcome
the suffering living in this world entails, were closer to those of the Buddha than to those of the
founders of other religious traditions. (Department of International Affairs of Won Buddhism 2010,
16)

The Scriptures of Won Buddhism relate the story of a conversation between Sotaesan and a
Christian minister. Sotaesan advises that minister to widen his perspective. He warns him that
people who only pay attention to their own ways of doing things fall into onesideness, producing
gaps that become like mountains of silver and ramparts of iron. This is the reason for all the
antagonism and conflicts between countries, churches, and individuals. (Committee for the
Authorized Translation of Won-Buddhist Scriptures 2006, 314) This particular
anecdote is interpreted not as a criticism of Christianity -Won Buddhist criticisms of other religions
tend to be muted-but as a call for his own disciples to be open to the insights of other religions.
That interpretation is supported by another statement of Sotaesan. He is quoted in the Scriptures as
saying, In all matters, I do not gain knowledge only by inquiring to myself, but I acquire
knowledge for my use when meeting with various people.when I talk with adherents of other
religions, I gain knowledge of those religions. (Committee for the Authorized Translation
of Won-Buddhist Scriptures2006, 166)

When Sotaesan was alive (he died in 1943), he was too concerned with putting his order on a
sound footing and maintaining its distinctive identity to devote much time or energy to dialogues
with other religions. The same was true of his successor as head of Won Buddhism Song Kyu

21
(1900-1962), known as Chngsan) for the first decade or so he was Head Dharma Master. However,
in the last years of his life, Chngsan brought inter-faith dialogue to the fore with his proclamation
in 1961 of the Ethics of Triple Identity.

There are three principles to the Ethics of Triple Identity. The first principle is the principle of
Identical Origin. This implies that all people of religion must harmonize with one another, with the
knowledge that the fundamental origin of all religions and religious sects is one. Although their
doctrines are expressed in different names and forms, a careful inquiry into their fundamental
sources will show that the fundamental tenets are not contrary to the truth of Ilwn. Therefore, all
religions are generally of identical origin. (Chung 2012, 217) The Won Buddhist belief that Ilwn
means that ultimately everything is one, without any real differences among them, is utilized to
support an attitude of respect for, and outreach toward, other religions.

The second principle of the Ethics of Triple Identity is the bond of one vital force. This
principle implies that all races and all sentient beings should be united in grand harmony by
awakening to the truth that they are all fellow beings bonded together by the one vital force.
(Chung 2012, 217) This principle draws on the traditional Sino-Korean belief that everything in the
universe is composed of ki (C. Qi), the matter-and-energy that both provides the material substance
for everything in the material world and animates those entities that are animated. It also draws on
the teachings in Tonghak (a new Korean religion which preceded Won Buddhism by half a century)
that elevate ki into a new level of importance as the spark of the divine, the Creative Force in the
Cosmos, that can be found within the heart-and-mind of every human being.

The third principle is the principle of renewal with one aim. This implies that, being
awakened to the truth that all enterprises and proposals help toward the renewal of the world, all
should unite in grand harmony. He wrote that there is a great variety of political and business
projects. However, their original aims, as an inquiry into their fundamental sources shows, are all
to make this world a better place. (Chung 2012, 218) This third principle reflects the beginnings of
the Won Buddhist community in a project to make the world a better place by getting residents of
some impoverished villages to work together in order to reclaim tidal land for agriculture. (Chong
1997, 13, Department of International Affairs of Won Buddhism 2010, 23-24)

22
 The stress on the ultimate unity of all religions was continued by the next Head Dharma
Master, Kim Daega (1914-1998), better known as Taesan. Taesan declared

The doctrines and institutions advocated by each religion can be different. However,
consider that there can be no difference when it comes to the ultimate goal aspired to by each
religion, the ultimate goal being the salvation of mankind founded on truth and love. Consider
that this world is one. If we consider these two things, we see that the truth which is
fundamental to each religion can only be one. All religions must, without conditions and
excuses, mutually open their doors, talk seriously and meet as brothers and sisters. (Taesan
2005, 18-19)

He went to say that the tremendous advance in material civilization in the modern world is
pulling human beings deeper and deeper into materialism and the power of the human spirit is
becoming weakened. At this point, as we, without hesitation, earnestly appeal for all religions to
unite harmoniously for the sake of happiness and peace, I present the establishment of United
Religionswhich will, from a position of equality with the United Nations, do the job of
humanitys spiritual mother. (Taesa 2005, 20)

The official hymnal of Won Buddhism even includes a couple of hymns proclaiming that all
religions are essentially the same. One of those hymns, Song of the Principle of Nature, goes as
follows:

So many different branches, such a myriad of leaves, so many brilliant colors spring out of
only one root. All that exists we see as countless variations. Looking again, we see there is only one
energy.

