Author: Chong Go Sunim

With my whole heart,
I vow to remain calm and unstained by whatever confronts me,
taking care of it all while leaving behind no traces of myself.
This is fulfilling the role of a Buddha.

제 마음을 다 바쳐서
시방 삼세 주인으로 걸림없는 침착한 지혜로
온 누리에 항상하여 함이 없이 떳떳하니 불타야중 이니라.

We followed the Thousand Hands Sutra and the Heart Sutra for quite a while, reciting a verse every day, because they seemed like good intentions to input. In reciting them, they become instructions and guides to our consciousness as well as all the lives that make up our bodies.

Yet more than ever, it seems like we all need a bright consciousness if we are to go forward in the world today. So after some reflection, I decided to start over with key parts of the morning ceremony. In particular, the sections called “The Seven Homages,” and “the Morning Blessing.” A couple parts get really long, so I’ll break them up into smaller chunks.

I’m not sure how long it will take to post these, but I’ll put them up one verse at a time, Monday-Friday. (I’m skipping weekends so people don’t get overwhelmed with emails!) Try to read each verse three or more times, just so that it really sinks in.
with palms together,
Chong Go

With my whole heart,
I vow to be the loving guide and teacher of all beings, throughout all realms.
The foundation within me is my teacher,
and is none other than Shakyamuni Buddha.

제 마음을 다 바쳐서 삼계의 길잡이로 사생 자부 하리이다.
지금 나의 근본은 바로 나의 스승이니 석가모니불이라.

Here’s another small section from a Dharma talk in the collection “Touching the Earth.” Although this is fairly short, barely a page, there’s so much here! if we could just do this much, how many of our problems and suffering would just disappear? How many roadblocks and deadends would just vanish, leaving us free to move forward?

Deepening Yourself

If you would improve the level you’re living at, take all of those things that you would throw away or exclude, and entrust them all to the great furnace within you. There, they will all be melted down, and will come back out as something good. You’ll never be able to raise your level by manipulating the material world, or through scholarly knowledge or cleverness. Take all the things you know, and all that you’ve learned, and dump them entirely into this furnace; then, your true self will come alive, and your level will change.

What I’m saying is that your life right now, just as it is, should be meditation, and meditation in action. So live while taking everything that comes up in your life and completely letting go of it to this furnace. Don’t give yourself a headache by searching around outside of yourself, chasing after famous practitioners, looking for holy relics to worship, or searching for “special” places to practice.

What’s the origin of everything? It all arises from our true self. This true self perceives and responds to everything through our sense organs. It’s the one that does everything, the one that has been leading us and taking care of us for untold billions of years. Now that you know what it does, trust that it will take care of you. Living like this is the essence of meditation, and if you keep doing this, that which you’re seeking will be revealed.

If you have to meditate by sitting down and crossing your legs, then as soon as you stand up, your meditation is over. How could that truly be called Seon(Zen)? Sitting meditation and other kinds of physical training may be useful sometimes, and if you train your body hard enough, or sit long enough, your thoughts will calm down and you’ll feel a sense of peace. But that’s not enough. That can never lead you to the great meaning. Those kinds of practices can never help you penetrate the silver mountains and iron walls.

Go forward entrusting everything to your foundation, without missing a single thing. Know that although everything enters and leaves you, there’s no place for even the tiniest piece of gunk to stick to. Don’t let anything trip you up, including what you hear from inside. If you think it’s acceptable to steal others’ property because it seemed like your true self said so, well, that’s just nonsense. Anyone born as a human being has at least a basic sense of good judgment, fairness, and propriety. So it’s not necessary for me to say more about things like this, things that are so far outside the realm of common sense.

People who are serious about spiritual practice need to throw everything into this furnace that is our fundamental mind, including all ideas of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and so forth. Melt everything down there; then what arises again from that will be a treasure of this world.

