A Study on the Mutual Exchanges between Ancient Religion of Korean Peninsula and Buddhism in the age of Adoption of Buddhism

Abstract

The introduction of Buddhism to Northeast Asia including Korean peninsula stimulated neighboring religion. Koguryo(高句麗), Baekje(百濟) and Silla(新羅) by importing Buddhism changed the ideology of politics, control ideas and moral cultures.BR The category of indigenous religion of Northeast Asia area before the influx of Buddhism was beliefs of heaven along with stars, goddess and fortune telling and curing disease, etc, and most of those categories were found in Korean peninsula including Kaya(伽倻) that establish the religious rite system for their spirits of mountain, star, river and sea by their rulers.BR The religious affinity of Buddhism toward other religion where Buddhism was propagated comes from Esoteric Buddhism(密敎) that was appeared in Gupta dynasty of 3rd-4th century in India. Contrary to Exoteric Buddhism(顯敎) adopted the elements of religious faith of Hinduism, like belief of heaven, spirit of nature, celestial bodies and shaman’s rituals. The advent of Esoteric Buddhism was to drive for the Indian masses of low understanding of religious belief to developed enlightenment of Buddhism. So just like the case of India the Esoteric Buddhism as Mahay?na idea made it possible to accept the foreign folk religion near to shamanism and introduced and developed Buddhism it to a political and social ideology and cultural philosophy.BR Most of the folk belief in Korean peninsula were replaced by elements of Esoteric Buddhism, and it produced a unique culture found only in Korean peninsula, for example, interprets Odae Mountain as a Mandala that changed folk belief of mountain and establish the incarnation idea that those Buddha and Bodhisattva resides in real world of living beings, namely Sill astate.