The other hymn, Song of Three Equal Morals, provides an even more explicit statement of
the Won Buddhist doctrine that all religions are really just variations on one religion: Many
churches, many priests, preaching of their many beliefs. Many ways to see the same thing, one
source, one principle. We are just one household; we are one, just one, circle. We are all working for
the same goal. (Department of International Affairs of Won Buddhism 2003, 86-87)

Taesan hoped that his proposed United Religions would be a religious equivalent to the United
Nations, with special representatives of each nation's religion. United Religions was not

23
envisioned as a form for inter-faith dialogue only. Rather, he hoped it would provide an institutional
foundation for various religions from around the world to

make a combined effort performing all activities from a religious dimension and for the
promotion of human prosperity: activities of communication and friendship between religions,
activities of combined education for the sake of the salvation of the human spirit, activities of
united service for the sake of wiping out the disease of human poverty and ignorance,
activities for the sake of a solution to the moral problems of humanity, and religious activities
for the sake of prevention of war. (Taesam 2005, 21)

Won Buddhism was never able to realize its dream of a religious equivalent of the United
Nations. Instead, it has had to settle for active involvement in a number of inter-religious
organizations, including the United Religions Initiative, which originated in the United States but
had a monk from Koreas mainstream Jogye Order among its founding members. (United Religions
Initiative website)

24
 Won Buddhist clerics, Roman Catholics nuns, and Buddhist clerics from the Jogye order join
hands to encircle the monument honoring Sotaesans enlightenment. (Photo courtesy of Won
Buddhist Headquarters)

Motivated by the Ethics of Triple Identity, Won Buddhism has asserted its distinctive
character through participation in inter-faith organizations in three distinct ways. First of all, it is an
active member of the Association of Native Korean Religions. This is a way to proclaim that it is an
indigenous Korean religion, not an imported religion using scriptures of foreign origin like the
Jogye order. Second, it participates as an independent organization in international Buddhist
organizations such as the World Fellowship of Buddhists, both to strengthen its identity as Buddhist
and to show on the world stage that it is a different religious organization from mainstream Korean
Buddhism. Third, at home it is an active member of the Korean Council of Religious Leaders
(which includes Catholic, Protestant, mainstream Buddhist, and Confucian representatives, as well
as representatives from Won Buddhism and another new religion, Chndogyo) and the Korean

25
Conference of Religion for Peace (which also includes Muslim representatives). By placing its
representatives alongside Jogye representatives in such Korean ecumenical organizations, Won
Buddhist enhances its visibility as a separate and distinct religious community. It has done the same
thing outside of Korea. It has joined the Asian Council of Religion for Peace as well as the World
Conference on Religion and Peace. It also has an office at the United Nations as a recognized NGO.
Won Buddhism is using its inter-faith activities to ensure that other religious organizations, both
inside and outside of Korea, recognize Won Buddhism as a separate and distinct religion.
One more inter-faith activity deserves mention: Samsohoe, The Association of Three
Smiles, established in 1988 to bring together Roman Catholic nuns, Jogye Buddhist nuns, and Won
Buddhist nuns to present concerts of their respective sacred music together and to also travel around
the world together, visiting the sacred sites of each others religions. (Joongang Daily 1997) Again,
by standing alongside Jogye representatives, Won Buddhist clerics proudly proclaim their
independent status. In this particular case, photos of the nuns from those three traditions standing
together in their markedly different clerical clothing strengthens the image of Won Buddhism as just
as distinct from mainstream Korean Buddhism as Roman Catholicism is.

Conclusion

Are the various differences we have noted between Won Buddhism and other forms of
Buddhism in Korea sufficient to create a gap between Won Buddhism and mainstream Korean
Buddhist organizations large enough to justify labeling Won Buddhism a new religion? Have the
leaders of Won Buddhism managed to carve out a separate space for Won Buddhism on Koreas
diverse religious landscape? I agree with Won Buddhists as well as scholars such as Daniel J.
Adams and Michael Pye that the answer is yes, particularly when we take into account the
direction Won Buddhism has been moving in the last few decades.
Won Buddhism called itself an association for the study of the Buddhist dharma until 1947
when, taking advantage of the religious freedom that appeared on the Korean peninsula after the
Japanese occupation of Korea ended with Japans defeat in World War II, Won Buddhism registered
for the first time as a new religion and adopted the name Won Buddhism. (Chong 1997, 34)

