 | | Feb.2003 | Main Platform Painting, Kobulsa Temple, Orangevale, CA, U.S.A. | | Sept.2002 | 15 Bodhidharma paintings for fund-raising exhibition for a new Korea-U.S. Buddhist Cultural Center in New York | | May.2002 | Large Bodhidharma and Avalokitesvara ink scrolls for Cambridge Zen Center, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. | | Oct.2001 | "Dancheong" temple ornamentation, Bodhidharma, and Skanda Guardian paintings for Buddhanara Temple, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. | | Nov.2000 | Demonstrated Buddhist art techniques as part of Acanetv's Data+TV technology display at COMDEX Fall/2000, Las Vegas Convention Center, U.S.A. | | May.2000 | Invited artist, Vesak Exhibition of Fine Art, Phor Kark See Temple, Singapore | Dec. 1999-
Mar.2000
| Completed platform door designs at the Preaching Hall, Wat Suthat
Thepwararam, Bangkok as first non-Thai to do creative art work on a Royal Thai Temple | | 1998 - | Completed large Main Platform Painting for Korea's Haeinsa Temple Propagation Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia | | 1995 - | Invited artist, '95 Special Exhibition of Korean Buddhist Art, Seoul | | 1995 - | Invited artist, 6th Buddhist Art Exhibition sponsored by Korean Association of Buddhist Artists, Seoul | | 1994 - | Invited artist, Korean National Religious Art Exhibition, Seoul Arts Center, October 1994 | | 1994 - | Group exhibition, Korean Religious Culture Foundation, Seoul | | 1993 - | Article on Korean Buddhist Temple Art Tradition published in UNESCO's Korea Journal (Fall edition) | | 1993 - | Completed large Ksitigarbha Painting for Munsusa (Manjusri) Temple in hometown of Wakefield, Mass. U.S.A. | | 1990 - | Member, Korean Dharma Teachers Association, Seoul | | 1990 - | Special Placement (5th Place), 13th Korean National Buddhist Art Exhibition, Seoul | | 1988 - | Translated Echoes from Mt. Kaya, a collection of Dharma talks by the late Ven. Songchol, Patriarch, Chogye Zen Order of Buddhism, Korea | | 1987 - | Founding Member, Dharma Instructor and Devotional Leader, Lotus Lantern International Buddhist Center, Seoul | | 1987 - | Certified Dharma Instructor, Chogye Zen Order of Buddhism, Seoul | | 1986 - | Began apprenticeship in Buddhist art under Ven. Manbong, Korean Living National Treasure in Buddhist Art, Pongwonsa Temple, Seoul | | 1985 - | Placement, 11th Korean National Buddhist Art Exhibition, Seoul | | 
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성철 스님 법문집
『Opening the eye』
역자 브라이언 베리
성철 스님이 59년의 수행 기간 동안 남기신 법문과 인터뷰를 통해 엿볼 수 있었던 수행의 깊이와 부처님의 가르침, 그리고 깨달음의 세계가 영문으로 번역됐다. 2002년 출간됐던 성철 스님 법문집 『이 뭐꼬』를 영문으로 번역 『Opening the eye』(김영사 刊, 9,900원)로 소개한 역자는 미국인 브라이언 베리〈사진〉 씨다.
1960년대 후반 평화봉사단으로 처음 한국을 찾았던 그는 지금까지 한국에 머물며 탱화 작가이자 법사, 번역가로 다양한 활동을 해온 특이한 이력의 소유자다. 베리 씨는 이번 번역이 한국의 선을 세계에 알리는 촉매제가 되길 희망하고 있다. 오는 10월 독일 프랑크푸르트에서 열리는 국제 도서전에도 출품될 예정이기 때문이다. 다음은 베리 씨와의 일문일답.
-법문은 일반 글과는 달리 직역이 안되는 부분도 많은데 번역과정에서 어려움은 없었나.
