Author: Chong Go Sunim

The Buddha’s Birthday is almost upon us, (tomorrow in fact) which means that yesterday was the street fair in front of Jogye Temple in Seoul. For an entire block, the road was filled with activities and booths set up by Buddhist organizations and NGO’s from around the world. I can’t imagine any other place in the world where one could see so many different types of Buddhism and Buddhist organizations. In fact, I have too many photos, and not enough time, so I’ll have to divide this post into two parts.  (You can see larger images of most photos by clicking on the image.)
 
For a great collection of night-time photos of Jogye Temple check out Robert’s photo blog.  In the next post I’ll cover the different Buddhist countries involved and some of the activities and NGOs.

 

  

 
 

Incense being sold by Korea’s premier incense company, Neung In. They also provided the raw ingredients and showed people how to make their own incense.

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 

The Buddha’s birthday celebrations won’t begin until this Saturday, but on Sunday we(Hanmaum Seon Center) had a preview of the activities our center’s groups are planning.  There’s nothing else for it, but to say they were incredible! The planning and effort they’ve put into the designs and rehearsals really show up. 

The Lantern Parade will begin at around 6pm or so from Dongguk University(Saturday, May 7). There will be performances beforehand, I think. The parade will go up to Dongdae-mun, and then down Jongno to Jogye Temple. On Sunday the 8th, there will be the street fair on the road in front of Jogye Temple, to be followed by more performances and a party in the evening. On the day itself, Tuesday May 10, there will be activities all day long at all the major temples in Korea.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I like texts that encourage us to practice.  Over several months I posted a translation of the Ven. Ya-un’s Admonitions to Myself.  Not too long ago, I came across a link on Reddit to a text by Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887) that has a lot of the same spirit to it: very down to earth and get-with-it. (If you’re not familiar with Reddit, you should check it out. Its Buddhist community is quite good.)

 
Vajrasattva, sole deity, Master,
You sit on a full-moon lotus-cushion of white light
In the hundred-petalled full bloom of youth.

Think of me, Vajrasattva,
You who remain unmoved within the manifest display
That is Mahamudra, pure bliss-emptiness.

Listen up, old bad-karma Patrul,
You dweller-in-distraction.

For ages now you’ve been
Beguiled, entranced, and fooled by appearances.
Are you aware of that? Are you?
Right this very instant, when you’re
Under the spell of mistaken perception
You’ve got to watch out.
Don’t let yourself get carried away by this fake and empty life.

Your mind is spinning around
About carrying out a lot of useless projects:
It’s a waste! Give it up!

Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You’re completely distracted
By all these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don’t be a fool: for once, just sit tight.

Listening to the teachings
—you’ve already heard hundreds of teachings,
But when you haven’t grasped the meaning of even one teaching, What’s the point of more listening?
Reflecting on the teachings—even though you’ve listened,
If the teachings aren’t coming to mind when needed,
What’s the point of more reflection? None.

Meditating according to the teachings—
If your meditation practice still isn’t curing
The obscuring states of mind—forget about it!

You’ve added up just how many mantras you’ve done—
But you aren’t accomplishing the kyerim visualization.
You may get the forms of deities nice and clear—
But you’re not putting an end to subject and object.
You may tame what appear to be evil spirits and ghosts,
But you’re not training the stream of your own mind.
Your four fine sessions of sadhana practice,
So meticulously arranged—
Forget about them.

When you’re in a good mood,
Your practice seems to have lots of clarity—
But you just can’t relax into it.
When you’re depressed,
Your practice is stable enough
But there’s no brilliance to it.
As for awareness,
You try to force yourself into a rigpa-like state,
As if stabbing a stake into a target!

When those yogic positions and gazes keep your mind stable
Only by keeping mind tethered—
Forget about them!

Giving high-sounding lectures
Doesn’t do your mind-stream any good.
The path of analytical reasoning is precise and acute—
But it’s just more delusion, good for nothing goat-shit.
The oral instructions are very profound
But not if you don’t put them into practice.

Reading over and over those dharma texts
That just occupy your mind and make your eyes sore—
Forget about it!

You beat your little damaru drum—ting, ting—
And your audience thinks it’s charming to hear.
You’re reciting words about offering up your body,
But you still haven’t stopped holding it dear.
You’re making your little cymbals go cling, cling—
Without keeping the ultimate purpose in mind.

All this dharma-practice equipment
That seems so attractive—
Forget about it!

Right now, those students are all studying so very hard,
But in the end, they can’t keep it up.

Today, they seem to get the idea,
But later on, there’s not a trace left.
Even if one of them manages to learn a little,
He rarely applies his “learning” to his own conduct.

Those elegant dharma disciples—
Forget about them!