Names and labels are made by dividing things, but is there anything that could exist outside of the truth? No. The ship you are now on isn’t some pleasure cruise. You don’t even know where it’s going. You’re just helplessly along for the ride. On this vast ocean, you don’t even know where you are, let alone where you’ve come from. Just following along with things, it never even occurs to you to try to look outside the boat. Not knowing where the boat has come from or where it’s going, how could you be so certain in your opinions, insisting that you know so much, criticizing others, and getting into all kinds of arguments?

Let’s compare the Earth to your body. The Earth also has organs that function like the stomach, liver, kidneys, and intestines. In order for each part to live, they have to cooperate. They have to work together. But what happens if they are always arguing with each other? If they start laying claim to different areas, and building walls around “mine” and “yours,” your body will die! The Earth, too, will die if something like this happens. If one place goes bad, soon everything that depends upon that area will collapse. Yet if minds become one and harmonious, then that collapse can be prevented. And then the direction of our society changes as well. Listen! When you don’t even know how to take care of yourself, when you argue with others and close yourself off to them, how could you be able to clearly see, to clearly hear, and to wisely respond to even your family, to say nothing of society, the world, or the universe?

They are building a traditional “Il-Ju Mun” type entrance at the Gwangmyeong Seon Center in Chung Cheong Buk Province. The main construction and tile roof have just been finished, but the “Dancheong” painting is next, and will take a while. Here’s a link to a photo montage construction process so far.

http://www.hanmaum.org/IGateWeb/common/noticeView.do?type=4&arc_id=1016459

Here’s a nice section of a Dharma talk from a collection of talks called “Touching the Earth.” I particularly like the aspect that the practitioner doesn’t try to change things by getting rid of something, or someone. Instead, they try to embrace them as one and help them evolve. To be fair, you still use your own good judgement. Sometimes running away from dangerous situations is wisdom too. That said, think about how many things we dislike or look down upon from a distance. Wouldn’t it be better if we tried to embrace those and encouraged them to evolve in a positive direction?

The Power within Us

There is a power that arises from deep and consistent practice, and if this becomes strong enough, we can even bring forth and use the energy from other stars and planets. “Far” and “near” don’t exist. Although some place may be many light years away, it’s all within the palm of Buddha’s hand. It’s all right here, because there is nothing that’s not also yourself. If we try to reach out to something without going through our fundamental mind, then even though it’s right in front of us, it may as well be a thousand miles away. However, if through our fundamental mind we become one with something, then even though it’s a thousand or a million miles away, it’s as if it were right next to us.

Therefore, at this critical moment, you have to know how to take care of others, as well as our planet. What’s the path forward that will allow us to help develop our nation and the world? How can we ensure that there will be enough energy and resources? You need to know that we have within us the power to answer all of these questions. The ability to provide sufficient energy and other resources is within us. As you practice relying upon your fundamental mind, how to take care of all these things will become clear to you.

In the old days, you had to use your body to protect the nation and to do things like politics or commerce. Now, all of those things can be done without moving your body. You can become one with other people, and other people can become one with you, because mind has no form and nothing to grasp. In ancient times, this ability was called the power of manifestation. For example, in order to lead the country in a positive direction, I can also become one with the defense minister. If I become one with a politician, then it’s as if I’m lending them my wisdom and spiritual ability so that they can do good for the country.

Similarly, the time has passed when we can choose people for such positions based upon their appearance, their background, or how well they give speeches. Instead, we have to be able to know their minds. We have to know how, through our fundamental mind, to become one with people and function together with them.

A person involved in politics needs to be aware of the unseen aspect that underlies politics. Could this be called something like a god? No, not really. It’s not this and it’s not that. Yet, it’s there in the middle of everything. It’s this fundamental mind that can embrace and take care of anything in the entire universe. It can bring in and send out anything through the sense organs, and if you’ve awakened to this mind, you can become one with politicians and act through them. There’s nothing that’s not myself — there’s no pain that’s not my pain, no circumstances that aren’t my circumstances, no words that aren’t my words. So how could you not become one with someone? Because of this, we can change the direction of our society, we can ensure upright development, and we can ensure that our culture blossoms and is harmonious.