88년에 『자기를 바로 봅시다』를 번역했던 경험이 큰 도움이 됐다. 원문을 충분히 읽었다. 번역하는 과정에서도 수시로 원문을 읽으면서 느낌과 담긴 뜻을 포착해내는데 주력했다. 의역은 피할 수 없지만 원 뜻을 훼손하지 않으면서 쉽게 이해 할 수 있도록 해야 하는 만큼 눈으로 읽기보다는 마음으로 읽은 셈이다. 독자들도 마음으로 읽어주길 바란다. 원고의 양은 그리 많지 않은 편이었는데, 1차 번역에만 꼬박 2달이 걸렸다.
-성철 스님이나 한국 불교에 대한 사전 정보가 전무한 외국인들에게 스님의 말씀이 이해될 수 있을까 걱정된다.
불교에 대한 지식이 전무한 사람들보다는 한국이나 한국의 불교에 대해 어느 정도 관심이 있는 사람들이 이 책의 독자가 될 것이라고 생각한다. 그런 사람들이라면 쉽게 이해하고 공감할 것이라고 생각한다.
-성철 스님 법문 번역은 처음이 아닌데 스님의 법문이 외국인들에게 어떤 의미를 전달할 수 있을 것으로 생각하나.
번역에 있어서 가장 중요한 것은 정서를 느끼는 것이다. 번역이란 문법 상으로만 따서져 맞다 그르다를 결정할 수 있는 것이 아니다. 더욱이 종교적인 말씀에서는 더욱 그러다. 단적인 예로 ‘우주’라는 단어를 번역하면서 복수형(-s)을 사용했다. 우리 각자의 마음 속에 있는 우주와 작은 물방울 하나 속에 담겨 있는 우주를 뜻하는 것이다. 독자가 마음으로부터 많은 우주를 느끼길 바랄 뿐이다.
-현대를 살아가는 사람들이 가슴에 새겨야할 성철 스님의 말씀이 있다면.
넓은 마음을 갖는 것이다. 성철 스님을 시봉했던 원택 스님도 번역 작업을 하고 있던 내게 “이 책을 읽는 이들이 넓은 마음을 가질 수 있도록 번역해 달라”고 말씀하셨다. 우리 모두가 넓은 마음을 갖는다면 훨씬 더 살기 좋은 세상이 될 것이다.
[법보신문] 남수연 기자 namsy@beopbo.com
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Main Platform Painting
(Dharma Assembly on Mt. Grdhrakuta)
Colors on cotton, 145 cm (H) x 220cm(W)
Haeinsa Temple Propagation Hall, Jakarta, Indonesia 1998
This is the most common type of painting found at the main platform in Korean Buddhist temples. Sakyamuni Buddha is delivering the Lotus Sutra, and below him are Four Great Bodhisattvas (from the Buddha's right to left, Mahashamaprapta, Manjusri, Samantabhadra and Avalokitesvara); two of his 10 disciples to either side (larger paintings usually include all 10 disciples); and in the four corners, the Guardians of the Four Directions.
Sakyamuni Platform Painting (Lotus Sutra Dharma Assembly) Gobulsa Temple, Orangevale, California 2003 The Buddha's mudra is different, and in this painting only two bodhisattvas attend him, Manjusri to his lower left and Samanthabadra to his lower right. The aura is also larger and more colorful and it lacks a border to imply that the Buddha's aura flows throughout the universes. I also did his robes in chocolate brown, which tends to bring out both the aura colors and the gold designs on the robes better. Click on the photo.. | | | | 
Amitabha Shrine Painting (abbreviated)
Colors on cotton, 110cm (H) x 88cm (W)
Private Collection, Germany 1998
An abbreviated version of an Amitabha Platform Painting, this shrine painting includes the Four Great Bodhisattvas and two disciples. Avalokitesvara, with a small Amitabha in her crown, is the Bodhisattva of Compassion and is always to the inside left of Amitabha ( Buddha of Infinite Light ), as opposed to the outside left in a platform painting featuring Sakyamuni Buddha (above).