This year, he really cares about you,
Next year, it’s not like that.
At first, he seems modest,
Then he grows exalted and pompous.
The more you nurture and cherish him,
The more distant he grows.

These dear friends
Who show such smiling faces to begin with—
Forget about them!

Her smile seems so full of joy—
But who knows if that’s really the case?
One time, it’s pure pleasure,
Then it’s nine months of mental pain.
It might be fine for a month,
But sooner or later, there’s trouble.

People teasing; your mind embroiled—
Your lady-friend—
Forget about her!

These endless rounds of conversation
Are just attachment and aversion—
It’s just more goat-shit, good for nothing at all.
At the time it seems marvellously entertaining,
But really,
you’re just spreading around stories about other people’s mistakes.
Your audience seems to be listening politely,
But then they grow embarrassed for you.

Useless talk that just make you thirsty—
Forget about it!

Giving teachings on meditation texts
Without yourself having
Gained actual experience through practice,
Is like reciting a dance-manual out loud
And thinking that’s the same as actually dancing.

People may be listening to you with devotion,
But it just isn’t the real thing.
Sooner or later, when your own actions
Contradict the teachings, you’ll feel ashamed.
Just mouthing the words,
Giving dharma explanations that sound so eloquent—
Forget about it!

When you don’t have a text, you long for it;
Then when you’ve finally gotten it, you hardly look at it.
The number of pages seems few enough,
But it’s a bit hard to find time to copy them all.
Even if you copied down all the dharma texts on earth,
You wouldn’t be satisfied.
Copying down texts is a waste of time
(Unless you get paid)—
So forget about it!

Today, they’re happy as clams—
Tomorrow, they’re furious.
With all their black moods and white moods,
People are never satisfied.
Or even if they’re nice enough,
They may not come through when you really need them,
Disappointing you even more.

All this politeness, keeping up a
Courteous demeanor—
Forget about it!

Worldly and religious work
Is the province of gentlemen.
Patrul, old boy—that’s not for you.
Haven’t you noticed what always happens?
An old bull,
once you’ve gone to the trouble of borrowing him for his services, Seems to have absolutely no desire left in him at all—
(Except to go back to sleep).

Be like that—desireless.

Just sleep, eat, piss, shit.
There’s nothing else in life that has to be done.

Don’t get involved with other things:
They’re not the point.
Keep a low profile,
Sleep.

In the triple universe
When you’re lower than your company
You should take the low seat.

Should you happen to be the superior one,
Don’t get arrogant.

There’s no absolute need to have close friends;
You’re better off just keeping to yourself.
When you’re without any worldly or religious obligations,
Don’t keep on longing to acquire some!

If you let go of everything—
Everything, everything—
That’s the real point!

This advice was written by the practitioner Trime Lodro (Patrul Rinpoche) for his intimate friend Ahu Shri (Patrul Rinpoche), in order to give advice that is tailored exactly to his capacities.

This advice should be put into practice.

Even though you don’t know how to practice, just let go of everything—that’s what I really want to say. Even though you aren’t able to succeed in your dharma practice. don’t get angry.

May it be virtuous. 
 
Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887) was a wandering Dzogchen master of Eastern Tibet, beloved by the people. He was renowned as the enlightened vagabond.

Translation by Constance Wilkinson

Photo:  The photograph at the top is from the book Himalaya: The Secret of the Golden Tara, by Dieter Glogowski.

Lately I’ve been (slowly) revising a collection of stories told by Daehaeng Kun Sunim  during her Dharma talks. Here’s the story of the awakening of one of the most famous figures in Korean Buddhism, Wonhyo Daesa (617–686 CE).

Wonhyo Sunim and Uisang Sunim were Buddhist monks who had become close friends, and were on their way to China to find a great master under whom they could study.  They had left Gyeongju, the capital of the Silla Kingdom, and were headed to the southwest coast of Korea to find a boat that could take them across the sea to China.

After weeks of walking, they were deep in the rival kingdom of Baekje.  The sky had turned dark and the showers were fast becoming torrents.  Before long the rain was blowing sideways and the two friends could barely see in front of them.  They looked around for some kind of shelter and eventually stumbled across an abandoned hut.  It was too wet to start a fire and they were both so exhausted that they fell fast asleep as soon as they lay down.  In the middle of the night Wonhyo Sunim woke up with a burning thirst.  Half asleep, he found a broken bowl half full of rain water. He drank it down with a sigh, and fell back to sleep.

In the morning when Wonhyo Sunim awoke, he was shocked by what he saw: decayed bodies were scattered all around where the two sunims had been sleeping.  This was no ordinary hut – it was a place for getting rid of the bodies of people who had died of the plague.  And the bowl full of rain water?  It was half a skull, with flesh still inside and crawling with maggots.  Running outside, Wonhyo Sunim began to vomit as if his insides were going to come outside.

