본고는 사명당 유정의 선시와 선사상과의 상관성에 관한 고찰이다. 이는 기존의 이른바 ‘호국애민의 시’ 내지 ‘승려와 의승장 사이에서 갈등하는 시’, ‘승려와 유자와의 관계에서 고뇌하는 시’류 등은 제외된 것으로, 사명유정의 선시와 오도 및 선사상과의 관계성에만 집중된 것이다. 사명유정의 평가는 많은 부분 국가의 환란을 막고 국태민안에 앞장 선 의승장으로서의 활약에 편중되어 있다고 할 수 있다. 이는 의승장으로서의 사명유정의 활약이 컸던 탓도 있지만 당시 숭유억불 시대에 정치적 영향력이 집중되어 있던 유가들에 의해 평가가 거의 이루어졌다는 점을 감안한다면, 승려로서의 사명유정의 오도와 선사상체계가 집중적으로 밝혀지지 않은 것은 안타까운 일이다. 게송으로부터 유래된 선시에는 각 선사의 오도와 그 선사상이 오롯이 담겨져 있는 경우가 대부분이다. 사명유정의 선시도 옥천에서의 돈오(頓悟) 이후 확연한 변화를 보였다. 남종의 조사선지를 이어 돈오한 사명유정은 이후 무착(無着)·무구(無垢)의 깨달음을 입전수수의 행화로 펼쳤다. 기존의 교학관과 수행관과는 현격한 차이를 보이는 남종선의 큰 특징은 교외별전·불립문자의 격외사상과 돈오에 기인하고 있으며, 이러한 돈오사상은 스스로 남종선의 맥을 이었음을 분명히 하고 있는 사명유정의 선시에서도 그대로 구현되고 있다. 남종선의 핵심사상이 오롯이 녹아있는 그의 선시에서 드러나는 주요 사상은 ‘남종선의 격외선지(格外禪旨)와 돈오’, ‘마조의 무상심지법과 임제의 수처작주’, 그리고 ‘활구(活句)의 간화선 수행’으로 요약할 수 있다. 특히 선종의 용어를 직접적으로 차용하여 부처님의 정법안장과 그 요체, 그리고 간화선 참구법 등을 시화한 것은 사명유정 선시의 중요한 특징이라 할 것이다. 이렇게 사명유정의 오도와 선사상은 그의 선시에 직접적으로 투사됨으로써, 이 둘은 서로 불가분의 상관성을 가진다고 할 수 있다.

This article explores the Seon (禪) spirit of Ven. Samyeong-dang Yujeong (四溟堂 惟政, 1544~1610) as expressed in his poetry. He was renowned for his career as the commander in chief of the Buddhist monk troops that fought against Japanese invasions. Many of his poems are on his patriotic love for the country and the people. He also wrote several on the conflict between his Buddhist monkhood and duty of troop commander. Some other poems of his are on the dissension between Buddhism and Confucianism. This article, however, puts focus on his poems regarding his Seon experiences. Ven. Yujeong’s achievements in the wars were undeniably remarkable and crucial. In assessments of Ven. Yujeong’s activities, however, too much importance was attached to his contributions as a commander in chief of the monk troops, while his career as a Seon Buddhist monk was neglected. One reason for it was that most of his contemporary assessors were Confucianists who had taken up political and cultural hegemony in Joseon dynasty and thus were in charge of the administration of the kingdom. They were just interested in Ven. Yujeong’s military achievements, without paying attention to his religious concern. In compensation for the biased approaches to Ven. Yujeong’s career, this article attempts to check out his experiences of Seon practice and awakening expressed in his poetry and to come up with a systematic understanding of his Seon spirit based upon the core doctrines of the Patriarchal Seon tradition. Seon poetry, that may be regarded as a version of gātha in old Buddhist tradition, has been an effective medium conveying Seon masters’ spirit and experiences. It thus was natural that there appeared obvious changes in Ven. Yujeong’s poems after his enlightenment experience. He achieved ‘sudden enlightenment’ in accordance with the Patriarchal Seon of the so-called Southern School. He thenceforth put his enlightened spirit of non-attachment and non-defilement into practice through his wordly activities. The Seon of the Southern School had prominent characteristics with obvious differences from previous Buddhist doctrines and praxes. The most crucial characteristics of the Southern School Seon were the ideal of sudden enlightenment and iconoclastic spirit based upon the doctrines of “no dependence on language” and “transmission [of enlightenment] separate from texts.” Ven. Yujeong himself clearly stated that he was an heir of the Southern School Seon, and expressed its sudden enlightenment ideal in his poems. Ven. Yujeong’s poetry is permeated with such core spirit of the Southern School Seon as Ma-tzu’s “the mind-basis with no marks” (wu-xing-xin-di) Lin-chi’s “to be the master of the place wherever you may go and to make truthful anywhere you stand” (sui-chu-zuo-zhu and li-chu-jie-zhen) and Ta-hui’s “kung-an meditation of ‘live words.’” Direct employment of Seon vocabulary in poeticizing the essences of Buddhist enlightenment and kung-an meditation was an important characteristic of Ven. Yunjeong’s poetry. This article clarifies how Ven. Yujeong’s enlightenment and spirit were directly projected into his poetry.

Ven. Samyeong-dang Yujeong, Southern School Seon, sudden enlightenment, Ma-tzu, wu-xiang-xin-di, sui-chu-zuo-zhu, li-chu-jie-zhen