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Guardian Painting
Sejinam Hermitage, Seoul 2004
Guardian paintings are some of Korea's most unique and interesting paintings. They are usually at the Guardian Platform on the wall to the Buddha's left in a Korean temple. The figures range from eight to 104, and they include a fascinating range of devas, gods, and spirits from India, Southeast Asia and China as well as Korean folk gods. The painting serves to protect the Buddha and bodhisattvas, the Dharma, the temple grounds, and all who come to practice. The central figure is Skanda, son of Shiva, and the two haloed figures above are Brahma and Indra, all from Hinduism.
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Buddhist Jewels
Backdrop for a Private Shrine
Colors on hemp, 120cm (H) x 120cm (W)
Seoul, 1995
The jewels of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas symbolize their many virtues and compassion in particular, and are considered crystallizations of the fragrance from their virtuous deeds. This original work features the jewels taken from the line drawings of large Buddha and Avalokitesvara Thangka paintings which are displayed outdoors on ceremonial occasions such as Buddha's Birthday. In this private shrine, a statue of Buddha sits in the front center, with the white lotus just above his head.
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| Bodhisattva Paintings | | | | 
Manjusri, Bodhisattva of Wisdom
Colors on mulberry paper, 90cm (H) x 60cm (W)
Munsusa (Manjusri) Temple, Wakefield, Mass., U.S.A. 1992
Representing Buddha's twin pillars of wisdom and compassion, respectively, the Bodhisattvas Manjusri and Samantabhadra often appear together unless a temple is dedicated to one of them. They also appear as supportive to Sakyamuni Buddha in a main platform painting as in the first picture in the "Temple Paintings" section. Samantabhadra often appears on an elephant while Manjusri rides a lion-like creature. This version of Manjusri was done on paper and scrolled for the Munsusa (Manjusri) Temple in Massachusetts.
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Lotus Lantern Avalokitesvara
Colors on hemp, 121cm (H) x 56cm (W)
Lotus Lantern International Buddhist Center, Seoul, 1992
Lotus lanterns represent wisdom and enlightenment. They are used throughout Korea around the time of Buddha's Birthday (the 8th day of the 4th lunar month each year, usually in May), both at temples and in parades. In recent years, lantern festivals have also been held along major rivers with candle-lit lanterns floated down the river. Although not one of the traditional 32 forms of Avalokitesvara, this Lotus Lantern Avalokitesvara was done for the International Buddhist Center bearing the name.
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Avalokitesvara
Colors on hemp, 115cm (H) x 62cm (W)
Private collection, Seoul, 1997
A traditional painting material, hemp is used less commonly nowadays, particularly for large temple paintings; but it is excellent for a variety of smaller works. The hemp brings out the strength of the traditional tanch'ong colors used in Korean Buddhist art. This Avalokitesvara was taken from the line drawing of an old temple painting and it is unusual in that Vairocana (the Cosmic Buddha associated with the Avatamsaka Sutra) stands in the crown instead of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light, who usually sits in the crown.
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Avalokitesvara
India ink on mulberry paper, 135cm (H) x 70cm (W)
Line is the most important ingredient of all Oriental art and training in Buddhist art requires months and even years of practice to perfect an even line throughout the painting. This line drawing variation of Avalokitesvara (notice Amitabha in the crown) is simple with shaded areas of light India ink and a touch of pink on the lotus.
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Bodhisattva of Healing
Colors on mulberry paper, 90cm (H) x 60cm (W)
Private collection, Germany
Like the Healing Buddha, the Bodhisattva of Healing holds a medicine bowl in hand. The Healing Buddha is a common, and sometimes complex painting found in many temples throughout Korea, often with accompanying statues. Paintings of the Healing Bodhisattva are less common but may be found in smaller shrines.