Kneeling there with his stomach tied in knots, he suddenly realized, “The water was the same – it’s my thoughts that were different. Last night it was pure and refreshing, and now it’s so disgusting that.… The only thing that’s changed are my thoughts.”

As he quietly sat there, Uisang Sunim said to him, “Why don’t we get going; you’ll feel better once we get away from this place.”

Wonhyo Sunim didn’t respond. After a moment he asked Uisang Sunim, “Why do you want to go to China?”

“To learn the path, of course.”

“The path isn’t someplace far away.  It’s within us, wherever we are.  Why go to China to look for what’s already with us?

With this, Wonhyo Sunim headed back to the lands of Silla.

Wonhyo Sunim had taken the first step:  he had realized that it was his thoughts that made heaven and it was his thoughts that made hell.  If he wanted to attain the enlightenment of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, he would have to start with himself.  And there was no point in going somewhere else to do it.  So he took activity of his own mind as his fundamental hwadu (koan) and returned home to Silla. 

 If you want to discover what’s true and what’s real, you’ll have to start with your own mind. All of the principles and truths of the universe are already contained within you. Our fundamental mind gives rise to thousand different manifestations, and our fundamental mind can combine ten thousand different manifestations into one. This mind that ceaselessly gives rise to things and causes them to subside, also gives rise to every kind of different person, and can combine all those people into one.

So take the functioning of your own mind as your hwadu. If you practice like this, you’ll come to know what binds your mind, and what frees your mind. You’ll discover where you are rich and where you are impoverished, and you’ll discover that it’s mind that makes things big, and mind that makes the same things small. You’ll know for yourself the unimaginable wonders that this fundamental mind can call forth. By ceaselessly taking everything that arises through mind as your hwadu, you’ll realize that among all the things in the world, the path to true freedom begins with your own mind. For this is the very place of Buddha.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Those who have not yet been saved
will be saved

those who have not yet been set free
will be set free

those who have had no rest
will have rest

those who have not yet attained nirvana
will attain nirvana.

The Lotus Sutra, ch. 5
 

The Buddha’s Birthday (May 10, this year) is far and away the most important celebration on the Korean Buddhist calender. The preparations start nearly a year ahead of time at our center, and by January preparations are in full gear.  By the time things are finished in April, the lanterns and floats will be gorgeous!  (Click on the images for a bit higher resolution image.)
        For everyone in the Seoul area, there’s been one important change this year:  the main lantern parade will begin at dusk Saturday, May 7th, and will go from Dongguk University to Jogye Temple.   Sunday, May 8th, will be the street fair in front of Jogye Temple, with a celebration/party in the evening.  The actual day is May 10, Tuesday, and so temples big and small across the country will be having their own celebrations.

elephant at the base of the Avalokitesvara lantern

Here’s a guest post from Ojichan about his experience (and lack of) with people’s reactions to the disasters in Japan. I’m posting it here not to embarrass anyone or beat anyone up, but just to encourage us all to be a bit more aware of what’s going on in our surroundings.  I’ll post a link below to the original comment and my response, but for now I’d like to let people think about this for themselves.
     And congratulations to Nat, who raised nearly 8,000 bhat for Japan through her yoga classes!

Thank You and Metta to you all for your discussion here about our Buddhist response to the Japan disaster. So glad as well that your immediate friends and family were OK.

I am troubled about my practice and am hoping some of you might offer me some helpful advice or guidance.

I have Japanese family in Tokyo, Kyoto and Aomori and friends in Sendai. They have all now been found alive and OK. However, the first several hours we were very concerned that our family in Aomori were gone. They live near the harbor at sea level. When we called early, they answered “Hello…” and then the phone lines went dead. It was about 48 hrs. before we knew everyone of our close family and friends had survived. No tsunami in Aomori. Our friend in Sendai was evacuated.

I have practiced Vipassana, mostly off and on, for 42 years. But in the past 4 years I have been very committed. Daily practice, active leader in my sangha, several retreats and recently accepted as a student by a well-respected teacher in another city.

Here’s my dilemma: All my teachers, all the dharma talks, all the Sangha members are always talking about the importance of compassion for others and practicing metta.
All the people in my sangha are always so appreciative about the many gifts of sushi my wife has made for their gatherings. But when this happened, for a full week after, only one person called or even asked when I walked past them on the street. I tried not to notice, to surrender, to accept. But the silence was deafening and painful. My wife understands and responds with the stoicism of the Japanese. I can only attempt to imitate it.