For example, there are insects and parasites that harm plants and animals, right? Through your fundamental mind, you can gather their consciousnesses all together and help them evolve. If you can do this, then you can use this method to embrace everything. There’s no one and nothing that you need to throw away. Otherwise, you’ll have to chase after so many things, trying to get rid of them one by one. There are just too many things to deal with them like that.

Here’s a short Dharma talk from Daehaeng Kun Sunim that appeared in the last issue of Hanmaum Journal.

What are you going to believe in?
Buddha’s shape? Perhaps his renown?
No. Know that his mind and your mind are not two.

These bodies of ours have so many limitations,
and will eventually fall apart.
Mine, just as well as yours.
It’s this non-dual mind.
This non-dual mind where you and I are not two.
This mind never decays.

부처님 형상을 믿겠습니까, 이름을 믿겠습니까?
부처님 마음을 내 마음과 둘 아니게 믿으라고 한 거지,
형상은 언젠가는 부서지고 한계가 있는 겁니다.
그러기 때문에 네 형상이나 내 형상이나 둘이 아니고,
부서지는 건 다 똑같다 이거예요.
그러나 부서지지 않는 게 한 가지 있는데
그것은 네 마음이나 내 마음이나 둘이 아닌
그 마음이 바로 부서지지 않는 것이다는 얘기죠.   

An interview with Hye Hong Sunim of the Washington DC Hanmaum Seon Center. This interview first appeared in Hanmaum Journal, in issue #78, November/December 2014, when Hye Hong Sunim was at the Jeju Hanmaum Seon Center. While there, she worked quite hard at establishing Dharma talks for foreigners.

Practicing Even More Diligently Than When My Teacher Was Here

Finding My Purpose

From the time I was in High School, I attended church. At Christmas, my friends and I would go to church, and I think I must have spent five or six years like this. I was fairly diligent, participating in the choir, and teaching Sunday School.

It was during my first couple of years in college that I began to have questions about the teachings. As with many Protestant teachings, there was a sharp division between either going to Heaven or going to Hell. It was either one or the other, and I was bothered by this because they were saying that most of my ancestors were automatically in Hell (because Christianity hadn’t yet come to Korea.)

Somehow, this didn’t seem right, and I just couldn’t keep participating in something I didn’t really believe. I told the pastor of my concerns, and ceased attending church.

I was feeling very lost at this point, and didn’t do well in school because the question of “What is true? What is really going on?” took priority over everything else. I continuously read books on religion and philosophy, Catholicism, Cheondo Gyo, and went to retreats for breathing meditation and Qi cultivation. I was really wandering from this to that. I was feeling lost because I had been studying diligently, and thought I had found something true, only for it all to melt away.

I spent my mid-20s this way, and felt exhausted in both body and mind. I finally graduated from college, and one day I happened to visit a friend at her house. She had a calendar up that had a verse on it, and, reading it, it was as if everything that was blocked within me was suddenly blown clear. Everything I’d been stressed about suddenly relaxed a bit.

I asked my friend where the calendar had come from, and she said it was from Hanmaum Seon Center. Here mother was a member of the Jinju branch, and had brought the calendar for her. I had such a strong feeling of “This is the way I need to go.” I wanted to go immediately to the Seon Center, and, looking at the last page, found the phone number. I called them, and they told me that there was a center closer to me, in Masan.

So I started going to the Seon Center in Masan, and as I had hoped, I found my path. Funnily enough, when I first saw a video tape of one of Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s Dharma talks, it was the power and timbre of her voice that attracted me! I thought that was the most powerful and most profound sounding voice I’d ever heard, and really wished my voice sounded like that! I was very excited to have her as my teacher.