. | | | |  Avalokitesvara
India ink on mulberry paper, 135cm (H) x 70cm (W)
Private collection, Seoul
This is the same line drawing as the ink drawing above , except that gradations of India ink were used on the same line drawing on either side of the central Avalokitesvara to create the effect of an emerging apparition.
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| | | ... | Avalokitesvara
Colors on hemp, 115cm X 62cm
1999 About the Art
|  Ven. Manbong
.......By his own account, my teacher Ven. Manbong was awestruck the first time he gazed up at temple art, and he decided there and then that he wanted to do Buddhist art for the rest of his life. Soon after becoming a novice for monkhood, he began his long journey to becoming Korea's foremost Buddhist artist of the century. That was around 1920.
.......On August 1, 1972, along with two other monks -- the late Ven. Ilsop and the late Ven. Wolju -- he was given the title (commonly called "Living National Treasure") of "Preserver of Intangible Cultural Property No. 48, Tanch'ong.". Tanch'ong, literally "red-blue," is the term for colorful cosmic patterns and designs on temples and other important buildings. In a broader sense, it is the traditional term which encompassed all Buddhist temple painting.
.......Ven. Manbong did not hold his first local exhibition until 1989. The early 1990s brought with them two exhibitions in Japan, an unprecedented number of major domestic projects (including those for two new halls at Pongwonsa, and huge paintings for Kakwonsa in suburban Chonan and for the Army Headquarters Dharma Hall at Mt. Kyeyong), and two pottery & painting exhibitions in Seoul in 1993. Then in October 1998, as he neared his 89th birthday, Ven. Manbong received the much-deserved Order of Cultural Merit Silver Crown, the highest possible cultural award given by the Korean government.
.......People appreciate Ven. Manbong not just for his tremendous artistic abilities and his lifelong dedication to one pursuit. As a personality, he's one-in-a-million. Despite his prestigious rank, he is genuinely humble. In the Mahayana tradition, he usually prostrated simultaneously to anyone who prostrated to him, at least until he injured his hip in the mid-1990s. Also, he has never been heard to boast. And he indeed lives up to his name, "Ten-thousand Services," by serving all: Literally millions have chanted and practiced before, and been inspired and comforted by his paintings over the decades. Yet Ven. Manbong took as much pleasure in feeding dried cuttlefish to his now-departed pet duck and the neighborhood dogs as he did in his work. He evidently once held a 49th-day memorial service for a pet cat which had died from eating rat poison somewhere (interesting retribution!).
.......Ven. Manbong's face glows with his genuine warmth. His unpretentious laugh is as delightful as his auspicious "tiger" eyebrows which spike out from his head. His generosity abounds: While he may accept large fees from wealthy establishments, the money is well dispensed on others, including the building programs at Pongwonsa, and sometimes he gives away works to places with little leeway.
.......While he overflows with hilarious stories from yesteryear, he never talks about himself; yet stories about him are numerous, and they reveal much. One from the Korean War (1950-1953) is worth mentioning.
.... ...During the war, a huge firefight broke out on Mt. Ansan above Pongwonsa. In the middle of the fracas, the Main Buddha Hall caught fire, and while others on the compound were scurrying for their lives, Ven. Manbong dashed into the burning hall, dodging crossfire, to retrieve the statue of Buddha. Many attribute this single act to his health and longevity. He has never told the story.
.......His tremendously sharp wit complements his sharp mind. One hot summer day, he spotted a student's white fan. He called out for some watercolors, lay down in his favorite leisure position of right ankle atop raised left knee, and painted a classic temple-in-the-mountains scene on the fan that was held at left-arm's length above his face. He finished in 15 minutes. Yawn. He then took a nap.
.......Enter his cronies, other elderly monks at the temple. They drop by frequently, and Ven. Manbong is funniest when they're around. He woke from his nap to chat, and one of his friends said that the painting on the fan was so fantastic that the fan shouldn't be used because it would soon become tattered. Ven. Manbong thought for a moment and came up with the perfect solution. He told the student to take the fan home, hang it spread-out and upside-down over a doorway between rooms, and then just run back-and-forth under the fan whenever hot.
