Powerful Tiny Scriptures: Miniature Sutras in Korean Buddhism

Korean Religious Texts in Iconic and Performative Rituals - Yohan Yoo

Yohan Yoo [+-]
Seoul National University
Yohan Yoo is a Professor of Comparative Religion at Seoul National University. His previous publications include three books in Korean: Myths of Our Era (2012), Understanding Religious Studies (2020), and Understanding Religious Symbolism (2021). He has also co-authored Cosmologies of Pure Realms and the Rhetoric of Pollution (Routledge, 2021) and co-edited Books as Bodies and as Sacred Beings (Equinox, 2021) with James W. Watts.

Description

In Chapter 6, I will demonstrate that miniature sutras allow Korean Buddhists to feel the Buddha’s presence and protection in their daily lives. Miniature sutras are so small that they are difficult, if not impossible, to read, but these texts are not intended for study. Instead, the mere presence of these miniature sutras is thought to be efficacious. Many Korean Buddhists possess small Buddha statues at home into whose hollow bellies they insert miniature sutras. To those Buddhists, sutras, which are the dharma of the Buddha, activate the statues and turn them into the Buddha himself. In addition, they believe that miniature sutras in their hands or pockets bless them and protect them from evil. Scriptures as the word-body of the Buddha are thought to work for Buddhists irrespective of their semantic content, and without any explicit ritual recitation or repetition.

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Citation

Yoo, Yohan. Powerful Tiny Scriptures: Miniature Sutras in Korean Buddhism. Korean Religious Texts in Iconic and Performative Rituals. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 85-98 Nov 2024. ISBN 9781800504974. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=45238. Date accessed: 11 Dec 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.45238. Nov 2024

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