So I attended the Young Adults group, helped with the children’s group, and gradually began to understand what was really meant by terms like “entrust and observe,” and “melt it down.” I’d always thought of myself as a fairly good, developed human being, but as time went by, I began to see myself more clearly, and saw just how many things about myself that I needed to entrust and let dissolve!

The first time I got to see Kun Sunim in person was when the laymembers of the Masan branch went up to Anyang to greet Kun Sunim for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving.) I couldn’t say a single word, and just sat against the far wall. My heart was beating so fast that I thought I might be having a heart attack.

Following the Path Daehaeng Kun Sunim Set Out

I attended the Masan Hanmaum Seon Center for about two years as a layperson, before becoming a sunim in 1999. I felt like I had finally found my path, but at the same time, I was uncertain about becoming a sunim. Then, one day, I heard a layman say a variation of a Korean expression, “Having met Kun Sunim in this life, how could we not get in line behind her (and follow the course she has set)?”

 As soon as I heard that, it was as if the mental cobwebs had been swept away, “Oh! Of course! If I don’t try, in this life, to undertake the path that Kun Sunim has shown us, how many more lives will I have to wait to learn something like this?” I felt so strongly about this that I decided to become a sunim.

After entering the temple, I think there must have been something wrong with my ears! When the new postulants (haeng-ja in Korean) had our hair cut off, we went to formally greet Kun Sunim. She asked me, “Where do you come from,” (In Korean, this is normally a version of ‘Where’s your home town,’ although in a Buddhist context it could also have a deeper meaning) but I heard, “Where did you sleep?” so I answered, “In the big room, next to the kitchen.” (Laughs.)

I think I must have been unsettled by the experience of adjusting to a completely different lifestyle, with so many new and strange things going on around me. One day, soon after I’d arrived, I was helping wash the dishes, when the abbess Hyewon Sunim asked me, “Do you want to live here?” Which was her way of asking if life at the temple was something that suited me. Instead, I heard, “Did you fold up and put away your bedding?” (In Korea, especially in the past, people didn’t use beds, and instead slept on thin futons on heated floors. In the morning they would fold everything up and move it out of the way.)

I can’t believe how completely I misheard her question! (Laughs) I thought it was some kind of a Seon question and answer. I couldn’t feel any kind of a response to that question, and just stood there like an idiot. Finally, the abbess just made a few “tsking” sounds and left. The sunim next to me couldn’t grasp why I didn’t answer such a simple question! (Laughing.)

The Caring of a Teacher

          Most sunims soon have to go to a Gangwon (a traditional sutra education program for nuns and monks), or go to one of the branch centers to help out, so they didn’t have a lot of opportunities to hear teachings directly from Daehaeng Kun Sunim. That said, there was always a sense that she was looking over us, though unseen. Still, it’s different from being able to see and listen to her.

The postulant period was quite difficult for me, so one time Kun Sunim came to me and said, “Don’t get caught up in thinking of things as hard. All of it is just the varied and different manifestations of your foundation. Don’t let yourself be deceived by the different appearances those take.”

Once, during the period I was attending the gangwon, I was going to hold a Cheon-do ceremony to help my ancestors and those deceased with karmic affinity with me. This was to help them become unstuck and move forward on their own path. I went to greet Kun Sunim and let her know we were going to hold this ceremony, and she told me, “I’ll take care of the unseen part, and you take care of the visible part.” I suddenly felt very strange, and didn’t want to ask her any other questions. Instead I just said, “Okay, I will do that.” Even now, that teaching is something I reflect upon and let sink down within me. (It’s very likely that Kun Sunim wasn’t talking about the ceremony, as much as Hye Hong Sunim’s role as a sunim and her life – translator.)

As I was studying sutras in the ganwon, there were a few parts where I began to wonder if the Buddha had really said what was attributed to him. So when I had a chance to see Kun Sunim during a break, I asked her about that. She said, “Don’t bother yourself with ‘Is this right’ or ‘Is that right.’ Just trust in your foundation above all else, and let go of everything to it.” (Laughs.) To have been asking such questions when I myself didn’t know anything….