The Tradition
....... Although little known to the outside world, the rich tradition of Korean Buddhist art is alive, well and even enjoying a revival as more and more young people look the tradition as both a skill and a means of Buddhist practice. In fact, the traditional course of becoming a "Gold Fish" (i.e. a recognized professional Buddhist artist) was, in the old days, as much of a means of becoming enlightened as it was of preserving and promoting the great art tradition. The traditional course was a rigorous 20-year one that involved tracing, drawing and free-hand sketching a total of 3,000 copies of each of three line drawings -- a King of Bardo, a Guardian and a Bodhisattva -- and combining this with Sutra study at night. The rush and instant demands of modernity have done much to upset that tradition; yet some of modernity's conveniences, such as the Xerox machine that can size line drawings to perfection, have guaranteed the swifter proliferation of more Buddhist paintings. And while in earlier centuries Buddhist painting was almost exclusively limited to monks, today the art has been taken up by large numbers of lay people, including a formidable number of women, something that would have been unthinkable in a staunchly Confucian Korea even a decade ago.
.......Today, many artists are continuing with the traditions found in the late Choson Dynasty (1395-1910), since most of the existing line drawings survived from that period through a Japanese Occupation and the Korean War. Others artists are seeking new styles to meet the needs of modernity, although the contents of temple paintings leave little leeway for innovation. Only time will tell whether some of today's works will stand in the future as masterpieces, like some of those still remaining from Korea's heavily Buddhist Koryo Dynasty (935-1392) or the heavily Confucian Choson Dynasty (1395-1910).
.......The Korean Buddhist art tradition has its roots of course in the Ajanta caves in India. That tradition traveled along the Silk Road and proliferated in the sacred Caves of the Thousand Buddhas in China, eventually reaching Korea. Chinese culture heavily influenced Korean culture for many centuries throughout history, and Buddhist art was no exception. Even today, Chinese line drawings are greatly prized and admired, but Koreans do what comes naturally to people everywhere -- add local flavor to the imported culture. And during the Choson Dynasty, when Buddhism was largely banished to the countryside, a fascinating mixture of folk art and Buddhist art took place, leaving an indelible Korean flavor to the imported traditions.
.......Materials have changed with the times, too. In the olden days, imported mineral paints were used on natural silks, paper or hemp. Around the turn of the century, cotton became more common "canvas" for temple paintings, and prohibitively expensive mineral paints were gradually replaced by imported and domestic chemical paints. Older paintings done with natural materials have lasted hundreds of years, but today's works may not even last 100 years.
.......Canvases are fixed with a diluted glue, comparable to carpenter's glue in the West; line drawings for the particular painting are traced in India ink onto the canvas; mulberry paper is applied to the back of the canvas to provide firmness and to prevent bleeding; and then the painting process begins. The paints themselves are mixed with hot water and more glue as fixative. Broad areas of colors are done first, followed by more detailed areas. Any given color may be applied two or three times in a layering sequence, and there has been a definite order of color application. Secondary colors are applied, the line drawings are retraced in ink, and other details, such as clothing patterns and designs are applied. While those not in the know tend to scoff at the process as "paint by numbers," the process requires intensive training, concentration and memorization. Facial features are the very last to be applied, since they are the most important. According to Buddhist tradition and belief, once the eyes are dotted, the figures transform from mere iconography into incarnations. Buddhist artists are often referred to by others as "Buddha Mother," because in this way of painting and dotting the eyes they give birth to new Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Built-in Buddhist Teachings:
The Invisible Through the Visible
.......It is in this very process of producing the visible that one learns the invisible. A number of Buddhist teachings are built into the learning/painting process, and artists, often unconsciously, absorb these teachings into their attitudes and behavior.
