鏡峰 靖錫(1892~1982)은 근대 한국불교를 대표하는 선승으로 法名은 靖錫, 法號는 鏡峰, 詩號는 圓光이다. 36세에 오도를 이룬 후 통도사 극락암에 선원을 개설하고 수많은 납자들을 제접하며 근대 禪의 중흥을 이끌기도 하였다. 경봉은 평생의 삶을 『日誌』로 남겼는데 여기에는 개인적 일상에서부터 사회적 현안까지 세세하게 기록되어 있다. 이 자료를 바탕으로 삶을 재구하고 시간대별 시 전개 상황과 삶의 특징적 면모들을 살펴보았다. 경봉의 출가 초기 시에 대한 관심은 은사인 聖海를 통해 많은 지식인들과 교유할 수 있는 계기가 마련되었고 萬海와의 인연으로 화엄에 관심을 가지고 대중화를 위해 노력한다. 36세 때 개최한 화엄산림 법회는 이러한 관심의 첫 대중적 실천이며 이 기간 중에 오도를 맛보기도 한다. 이후 끊임없는 반조와 방공?구하?한암 등과의 교유를 통해 당대 선지식으로서 자리하였고 항상 간화선의 대중화를 위해 헌신하면서 수좌들에게는 참선수행을 우선하였다. 특히 후학 제접과 대중 교화에 시를 활용한 점은 매우 인상적이다. 경봉은 일상에서 도를 구현하고 자연을 통해 무한한 자유를 얻고자 하였으며 삶을 있는 그대로 받아들이고자 한다. 특히 ‘平常心是道’를 기본으로 절대적 무심을 노래하였고 궁극적으로는 ‘物我一體’의 삶을 보여주고자 하였다. 또한, 90이 넘은 노구에도 상당설법을 하는 모습은 경봉의 대중포교에 대한 열정을 짐작할 수 있는 일화이기도 하다. 본 연구는 경봉의 시에 대한 연구이며 이를 토대로 선승들의 시문학이 활발하게 연구되어지길 기대한다.
Gyeongbong Jeongseok(1892~1982) was a leading Seon master representing Tongdosa and a witness of modern Korean Buddhism, who had lived during the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War, until the 1980s. His Buddhist name(beopmyeong) is Jeongseok, his precept name(beopho) is Gyeongbong, and his posthumous title(siho) is Wongwang. Gyeongbong has left a journal of his life, which includes his daily life, personal feeling in all things of nature, associating with the surrounding people, a variety of literary works that help to understand the thinking of Gyeongbong, the appearance of Tongdosa at that time, pending issues of the religious order, all sorts of matters of the country, and the interchange with the Seon masters in detail. In this paper, I examined the development of the poems in terms of the time of life and its characteristic aspects in life. Gyeongbong‘s interest in poetry in the early days was highly influenced by personal interest as well as the influence of Seonghae Namgeo who was a teacher of him. Gyeongbong''s interest in Hwaeomgyeong (Avatamsaka Sutra) was initiated by Manhae. The full-scale popularization of Hwaeom was started from December 8, 1927(age36), to January 3, 1928(age37), thorough the Hwaeom Forest Convention. At dawn on December 13, 1927(age36), the spiritual enlightment suddenly came to break the framework of Hwaeom, which had been bordered within the boundaries of Hwaeom, and utilized the patriarchal meditation truly and began to live a life of no hindrance between the principle and particulars as a Seon master. Afterward, Gyeongbong showed a joy for his enlightenment and a firm belief in the Juin-gong (our Buddha nature) through constant reflection. Baekunam Banggong was the only colleague who can be called as a friend among the many people who appeared in the life of Gyeongbong, who had been together during the younger years of Gyeongbong. Guha was an elder brother of Gyeongbong, but he was also a teacher and a colleague in his life, and about asceticism, he showed rather exemplary brotherhood by asking for Gyeongbong''s teaching. Gyeongbong is a Seon master dedicated to the popularization of Ganhwa Seon (Word contemplation meditation). He considered meditation practice to be a top priority, with mastering Seon, teaching, chanting, and prayer, and exhibiting Gyeongbong''s conciliatory Buddhism. As a result of Boim through Enlightment, the advice of contemporary Seon masters, and the constant asceticism, the tradition of the religious order of Gyeongbong began to be established. In particular, inspection and reproach through poetry can be said to be a tradition of the religious order of Gyeongbong which is hard to find in Korean Buddhism. I examined the enhancement of the tradition of the religious order through the Seokjeong. Seokjeong was greatly influenced by the asceticism of the Gyeongbong and also in poetry. The method of teaching students of Gyeongbong which is examined through Seokjeong revealed the style of Joju or Unmun which cannot be found in Deoksan or Imje, and the development of Seon resembled the method of Hongin. After establishing the tradition of the religious order, He also realized the formlessness based on the true freedom that he gained from nature, and he also learned to accept the life as it is. Since his 50s when he reached his apogee, he began to live a mentally relaxed life. He sang absolute nothing on the basis of ''The ordinary mind is the Way'', and ultimately he wanted to show the life of ''the unity of the ego and the outside world''. In the second half of his life, this sort of the tradition of the religious order was demonstrated through associating with many people. The poems that appeared in this process are connoting the ideological tendencies of Gyeongbong. Geongbong expressed his humanity not only to his family but also to his religious order and country. His will was shown in the scene of sermon when he was his 90s. I hope that this study would be the occasion to study the poetry of Gyeongbong and other Tongdosa poem master monks more segmentally and specifically in the future, so that people will examine how active the interest of the modern Tongdosa monks in poetry is. Also, based on this, I hope that the study on the poetry of many modern poem master monks associating with Gyeongbong will be conducted.
