종교적 삶에서 비의도적 죄지음의 문제 - 기독교, 불교, 유교를 중심으로

Unintentional Guilt in Religious Life ─focused on Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism─

&nbsp;&nbsp;This essay will study the aspect of unintentional actions related to guilt in three religions: Christianity, Buddhism. and Confucianism. This is because unintentional guilt has a worse influence on human communities than intentional guilt. In particular, each religion has pursued a morally ideal person and community. In this sense, the matter of unintentional guilt is commonly the worst obstacle of establishing moral community in each religious life. Even though there are different views among those religions, therefore. unintentional guilt, the question of this essay will be expected to have a similar feature to answer.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Concerning unintentional guilt in Old Testament. firstly, there is a concept of unintentional sin in Leviticus, 5:2~5. Here that is completely connected with "the Lord&quot;s commands." That is, the worst thing that can destroy the Lord&quot;s commands is unintentional sin. Therefore, the warning against it goes from the whole Israelite community, a leader and a member of the community, to human beings. And for expiating unintentional sin, there is a Christian tradition of "the scapegoat," which is the means by which guilt is evaded.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Secondly, in Buddhism, the notion of unintentional guilt seems to be based on the principle of karma and the view of Yogacarins. The most important concept here is "seed-consciousness," which is a link between former and present existence, and between present and future existence. Then, unintentional guilt is the context of consciousness because of the result of past actions (karma) saved in the stock and unconsciously brought out at that moment or in the present. In particular, unintentional guilt comes from ignorance in terms of the chain of causation. Therefore, to remove its possibility is to realize any ignorance of an agent.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Thirdly, for Confucian traditions, arguments about human guilt are closely related to those of human nature. However, they must be understood in the context of the manifestation of goodness, because evil as well as goodness are inherent in human nature, in particular, in terms of Confucius. In this sense, he emphasizes the importance of learning and studying to develop virtues, and of the ethics of self-consideration. That is, the best way to remove the elements of evil is within the very self. In other words, his main point is to turn the seed of evil into the development of goodness. Therefore, unintentional guilt in Confucius must be recognised by an agent itself.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;In conclusion, the reason why unintentional guilt is more crucial in religious contexts might be that if it is not realized, it could be the main source of destroying an ideal community: the Kingdom of God, the community of Bodhisattvas, or the community of Ren. In this sense, the most important element for reforming unintentional guilt in religious life is to be aware of unintentional guilt as guilt. Without this stage in reforming unintentional guilt, an agent could not escape from the chain of evil. For example, in Leviticus, only those who are aware of unintentional sins can be cleared by the scapegoat; in Buddhism, only those who are aware of the karma of unintentional guilt can purify the seed-consciousness of the self through the good will of the self; and in Confucianism, only those who are aware of their errors and guilt can cultivate the nature of goodness through ceaseless self-reflection, learning, and practice. Even though there are different views of evil and guilt among these religions, an attempt to make individuals aware of their unintentional guilt has commonly been emphasized and suggested as the basic way to establish an ideal community.