Author: Chong Go Sunim

Come to Korea for the Buddha’s Birthday!

Chong Go Sunim2 Comments

Hi everyone,

The Buddha’s Birthday is going to be celebrated here in Korea on the 21st, with the main lantern parade in Seoul on Sunday the 16th. The lanterns are spectacular, as are the performances and dancing, and shouldn’t be missed. I took this photo Sunday night at a review our temple was holding.  This lantern is about 10 feet high (3m) and will be used as a parade float. Like most of the lanterns it’s made from traditional paper over a wire framework, with electric lighting within. The paper is hand painted, with a weather-coating varnish of some kind.

There will be a street fair all day on the street in front of Jogye Temple, with the main parade starting from Dongguk University once it begins to get dark. The parade will move down Jongno road, ending in front of Jogye Temple. There will also be a shorter review held in front of Jogye Temple on Saturday, the 15th, again at dusk.

Here’s a close up of the leg:

So if you’re going to be in Korea, be sure to stop by Seoul on the 16th. Busan will also be having a parade, although I don’t know when. (It’s nice, but not as spectacular.) Likewise, there will be smaller parades at nearly every temple in the country on the 21st.

with palms together,

Chong Go

For an idea of the size of these lanterns, look at the peoples’ heads at the base of the elephant.

Ads on blogs

Chong Go Sunim4 Comments

We’ve had some reports of large ads appearing on this blog, but haven’t been able to figure out if this is a spam program or WordPress’ doing. If you’ve seen an ad while visiting us, would you drop a line  in the “Comments” section? Thanks, we’re trying to get more info about this, and would like to know what people are seeing.

with palms together,
Chong Go

Inherently sharing the same life and body

Chong Go Sunim2 Comments

    Towards the opening of Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s translation of the Heart Sutra it says:

Inherently all beings
are sharing the same life,
the same mind,
the same body,
working together as one
and free giving
and receiving
whatever is needed.
They are endlessly
manifesting and
changing every instant,
but because they are unaware
of this,
they walk the path of suffering.

     I’m always amazed at how the implications of this continue to unfold. It explains the idea of “one mind” as well as “interbeing,” and has so many practical implications:


If I want to save myself, I can’t exclude or hate anyone else, for they’re also part of me.

Everything’s constantly changing, yet it’s denying this that causes one to suffer.

Everything I need is there, if I just stop building walls of self and other…

If you do what everyone else is doing…

Chong Go Sunim7 Comments

I posted this elsewhere, but Evelyn in Germany offered such an insightful comment that I thought it was worth reposting here.

A few weeks ago, I overheard Daehaeng Kun Sunim say the following sentence during an interview:
 

 If you just do what everyone else is doing, you’ll be screwed.*   
 

How’s that for a to-the-point Dharma talk! She was talking about the cost of following the herd, but even more than that, the cost of not making an effort to find your own, true root; and the cost of not listening to this root, your Buddha-nature.

Evelyn:
Following the herd – in the beginning it may seem the easiest way… you don’t offend, you aren’t blamed. there are many places and opportunities ‘following the herd’ isn’t just wished but wanted from you – at school, in your job, at home. not to follow the herd implicates annoyance, dismissive treatment and a general uncertainty. you’ll think twice to dare! you try to please everybody. you run… up to the day you are at point zero. you are shattered. and yes, you are screwed. you feel desperately helpless. finally you start thinking again. who’s to blame if you aren’t where you want to be? who’s to blame when you aren’t doing what you want to do? how to untangle this situation and not to destroy everything?

You have to be brave. you have to take the risk. and you have to take the responsibility. then maybe you’ll find out wherefore you are here. it’s worth the effort…
 

   *The word Daehaeng Kun Sunim used was ‘mang-ha-da’, which could be literally “ruined,” but the nuance was much more like “screwed” or “up a creek.”

Practicing through our fundamental mind

Chong Go Sunim20 Comments

Practitioners don’t get caught up in labels
such as “man” or “woman,”
nor the preconceptions that go with such labels.
They’re focused on going forward while relying upon this fundamental mind.
Even if their situation seems unfair,
they see it in a positive light, and are at peace.
They don’t stir up the intellect and “I,” or give rise to plans and goals,
instead, they take the events of their daily life,
and entrust them to their fundamental mind.
While entrusting these things,
if they give raise a thought free of “I” and “mine,”
that thought will manifest into the world.
This is why this practice is so convenient and practical,
it reaches everywhere and communicates with everything.
  

 
It’s so hard to be born as a human,
but it’s even more difficult
to become a true human being.
It’s not something that someone else
can give you,
nor are great physical hardships necessary.
Listen often to Dharma talks,
try to practice through mind,
experience what happens
and know for yourself.

 
 
 
  
 

Belief and confidence are essential to this process.
Don’t worry about whether your practice is going better or worse than others.
Don’t try to achieve everything all at once,
steady and consistent is the key.
Steadfast faith in your fundamental Buddha-nature,
and consistently entrusting everything to it
is the most important thing.

In this new year,
I hope that you all will live together non-dually,
living as one,
working together as one,
and freely giving and receiving whatever’s needed.

                                        —Daehaeng Kun Sunim
 
 
copyright 2010, The Hanmaum Seonwon Foundation

What feeds your spirit?

Chong Go Sunim8 Comments

The great Korean Buddhist teacher Hanam Sunim (1876-1951) once said that the things we do in our lives either brighten our minds, or darken them. (He said that there’s really no neutral ground, just effects that are too subtle for us to notice.) 

I thought of this the other day, when I came across this great line :

Another washing machine, a bigger car, a nicer house to live in? Not much to feed the spirit in all that.  (Bangkok Tattoo, 179)

So here’s an open question for everyone: What feeds your spirit?

The Metta Sutta

Chong Go Sunim3 Comments

The Metta Sutta, by Al Greene

This song kept running through my head just before I woke up this morning. It seemed like a 20th Century version of the Metta Sutta!

The subject of love in Buddhism is kind of interesting, because I think love is often mistaken for clinging or lust, and so people think it needs to be rejected. However, there is the non-dual love taught by the Buddhas.  Daehaeng Sunim pointed this out to me one morning as I was preparing to return to the US, saying, “Love your family, just don’t be attached to them.”

 The Metta Sutta, by Al Greene, and Anne Lennox

Think of your fellow man
Lend him a helping hand
Put a little love in your heart

You see it’s getting late
Oh please don’t hesitate
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see

Another day goes by
And still the children cry
Put a little love in you heart
If you want the world to know
We won’t let hatred grow
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see
Wait and see

Take a good look around
And if you’re lookin’ down
Put a little love in your heart

I hope when you decide
Kindness will be your guide
Put a little love in your heart

And the world will be a better place
And the world will be a better place
For you and me
You just wait and see

Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in your heart
Put a little love in –
Put a little love in your heart…