.......Respect and humility are part of the traditional course. Traditionally, students sitting on the hypocaust floor in the lotus position are supposed to make a half bow before starting each tracing, drawing or painting. This helps to develop a healthy respect for everything in the universe as well as for the sacred work itself. It is, however, an easy habit to fall out of and is rarely seen today except in very devout beginners.
.......The equality of everything as espoused by Buddhism is taught through the mastery of the most common temple painting line, the "vertical line" which is equally thin (or thick) from top to bottom throughout the entire painting. This line is hard to master at first, but practice, and lots of it, makes perfect. One of the main purposes of doing thousands of copies of the King of Bardo is to develop this skill. Abdominal breathing and holding the breath while drawing the line help to maintain clarity of mind and draw a steady line. These equal lines can be found even on the early Tunhuang cave murals in China and they were among a variety of line types perfected by the 8th century Tang court superartist Wu Taotze, who's highly stylized drawings set the pace for all future Chinese, and eventually Korean, Buddhist paintings.
.......Zen's "Beginner's Mind" is essential to maintaining sanity through several thousand tracings and drawings, and to incorporate concentration on the present, the Buddhist constantly-flowing NOW. Just the thought of several hundred more tracings can be discouraging. But each one is a new beginning, each moment carries with it new potential. The student must forget the past (which exists only in memories) as well as the future (which is only a concept) and concentrate on the present work. Perfectly equal lines can come only from such perfect concentration on the present. In addition, this beginner's mind, when transferred to activities outside the studio, can do wonders for one's life: fewer biases and preconceptions, and greater openness to each moment and each person make life much easier.
.......This beginner's mind, and concern with the now, is also related to the Buddhist emphasis on process rather than result. By dwelling on future results, one can easily lose sight of what one is doing. Concentration on the process is essential: good processes naturally bring good results, and each result, in a larger perspective, is also both a cause and a process. All nows are process. From the Buddhist perspective, everything in the universes, including you and I and humanity as a whole, is process.
.......The essential Buddhist teaching of non-attachment (not to be confused with indifference) is also easily found in the course, and this, too, is related to beginner's mind and the importance of the eternally flowing now. After each 1,000 tracing, the student is told to go out into the yard and make a nice fire out of them. No time for sentimental ego clinging. This also reinforces humility -- the awareness of the fact that in such an astounding, infinite cosmos, these tracings are everything yet nothing. This non-attachment, combined with the Buddhist teaching of selflessness, accounts for the fact that so many old paintings have no signatures: the painting and its teachings are important and the artist is nonabiding.