26
Moreover, as noted earlier, in 1962 Won Buddhism revised some of its earlier scriptures to minimize
terminology that appeared too close to mainstream Buddhist terminology. (Chung 2003a, xiv, 353-
356, Jin Park 2004) On top of that, rank-and-file Won Buddhists themselves appear to be becoming
more conscious of themselves as Won Buddhists rather than as simply Buddhists. In the 2005
census in South Korea, as noted above, around 130,000 people declared that they were Won
Buddhists, compared to only 86,000 ten years earlier, in the 1995 census. At noted earlier, there are
probably more Won Buddhists than that in South Korea. Won Buddhist authorities recently claimed
to have over a million members, attending over 550 temples in South Korea alone as well as over 50
temples outside of Korea. (Won Buddhism website b) The number of temples in Korea, as
well as the size of the membership claimed by Won Buddhist headquarters, has
stayed roughly the same over the last twenty years, though the number of Won
Buddhist temples overseas has grown from 30 to 50 or so. Though that claim of over
one million Won Buddhists may be somewhat exaggerated, still it is probably safe to assume that
quite a few of the 10.7 million South Koreans who wrote on government census forms that they
were Buddhists frequently attend services at Won Buddhist temples, which would make them Won
Buddhists in the eyes of Won Buddhist authorities. Moreover, given the almost 46% increase in
those declaring themselves Won Buddhists in 2005, compared to the 1995 census, it is also safe to
assume that there is a growing trend among Won Buddhists to identify themselves specifically as
such. In other words, the distinction between mainstream Buddhism and Won Buddhism, and the
identity of Won Buddhism as a new religion, among the rank-and file appears to be strengthening.
Won Buddhism has also gained more visibility in the public arena. In 2009, when a state
funeral was held for former president Kim Daejung, representatives for four different religious
traditions were asked to participate in the funeral rites. Even though Kim was a devout Roman
Catholic, those who watched that funeral on television could see that, in addition to Catholic clerics,
there were also clerics representing Koreas Protestant community, the Buddhist Jogye community,
and Won Buddhism. (Adams 2009, 1) That was a sign that Won Buddhism had gained recognition
as one of the four major religious communities on the Korean peninsula.
Ironically, while Won Buddhism appears to be winning the battle for independent recognition
in Korea itself, it has found that, outside of Korea, it needs to emphasize its Buddhist roots. A recent

27
newspaper article by a Won Buddhist missionary in the United States revealed that the Westerners
most likely to show an interest in Won Buddhism are those who have grown tired of the highly
defined religiosity of Christianity and are looking for a spiritual philosophy or what they might term
spirituality instead. Often they are drawn to Buddhist philosophy and meditation practices. Won
Buddhism, to attract such potential converts, needs to point to its similarities with Buddhism while
at the same time distinguishing itself from its many other Buddhist competitors in the West by
presented itself as a reformed Buddhism more appropriate for the modern world than traditional
Buddhism. (Ha Sangi 2011)
That strategy is apparent on the home page of the Won Buddhism meditation center outside
the city of Philadelphia in the US. There Won Buddhism is described as a reformed Buddhism in
that it embraces the original Buddhas teachings and makes it relevant and suitable to contemporary
society. (Won Buddhist website c) Michael Pye, who observed Won Buddhism in Korea, argued
that it should not be considered a reformed Buddhism because it has diverged too much from
original Buddhism. However, if he had observed Won Buddhist missionaries in the West, he may
have modified his conclusion. Won Buddhist missionaries define Won Buddhism as a reform of
Buddhism, not in the sense of a true or loyal form of an original tradition which had been overlaid
or lost, (Pye 2002, 132) but in the sense of an improvement on that original tradition to match
changes in the world in which Buddhism must operate.
Won Buddhist leaders, both in Korea and abroad, will tell you that Won Buddhism is both a
Buddhist religion and a new religion, since it is a new form of Buddhism for a new age. In other
words, it is a new Buddhist religion, a conclusion Pye and I share. (Pye 2002, 141) Although Won
Buddhism has enough Buddhist coloring that the use of Buddhism in its name is not unjustified, and
Won Buddhism is not being disingenuous when it presents itself to potential Western converts as a
from of Buddhism, its leaders have ensured that it is different enough from the many varieties of
traditional Buddhism that it looks like a new religion and should be accepted as such. After all, if we
can talk about Soka Gakkai as a new religion rather than as just another Buddhist denomination,
surely we can grant Won Buddhism the same independent existence.

28
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