Limitations and Tasks of the Reform Order of the Jogye Order

The reform of the Jogye Order in 1994 completed the current order structure. Since then, the ideology and performance of the Reform Order have been regarded as absolute and negative evaluation has been forbidden. However, in recent years, objective evaluation of the Reform Order has been gradually made. The purpose of this study is to objectively present the limitations and tasks of the Jogye Order, thereby contributing to the formation of the ambience and structure of order management system suitable for a new era. This paper presented the limits of the Reform Order in the following four ways: First, due to the factions that emerged with the start of the Reform Order, politics has overflowed within the order, while religiosity has been lost. Second, the democratization and independence aimed by the Reform Order are the absolute values of secular organizations, not of religious organizations. Third, political and economic inequality occurred in the saṃgha as the Reform Order was devoted to the liquidation of opponents and the settlement of the electoral system. Fourth, the Reform Order focused on administrative reform, not on religious reform. This paper presents the following four tasks: First, the present Jogye Order should focus on the renewal of the saṃgha spirit, not on the institutional reform. Second, the harmony of the saṃgha must be pursued through 1) the dissolution of the factions, while strengthening positive function of them, 2) reconsideration of the disciplinary punishment in 1994, and 3) the realization of equality in possession and distribution. Third, it is necessary to change the current bhikṣu-centered order management so that bhikṣuṇīs and lay believers can participate in the administration of the Order and temples. Fourth, it is necessary to reorganize the central organizations so that higher priority can be given to spiritual practice and propagation, not to administrative system.