Sot'aesan's Essays on the Reformation of Korean Buddhism

The basic idea behind Sotaesans reformation of Buddhist doctrine and the monastic system was based on the idea of skillful-means (方便, K. pangp'yon; S. up2ya). He considered the Buddha's teachings and Buddhist systems as the skillful-means that must be properly applied to the contemporary Korean society. Throughout his ideas on the reformation of Buddhism, Sot'aesan maintained the main principle of modifying or renovating some Buddhist doctrines as well as the whole of the monastic system, without changing the main tenets of the Buddha's teachings. In the Hyokshillon, Sot'aesan pointed to six central ideas of hi