.......Patience is an obvious ingredient to eventual success, and although patience is valued everywhere, it is one of the Six Perfections of Mahayana Buddhism. This patience often can be secured by seeing one's own place in the much larger picture, by seeing each day as part of an infinite continuum. .......Physical and mental purity are also essential to concentration and good religious art. Ven. Manbong claims that in the old days he had a separate set of clothes to wear to the toilet, and upon returning he not only washed again but brushed his teeth and gargled, which he still does. He claims that this is also an effective method of preventing colds. The course is also good, through patience training, for melting down the "Three Poisons" of avarice, aversion and foolish thinking, the later of which includes the notion of a separate self. As a natural result of immersion in the course, one comes to dwell on the interdependence of everything as one works with a host of materials that are the direct and indirect products of literally thousands of people; skills passed down by thousands of artists for hundreds, even thousands of years; folk and religious systems developed and redeveloped by millions of people and myriad cultures, all intertwined. Even the production, processing and preparation of the food taken each day to provide the energy to work is the result of incalculable efforts by innumerable people. One eventually reaches the Mahayana Hwayan conclusion of "all in one, one in all." This is all part of the process of discovering the Cosmic Self as opposed to the egocentric self. It is only from the egocentric self that the three poisons, and consequently suffering, arise. MAY ALL BEINGS BE WELL AND HAPPY!!! |
70여년 붓으로 ‘소리없는 법문’ 그린 거장 17일 입적한 ‘우리 시대 佛母’ 만봉스님 • 단청장 만봉스님 입적 지난 17일 입적한 만봉(萬峰)스님은
석정스님과 함께 자타가 공인하는 이 시대의 불모(佛母)이다. 특히 전통과 현대의 맥을 잇는 독특한 만봉스님의 불화 세계는 종교적 장엄미와 신성성 , 예술적 가치 면에서 뛰어나 현대인에게 ‘소리 없는 법문’으로 평가받고 있다. 입적 전 97세의 고령에도 불구하고 안경을 쓰지 않고 세필을 손수 그릴 만큼 불화제작에 헌신적이었던 만봉스님은 여느 출가수행자의 수행보다도 더 치열했다. 부처님 앞에 늘 정좌로 앉아 몇 1000장씩 등긋기를 하는 불화작업은 행주좌와 어묵동정을 실천하는 수행자의 고행과 별반 다르지 않는 법. 그래서 스님의 언행에는 늘 수행자다운 하심(下心)이 꼬리표처럼 붙어 다녔다. 평소 자신의 불화에 대해서도 “최선을 다한다는 자세로 임하지만 보다 환희심 가득한 부처님 상호를 못 그렸다는 아쉬움”을 늘 토로했고 “불화조성은 평생을 해도 끝이 보이지 않는 작업”이라며 겸손해 했다. 하지만 스님은 잠깐의 쉬는 시간이라도 생기면 중국 당나라의 오도자 등 옛 화가들의 화서를 탐독하며 일관된 손끝으로 화업에만 매진했다. 중요무형문화재 제48호 단청장후학 양성 힘써…미국인 제자도스님은 간혹 법문을 부탁하는 불자들에게 “법문, 난 그런 것 몰라. 깨달음이 무엇인지 화두가 무엇인지 몰라. 나는 그저 나한테 주어진 그림만 더 잘 그리려 애쓰면서 살고 있어. 어떻게 하면 부처님을 더욱 신비하고 아름답고 숭엄하고 자비롭게 보이도록 그려낼 것인가를 자나 깨나 궁리하고 매진하는 것이 나의 법문이여”라며 몸에 밴 하심을 드러내곤 했다. 사실 스님의 불화수행은 일찍부터 시작됐다. 6살 때 봉원사로 출가한 스님은 8세가 되던 해 단청장 예운스님의 제자가 되었고 10년이라는 긴 인내 끝에 비로소 금어가 됐다. 이어 1972년에는 국가중요무형문화재 제48호 단청장으로 지정됐다.단청장이 되고부터 스님은 70평생을 불화제작에 바쳤다. 그동안 스님에 의해 조성된 작품들은 금강산 표훈사, 유점사, 장안사, 마연사를 비롯해 공주 마곡사, 서울 도선사, 봉원사, 봉은사, 백련사, 법륜사와 양주 회암사, 승주 선암사, 안동 봉정사, 베트남 평화사 등 많은 사찰과 서울 남대문, 경복궁 경회루, 종로 보신각 등 궁궐 및 관아 건물의 단청 등이 헤아릴 수 없이 많다. 스님은 또 1978년 세계불교도 우의회 동경총회 기념 전시회를 시작으로 2005년 6월 모란갤러리에서의 마지막 개인전을 열기까지 수많은 전시회를 개최해 우리나라 전통문화의 우수성을 국내는 물론 세계에 알리는데도 힘써왔다. 후학양성에 차별을 두지 않았던 스님은 특히 미국인 브라이언 베리 씨를 제자로 받아들여 세간의 관심을 받기도 했다. 이제는 스님의 화려한 색상과 세밀한 인물묘사, 희노애락의 온갖 세상사가 담겨있는 독특한 불화세계를 후학들의 손에서나 느낄 수 있을 것 같다. 불교신문 |
