Becoming a city Buddhist among the young generation in Seoul

Abstract

The quest for spirituality among young urban dwellers represents a novel and highly distinctive form of social reproduction in contemporary South Korea. As young people are forced by a hyper-competitive work environment, fragmenting family, and high youth unemployment, they strive to overcome the attendant feelings of stress and anxiety, turning to the anti-materialist values of Buddhism. Within this context, the emergence of Mahayana Buddhism’s ‘engaged Buddhism’ – as manifested in Jungto Society – provides an interesting case study to examine the ways in which the culture of healing is being popularized among the young city dwellers. Of particular appeal to this generation is Jungto Society’s combination of individualistic practice with social action, which also differentiates it from other Buddhist organizations. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with young city dwellers who engage in Buddhist meditation and practices, this article aims to analyze how a young urban population strives to reconcile the knowledge and management of one’s heart, promoted by Buddhist religion, with the neoliberal ethos of self-improvement. This article argues that the fundamental Buddhist concepts generate a certain form of self-reflection among their practitioners that expands both their religious and civic minds.

The effectiveness of a brief video-based intervention in reducing gender bias in Korea

“…Once the attention and manipulation check questions were completed by the treatment group, a gender stereotype scale was used to assess gender bias among the participants ( Kim, 1993 ). The scale assesses gender stereotypes in Korean society with five subscales: domestic, traditional social role performance, vocational and physical, psychological, and intellectual gender bias ( Kim, 1991 ). Seven items were used to examine domestic gender bias (e.g., “A man should be financially responsible for a household”), five items examined traditional social role performance gender bias (e.g., “Both men and women should hold similar authority within a family [R]”), 14 items examined vocational and physical gender bias (e.g., “Truck driver is not a good occupation for women,” “Physical appearance and youthfulness are more important for women than men”), seven items assessed psychological gender bias (e.g., “Men are more aggressive than women”), five items assessed intellectual gender bias (e.g., “In general, men perceive things more objectively than women”).…”

Religious Homogamy and Marital Satisfaction in South Korea: Exploring Variations across Religious Groups

“…Buddhism has had a significant historical influence in Korean culture, although its popularity has waned. The geographical inaccessibility of most Buddhist temples and the traditional and conservative images attached to Buddhism might have dissuaded people residing in urban areas from Buddhism (Kim 2016). Despite this, Buddhist spirituality and meditation are still considered attractive tools for the care of one's mind and soul (Kim 2016).…”

“…The geographical inaccessibility of most Buddhist temples and the traditional and conservative images attached to Buddhism might have dissuaded people residing in urban areas from Buddhism (Kim 2016). Despite this, Buddhist spirituality and meditation are still considered attractive tools for the care of one's mind and soul (Kim 2016). Values such as tolerance and kindness have been emphasized as epitomizing Buddhist philosophy (Yun and Park 2019).…”