▲ Monk Seongta. Monk Seongta, who served as the 25th, 28th, and 29th head of Bulguksa Temple, passed away on the 15th at Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province. He is 83 years old and 72 years old.
Monk Seongta went forth from Bulguksa Temple as a monk from Wolsan Monk. After serving as a lecturer at Beopjusa Sangha University and a general secretary at Bulguksa Temple, he served as a member of the central council of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism from 1980 to 1998 for the 6th to 11th generations. He took the lead in propagation by serving as the director of the Jogye Order of Buddhism, and also served as the chairman of the National Headquarters Association and a director of the Dongguk University Foundation. He was a senior member of the Jogye Order and he served as the head of Bulguksa Temple (the highest adult of the temple).
Monk Seongta showed outstanding abilities as an educator and a scholar. In 1980, he served as the head of the Jogye Order of Academic Affairs and changed the central Sanghadae system, which had been divided into monks and nuns, to lay the groundwork for incorporation into regular universities. He wrote papers such as ‘Baekam Thought’, ‘Gyeongheo’s Seon Thought’, ‘Gyeongheo Seonsa and Buddhism in the late Joseon Dynasty’, ‘Korean Buddhism and Social Character’, and translated ‘Fresh Festival’. His books include ‘Happiness is where the heart stops’, ‘Geumo House’, and ‘Nature and I’.
As a first-generation environmental activist, he passionately devoted himself to the environmental movement for nearly 15 years. He has been active in various fields for civil society, such as being active as a ‘co-representative of Gyeongju Gyeongshilyeon’. The funeral ceremony will be held at Bulguksa Temple at 11 am on the 19th.
Reporter Ryu Jae-min
2023-08-15 07:23:44
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