the fundamental thing

Things here have been a bit busy as we get ready for the bookfair in Frankfurt this October. One of the projects we’ve been working on is a Spanish-English edition of a great Dharma talk by Daehaeng Kun Sunim.  Her focus in this talk is on the necessity of us connecting with this inherent nature, the effects of being able to connect with it, and the need to function from that place.  There are some great lines in this talk where she really lays it bare for the practitioner; here’s one that got my attention!  If your thoughts just spill out your mouth, you won’t be able to make this connection!

 Here is the excerpt:
 

My overall point is this: people who want to discover their fundamental mind, shouldn’t allow themselves to be drawn outwardly by the things that happen to them. Instead, they must take everything that confronts them and return it inwardly.

Even though you have a good intellectual understanding of what I’m saying, please, please don’t mistake that for true understanding. Instead, have firm faith in your inherent foundation, and entrust every single thing there.

No matter what confronts you, your practice needs to be such that when you quietly entrust something to your fundamental mind, that which you entrusted will change and manifest back into the world. Your understanding and practice have to be translated into action.

Only then will you be able to truly deal with all the problems of your life, your family, and even the Earth. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright 2010 the Hanmaum Seonwon Foundation

3 thoughts on “the fundamental thing”

  1. “Your understanding and practice have to be translated into action.”

    This is one of the things I appreciate so greatly about the Korean tradition – it’s emphasis on how attainment must manifest as action in the world.

    Zen Master Seung Sahn used to say something like: “First you must attain truth. But then how does truth function?”

    The correct function of truth – the manifesting “back into the world” of our true selves – is the point of our training.

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