We’ve started the Autumn series of lectures on the Diamond Sutra at the Anyang Hanmaum Seon Center. (We’re using Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s edition, “The Diamond Sutra: The Great Unfolding.”) It’s every Wednesday at 7:30pm, with about 30 minutes of me talking in English about the text, followed by 20 minutes of small group discussion in Korean or English, with 5-10 minutes of me answering questions.
We’re recording the whole thing, but only posting the first part that’s all in English. (Me switching back and forth between English and Korean makes for awkward viewing!)
We also have a Kakao Talk group for announcements and information. So far the only members are the people who’ve been able to come to the Anyang live talks, but if you have a Kakao account and would like to join, send me a message and I’ll add you to the group.
We’re starting up the Diamond Sutra classes again!
They’ll begin next week, September 3 (9월 3일), at the Anyang Hanmaum Seon Center, at 7:30pm, in the 3rd floor Dharma hall. They’ll run for 8 weeks, with a week off for Korean Thanksgiving.
We’ll be picking up on chapter 10, where the Spring series left off in the Diamond Sutra.
We’re working to make these online again, and so they’ll be 30 minutes of me talking about highlights and important aspects of each chapter, followed by 20 minutes of discussion in small groups, and then 10 minutes or so of questions. Because we’re putting the lecture part on Youtube, that will be all in English, with the discussion in whatever language you like!
The lanterns for Ullambana, a day for remembering the dead
Yesterday was August 15, which in Korea used to be called “Liberation Day,” because it was the day that the Japanese surrendered in 1945. (It was changed many years ago to 광복절, “The day the light returned.”) “Liberation Day” is the old name, and was changed for good reasons, but it still seemed appropriate when I read this short Dharma talk by Daehaeng Kun Sunim:
When you take the various thoughts and feelings stirred up by the consciousnesses of the living beings within yourself and return them to this fundamental mind so that they merge into one within your foundation, they will no longer appear as if they were something separate from you. When there is no longer duality, in that moment, you become free from fixed concepts, and are able to treat others as one with yourself.
Using your mind like this is the source of true virtue and merit, and benefits you and others in ways beyond imagining.
Further, you have to be able to lead the consciousnesses within your own body to this true, living virtue and merit, and only then will you be able to do the same for the karmic states of consciousness within other people.
This is the truth of one mind, the reality of the interconnected and interacting whole, where your mind and other’s minds are not separate ̶ they are merely a single point united as one.
This is an excerpt from a Dharma talk given by Daehaeng Kun Sunim on May 5, 1991, at the Anyang Hanmaum Seon Center. The talk is published in English in the book, “Sharing the Same Heart”(2017), and in a Korean-English edition, “Inherent Connections/진짜 통하게 되면”
Going forward, we all have to develop this practice of relying upon our fundamental mind to the extent that we can take care of whatever confronts us, including even problems of a global scale. We also need to share this practice with others and help them to develop their own inherent ability so that they can use it for themselves. This is something most serious and urgent.
I’m not sure if you’re aware of it, but this inherent nature of ours, which is also the fundamental nature of reality, functions without hindrance or limitation. Truly!
The essence of this is right before your very eyes. It’s in everything you do, and is fundamental to every aspect of your ordinary, daily life. This marrow, this Buddha essence is right there with you, so stop thinking it’s somewhere far away. This mysterious functioning is always right in front of us, and is so profound.
Sometimes, when I encounter a critical situation or someone in great need, a great determination arises within me – “No! Absolutely not!” Everything in this visible world begins in the unseen realms. Raising up a firm and absolute “No! Never!” is like driving a nail into the problem in the unseen realms, so that it can’t manifest. [Holding up a clenched fist.] I do this because I feel heartbroken when I see people suffering; it doesn’t matter who they are or what they believe. Raising this kind of firm intention takes the energy of the universe and nails the problem in place, so that it can’t move in a harmful direction.
If you are able to truly know how things work, then when you raise intentions in this way, you will naturally be fulfilling the role of a Buddha and manifesting the Dharma. Here, there are no words such as “sufficient” or “lacking,” “right” or “wrong,” “rich” or “poor,” “noble” or “lowly.” Words, labels, and theories have no place here.
To reach this point, you have to gather together all of your sincerity and keep gathering it into your foundation again and again, as if you were trying to squeeze blood from your own bones. When this ocean of sincerity has been gathered together into a single drop, well, words just can’t describe that. Something came up recently that left me so heartbroken that I’ve wanted to cry for the last three days; but from this ocean, a single harmonious thought arose like an iron pillar and became one with the whole. As that great energy began to burst forth, my eyes became bright and strong.
We are coming to a time when it will be desperately important that you all know how to work through the unseen realms. If practitioners can raise thoughts from their foundation and take care of things harmoniously and non-dualistically, then this world of ours will survive and truly flourish.
