Dharma talk for Buddha’s Birthday, 2023

Here’s the translation of the Dharma talk for Buddha’s Birthday, I *think* this was given by Daehaeng Kun Sunim in 1999, but I might be wrong about the year. It was a beautiful day, there were tons of people, and the choir was simply incredible, although I wasn’t in a position to take many pictures.

2023 Buddha’s Birthday Dharma Talk by Daehaeng Kun Sunim (originally in 1999, iirc)

We call this day the Buddha’s Birthday,
but the Buddha was never born or left,
and always exists together
in the one place,
with everything.
With every kind of being,
all material things,
all together
sharing the same life,
the same body,
the same mind,
working together as one,
and freely giving and receiving whatever is needed,
the Buddha said,

“Treat everything of the unseen realm
and the material realm as not two,
function as one with the universe
and every aspect of it,
think of other’s life as your own,
see their body as your own body,
know their pain as your pain,
and treat everything as part of this one whole.”

But, all over the world,
there is conflict and fighting,
wars, destruction, and killing each other,
and brutality beyond description.
All over the world,
we can see men and women,
the old and the young,
starving and dying,
sick and dying,
wrapped in pain
and unable to escape.
The world is like this because
this truth that the Buddha showed us
hasn’t been put into practice.

What should we do then?
All of us,
whether our spiritual awareness is great or weak,
or somewhere in between,
must work diligently through our one mind,
and discover our Buddha-nature,
our Juingong.

The outer work is to love each other.
Help each other out,
unconditionally,
when others hurt,
treat that as your own,
help them through mind
and material means,
letting go of any trace of “me” that’s helping.
In this one life that barely lasts a season,
let’s walk together on the eternal path
the path that runs through life after life,
going forward letting go of all traces of “I’m doing,”
and through one mind,
let’s light a flame
that brightens all existence.

We pay homage to Shakyamuni Buddha,
We pay homage to the inherent Buddha within us,
We pay homage to the foundation within us that is our teacher,
and none other than Shakyamuni Buddha.

On this Buddha’s Birthday of 2023, let everyone here,
everyone throughout all realms,
receive this wonderful truth give to us by Daehaeng Kun Sunim,and work diligently to brighten the great lantern within ourselves