In an effort not to go into victim hood I wrote a letter, describing the events and deep emotions for our family in those first few days of unknown. I added a very helpful letter I received from a Buddhist friend who was amongst the survivors at Sendai, describing all the enlightenment she and others were experiencing as they supported each other to recover and survive. I sent it t the one person who called. She sent it on to the entire Sangha. I then got about four very brief condolence emails. That felt a little better. But since then, nothing more… I myself lead a Tonglen meditation for the People of Japan the next week. There was good turnout. But since then, silence again.

I sent a copy of our experiences with our family, the letter from Sendai and the materials I organized on “A Buddhist Response for the People of Japan” to my personal teacher. I suggested she might find it useful for any of her presentations or retreats. No response. Then last week she emails me that she wanted to reschedule our next 1:1 talk because she was too busy…again, no comment about our family or any of the events in or the Buddhist people of Japan. I checked her website, her sangha’s website, hoping to see that she had responded in some way with an offering of metta for Japan. No comment at all. I’m scheduled to attend another retreat this weekend with another prominent teacher. I checked his website. Nothing there either.

I googled the internet looking for anything from Buddhists in response to one of the greatest disasters ever. Very little there either.

I was so pleased to see your comments here, but I’m very troubled and honestly don’t know what the truth is about why our fellow Buddhists, our world-wide sangha is so silent at a time like this. Perhaps, what I’m hearing from myself, is that the lesson in this is to build my trust and faith only in my own daily practice. To not put other’s words or opinions, even teachers above my own mindful observations while following my breath, and through my own metta, even in the midst of such apparent mindlessness all around me. But so many teachers, even the Buddha, also urge us to take sanctuary in the Sangha.
I honestly don’t know what to do with that now! I ‘m also unsure about how I should respond to my teacher when I do speak next with her. I know I need to surrender somehow and not add to the suffering. But it also seems unskillful and nonloving to simply repress this and never ask my sangha or my teacher to look more mindfully at what appears to be a pretty huge gap between their dharma talk and their actions in a time of real need amongst their fellow Buddhists in Japan. I have no idea what right speech or action, might be in the midst of this apparent silence.

I’d very much appreciate, anything you’d care to offer here in the way of wisdom, understanding or guidance.

In the meantime, my wife and I are going to Japan in a few weeks. We will roll up our shirt sleeves and pitch in what ever humble opportunity we can find there in our neighborhood and I’m planning to go find the local monk, and ask him if he has something I or my sangha can help. “Gambarimasu!”

Namaste,
Ojichan”

Link:  the original comment and responses

Next week, Nat from A Summer Day in the City of Angels will be offering a series of yoga classes as part of a fundraiser for quake victims in Japan. This will start Tuesday the 22nd and runs through the 30th; all the proceeds will be used to help victims in Japan. See the link above for details

Although this will be held in Bangkok, I’m writing about it because
A) it’s a good cause,
B) Nat is an incredible yoga teacher,
and C) hopefully, her generosity will inspire others to similar acts.

 
I’d also like to ask everyone to please keep the people of Japan in your thoughts, and raise as much metta for them as you can. Please remember the workers at the nuclear plant, and deeply input the thought that the situation there should settle down and be resolved without any further problems.

with palms together,
Chong Go Sunim

 
(Here are some slightly fuzzy shots of Nat’s studio at the Aryasom Villa.
If you’re going to be in Thailand sometime, be sure to check out her classes. She’s great, and the fee is very reasonable.)

n

n

n

n 
 

Here’s a link to lot of tweets about what’s going on in Japan. The cool thing is that most of these are about the great things people are doing to help each other. Really nice to read about how decent people can be when the chips are down. Here’s one of the first tweets:

* At Tokyo Disneyland
They distributed sweets that are part of their merchandise.  High school girls with heavy makeup took away more candies than they would possibly eat and that raised my eyebrows.  Later, I saw those girls giving the candies to kids at evacuation areas.  Families with kids had limited mobility and couldn’t get to where the candies were distributed.  Go girls!

(Thanks to Monster Island for this link.)

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1oR7mRBNCog-FeVrtl0dD4Suoi2hL0XE4YOoAPdCyZ3w&pli=1

Marcus, who posts here when time permits, was just caught in the earthquake in Japan. We lost contact with him for a day or so, but it turns out he’s fine, some modest hardships aside. He and Ikumi were together during the quake so they didn’t have to worry about not being able to contact each other, and Ikumi’s parents also came through things without suffering any damage. Here’s Marcus’ account of the earthquake.

(Joseph has already posted this at http://somewhereindhamma.wordpress.com/ but I’ll go ahead and repost it just in case someone’s missed it there.)

Footnote: