약 60여 년 전부터 지구의 환경 위기에 대해 많은 지식인들이 경종을 울려 왔다. 하지만 환경오염과 생태계 파괴가 심화되는 가운데 우리나라에서도 환경과 생태에 관한 학문적 연구가 활발해졌다. 우리나라 불교학계에서도 1980년대 이후 불교의 연기사상과 생명존중사상을 바탕으로 생태문제에 대한 논의와 연구가 산발적으로 이루어진다. 그것은 주로 응용 불교학의 한 분야로서의 ‘불교생태학’에 관한 것이지만, 융합학문 또는 학제적 연구로서의 ‘불교생태학’에 관한 것도 포함된다. 한국 불교계에서 환경과 생태 및 생명에 관련된 본격적인 연구는 ‘에코포럼’을 중심으로 이루어졌다. 에코포럼은 불교와 생태학을 비롯한 다양한 학문분야에서 학제적 접근을 통해 생태와 환경문제를 집중적으로 논의하고 실질적인 해법을 모색하기 위해 2004년 10월 창립되었다. 불교생태학 관련 단독 저술도 몇몇출간되었다. 그 가운데 김종욱의 『불교생태철학』(2004)과 서재영의 『선의 생태철학』(2007)은 불교생태학의 기본 이론서로 자리매김하고 있다. 지금까지 한국에서 불교생태학은 ‘생태 변증론’이 중심이었지만, 앞으로는 우리가 어떤 태도와 행동으로 뭇 생명과 자연물에 다가갈 것인가 하는 실천론에 대해서도 체계적인 연구가 이루어질 것으로 전망된다.
Regarding the Earth's environmental crisis, many intellectuals have warned about the serious consequences of the destruction of worldwide ecosystems. However, in the midst of continued environmental pollution and ecosystem degradation, academic research on ecology has actively increased. Since the 1980s, within Buddhist academia in Korea, ecological discussions and research on the basis of Dependent Origination theory and life-respecting thought have been sporadically made. They have been primarily concerned with Buddhist ecology in the field of applied Buddhist studies, but Buddhist ecology in interdisciplinary and fusion studies hs also been paid attention. A full-fledged Buddhist environment, ecology, and life research in Korea started with the foundation of the Eco-Forum. The Eco-Forum was established in October 2004, in diverse disciplines including Buddhism and ecology through an interdisciplinary approach, to focus on ecological and environmental issues with the aim of seeking practical solutions. Some Buddhist writings have been published exclusively for ecological purposes. Among them, The Eco-philosophy of Buddhism (2004) by Jonguk Kim and The Eco-philosophy of Seon (2007) by Jaeyoung Seo have provided the basic theory. Until now, Buddhist eco-apologetics has played a key role in Buddhist ecology. However, it is expected that a practical aim of Buddhist ecology is to get closer to all sentient beings and natural objects. This concept will be researched systematically in the future.
Regarding the Earth's environmental crisis, many intellectuals have warned about the serious consequences of the destruction of worldwide ecosystems. However, in the midst of continued environmental pollution and ecosystem degradation, academic research on ecology has actively increased. Since the 1980s, within Buddhist academia in Korea, ecological discussions and research on the basis of Dependent Origination theory and life-respecting thought have been sporadically made. They have been primarily concerned with Buddhist ecology in the field of applied Buddhist studies, but Buddhist ecology in interdisciplinary and fusion studies hs also been paid attention. A full-fledged Buddhist environment, ecology, and life research in Korea started with the foundation of the Eco-Forum. The Eco-Forum was established in October 2004, in diverse disciplines including Buddhism and ecology through an interdisciplinary approach, to focus on ecological and environmental issues with the aim of seeking practical solutions. Some Buddhist writings have been published exclusively for ecological purposes. Among them, The Eco-philosophy of Buddhism (2004) by Jonguk Kim and The Eco-philosophy of Seon (2007) by Jaeyoung Seo have provided the basic theory. Until now, Buddhist eco-apologetics has played a key role in Buddhist ecology. However, it is expected that a practical aim of Buddhist ecology is to get closer to all sentient beings and natural objects. This concept will be researched systematically in the future.