Of course, as you practice, you should be careful not to overstep your ability; otherwise, your efforts can end up causing all kinds of negative effects and chaotic situations. If a small bowl tries to hold too much, its contents will overflow and cause countless problems. Similarly, don’t try to force timetables onto your practice or attainment.
We need true practitioners who can go forward practicing through mind in this way, which is the true tradition of Seon, and who can help raise the future generations of practitioners that the world is going to need.
Hi everyone! Buddha’s birthday will be this Monday, May 5. The main ceremony will be starting at Anyang Hanmaum Seon Center at 10:30am, with the evening lantern lighting ceremony happening after the 7pm evening ceremony for three nights in a row.
For Buddha’s birthday, the Hanmaum International Culture Institute will be holding a sale at the Anyang center, where all our publications will be 30% off.
Here are this year’s smaller lanterns, but for some reason the tiger at the back came out blue in this photo. It’s actually just white with black stripes. And very cute! All of the girls loved carrying this lantern, but the young guys were a bit embarrassed, lol.
Last night we had the lantern unveiling for the Buddha’s birthday parade (May 26 in Seoul)! The weather was wonderful this year, and the lanterns and performances were even better. It’s all in Korean, but even if you don’t understand it, you might have fun!
We’re about three weeks away from Buddha’s Birthday (May 5), and I came across this verse from Daehaeng Kun Sunim from some years ago. It’s a little early yet, but it’s such a good verse, so I thought, “Why wait?”
Buddha’s Birthday~
Everyone I meet is another shape of myself, everywhere I go is a temple in the mountains. Within each of us is a very sincere place that is connected to all. Here we are one with the saving power of all Buddhas, let us light this candle and let it shine brightly giving light to all beings.
Hye An Sunim, from the Ulsan Hanmaum Seon Center
A temple guardian with a fondness for ear scratches!
We have the video for the first three talks up on YouTube. They’re on the English language channel for Hanmaum Seon Center. And thank you so much to all the people who helped with this!!
We found that my usual format of switching between Korean and English didn’t work well as a YouTube video, so for the classes I keep it all in English for the first 30 minutes or so, and then we switch to a small group discussion format that’s all in Korean. Then we have a Q&A period in Korean or English, whichever people prefer. For the sake of the video, though, only the first 30 minutes of English are here.
We’re meeting Wednesdays at 7:30pm, for the next 4 weeks as well, and then we’ll start up again either in the summer or the fall.
We’re covering Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s translation of the Diamond Sutra, and going over 1-2 chapters a time, looking at some of the important points. If I tried to talk about everything, it would take me years, lol, so for even the longer chapters, I’ll stick to just one class.
A couple of neat things have come out in the last week. One is a documentary program about our translation group, and revolves around our work translating Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s Korean version of the Diamond Sutra. It’s a quick 30 minutes, with English subtitles.
The other event is a series of English discussions/lectures I’ll be having here in Anyang about Kun Sunim’s version of the Diamond Sutra. They will start next Wednesday, from 7:30-8:30pm in the 3rd floor Dharma Hall, and will run for seven weeks. We’ll stop for Buddha’s birthday, and then pick up again in the late summer or fall.
I’m going to try to find out about live streaming this, and for people outside of Korea, we might be able to record it and post it. (I’m still figuring that out.)
We’ve figured out how to ship this overseas! (It’s the English translation of Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s Korean version of the Diamond Sutra. Here’s a link to previews and book info.)
It turns out that the Kyobo bookstore offers the best deal for overseas shipping. They were also a good bit cheaper than even the Korean post office, so we’ll be using them to fulfill overseas orders.
Ordering process: email us at onemind@hanmaum.org, with your address and phone number (the shipper needs a phone number on the delivery end). We’ll send you an invoice from Paypal, and then have Kyobo send you the book. They are using FedEx, and the books seem to be arriving within 7 business days.
Costs: The costs are the book plus shipping. For most countries, the weak Korean Won is making this a great deal! (All prices are in USD. The Korean Won has been bouncing around quite a bit, so these prices might have to change later.)
Canada/USA/Mexico and Australia: $33 for one book, $56 for two
Germany/Western Europe: $35 for 1 book, $60 for two
Japan/Thailand: $30 for one book, $53 for two
For more copies or other destinations not listed here, email us and we’ll find out what the price will be. Most countries should be similar, but there are some weird things, like where the price for shipping one book to the Scandinavian countries is the same as Western Europe, but for two copies, it jumps a fair bit .
Ordering direct from Kyobo is a great option if you are in Korea, but the website is only in Korean, and can require some awkward security programs in order to buy anything. So just a bit of warning if you aren’t used to Korean websites.
Wake Up and Laugh! 