One day, Kun Sunim said to me that I understood as “Don’t be rushed or pressured.” I didn’t really know why she would say that, but I took it to mean that I should have a calm and steady demeanor no matter how busy things got.

It was only later that I realized that what she said had nothing to do with how busy I was. What sounded like “Be relaxed” was actually “Have a wide open mind,” and meant to let go of my fixed ideas and standards of how things should be. To have that perspective, as it were, and to take care of the things in my life with that attitude. Because I wasn’t doing that, I was also causing others to suffer.

One time, Kun Sunim admonished me, “Don’t be arrogant.” I was surprised by this, and didn’t really see where I’d been arrogant. Nonetheless, I was worried about why she’d said that. Later I realized that there were so many times I’d been arrogant! (Laughs.)

Another time, Kun Sunim said to me, “Everyone hates it when they’re told what to do, don’t they?” This is why I think Kun Sunim rarely ever told anyone what to do. But yet, she looked after us so carefully, that when I was so inflexible, she had to grab my attention to get me to start moving. She cared for everyone so much, and would go out of her way to bring something important to our attention. Even with things that I had begun to sense, having her mention a small point would cause me to focus more diligently on dissolving the underlying karmic states of consciousness.

In the next post, Hye Hong Sunim talks about practicing and working at the branch centers, as well as working with foreigners and starting an English Dharma group.

One of the interesting things about Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s translation of the Heart Sutra, is that it appears the beginning and end are essentially saying the same thing. Where the ending says “We all become free together,” the beginning says the same thing, while explaining why this is the case: “Inherently, all beings share the same life, the same mind, the same body. They work together as one, freely giving and receiving whatever is needed.”
To me, this is saying that we all form part of the same whole. And as such, there’s no one we can exclude. There’s no we can look down upon. To the extent we behave like that, we cut ourselves off from the whole. It would be like chopping off one hand, and then complaining because we can’t open the jam.

This habit, this desire, to see others as less than ourselves is actually poisonous. It holds us back from awakening. It probably served some function at lower levels of existence, but it isn’t anything that can take us further. And as Daehaeng Kun Sunim said in the opening, not to know this connection to all beings and states of existence and nonexistence is to walk the path of suffering. So let’s work hard at letting go of all these discriminations and go forward on the path of freedom.
with palms together,
Chong Go

(the end of the Heart Sutra)
Taking the path that’s no fixed path,
leaving no traces behind,
hurry, hurry, and become free.
We all become free together.
Let go of discriminations
between this world
and the next,
hurry and become free.
The enlightenment of one mind
is always shining brightly,
so now everyone,
let’s all become free,
hurry and become free,
all become free.

(The opening of the Heart Sutra)
One mind,
deep all-embracing wisdom shining forth,
seeing everything,
functioning freely throughout
all realms of the living and the dead.
Its light reveals the truth of all realms
seen and unseen:
Inherently,
all beings share the same life,
the same mind,
the same body.
They work together as one,
freely giving and receiving whatever is needed,
ceaselessly manifesting and changing.
But because they don’t know this,
they walk the path of suffering.

so now everyone,
let’s all become free,
hurry and become free,
all become free.

「우리 함께 어서어서 벗어나세」 (세번)

This is one of my favorite lines, as well as one of the hardest to translate. It’s got two things going on: One is a description “We all become free together” and the second is an imperative: “Hurry and become free.” It’s recited three times at the Heart Sutra, but to try to capture all of the nuances, we translated it in slightly different ways across three different lines. I’ll talk some more about the first nuance, “We all become free together” tomorrow.

The enlightenment of one mind
is always shining brightly,

한마음의 깨달음은
그대로 여여하게 밝았으니

Remember to recite these three times or more! That way, it’s sinking down within you and teaching all the lives within you.