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Today is Bek-jung here in Korea, with the ceremonies set to start in 30 minutes. It’s the day for remembering those who have passed away, and for practicing on their behalf.

In Sanskrit it’s called Ullambana, and is based upon a sutra of the same name. The premise is that we and the deceased are not separate, and that the thoughts we raise can benefit those around us.

So apart from the sincerity of the offerings, the parts of the ceremony that are chanted are also about compassion and understanding that we are not our bodies, (that they are composites that come and go) and so we are free to let go of those and be reborn at whatever level we choose.

And, as we internalize those truths (compassion, sincerity, and impermanence) and let them settle down within us, those beings we share a karmic connection with are also experiencing those truths. Because we know it, they do. Just intellectually knowing won’t do much good though, we have to input and let go of all of that to this very deep place where no fixed forms or concepts can survive. When we connect with this place, what we’ve input is communicated with all beings.

One of the big disadvantages about being dead is that, having no new sensory input, consciousness tends to “drift” along, stuck in whatever it was experiencing at the time of death, or in the very slowly changing karmicly conditioned states of consciousness.* So when we hold ceremonies like this, the purpose is to become one with the deceased, and, as they become one with our level, (which is hopefully focusing on these truths!) knock them out of the loop they were stuck in.

* If someone has experienced this inner light for themselves while alive, and is practiced at relying upon it, apparently “drift” isn’t a problem, because the person follows this inner light, instead of getting hung up in the various conditioned states of consciousness that arise.
 
 
 
 
My thanks to Roy, at Return to the Center, for getting me thinking about this topic.

The images are from the main Hanmaum Seon Center in Anyang, South Korea.

People familiar with Buddhism in the West, particularly Zen, have often heard of Dharma transmission.

In some schools this is a certificate and a formal ceremony stating that you’re now the Dharma heir of so-and-so. It’s described as a mind-to-mind transmission that has continued uninterrupted from Sakyamuni Buddha himself, and only someone who has received this is an authentic inheritor of the Dharma.

However, Korean Buddhism has a rather different perspective on this.

In traditional Korean Buddhism, there are no certificates of transmission. After ten or twenty years, a general consensus would arise that someone was the Dharma successor of their teacher. Their authority was derived from their ability, not a piece of paper.

Likewise, people didn’t really buy into the idea of an unbroken lineage. There could be periods where there were a number of great teachers, where there was only one, and even generations where there was no particularly outstanding teachers. The Supreme Patriarch of Korean Buddhism, Hanam Sunim (1876-1951), explained why this wasn’t a problem:

It doesn’t matter whether or not you knew the previous king. If you sit on the throne, you’re now king.

That is, if you awaken to the inherent Buddha-essence within you, you are the successor of Sakyamuni.

We each this very same mind as Sakyamuni, inherent within us at every moment and every place. Our job then, is to learn to rely on this, even though it’s indistinct at first. If we can diligently do this, we will have the kinds of experiences that will confirm we are going in the right direction, and which will reveal our direction.

Continuously letting go and entrusting everything to this Buddha-mind is the path forward as well as a great Dharma protecting warrior, because in returning everything we experience, including what we know and what we don’t know, we keep letting go of “I” and “me”, and are not caught by the experiences that could serve as toeholds for pride, greed, and fear.

Here’s an interesting poem about practice

Let go of everything to this great Emptiness,
burning, burning, burning,
like a vast, black sun,
burning away the bent, twisted parts of ourselves.

In truth though,
nothing is burnt away,
nothing comes or goes
All of those bent, twisted lumps of agony,
in touching light,
become light.

Like a nail becoming a magnet,
in meeting light,
they become light.

From the ‘Lotus Lantern’, the English-language journal of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, Vol.42 – Summer 2010:

What are you looking for?
Whatever it is, you have to start by letting go;
Learn to trust the fundamental source within you.
Whether we call this Buddha-nature, God, or true self
Makes no difference. It has guided you and supported you
For a billion eons. Through it all things are connected,
And unseen energy flows back and forth
Between all lives and things.

– Seon Master Daehaeng 
 
  
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Link: Lotus Lantern

Here’s a guest post from Bonsai Doug about this messy process of working out our own salvation.

The term “footedness” refers to a preference to put one’s left or right foot forward in the various board-sports like surfing, or skateboarding – a “regular stance” if you will.  The opposite of this regular stance is often referred to as “goofy-foot.”

I often feel I’m traveling my personal Buddhist path a bit goofy-footed.  Let me try to explain.

I live in a small, rural area of western New York.  There is no temple or sangha to help me on my path.  So, I rely heavily on my library (I devour books!) and my online community to be my sangha.  While this sometimes makes for a bumpy path, it also makes for one rich in all the varied and wonderful traditions of Buddhism.

I have two bodhi seed malas which I love.  But I know I’m not using them quite as intended. Meditation (no secret here) is challenging.  So when concentrating on breaths, I often use a mala to count those breaths, and to keep my mind as focused as possible.  The result is that I do not sit quite as “still” as recommended, but it seems to work for me.  It has made meditation something I very much look forward to.  I know the mala is used in the counting of mantra and prostrations, so I guess my approach here too is a bit goofy-footed.  Or perhaps I should coin a new phrase… “goofy-handed?”

My goofy-footed approach, however, has resulted in many great stops along the way.  Friends made while in Korea.  Gary Gach, the author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Buddhism.”  Lunch with the monks of Wat Mongkolratanaram.  A personal tour of the Byodo-In temple in Hawaii.  Being present when the Jade Buddha for Universal Peace arrived at the Minh Dang Quang Temple in Florida.  And of course, discovering “Wake Up and Laugh.”

I sincerely hope my goofy-footed approach proves fruitful.  I do know I am the better for it.  I’ve never been happier and more at peace with myself and those around me.  I am far more caring, loving and compassionate than ever before.  Walking my path, albeit goofy-footed, is providing for a wonderful journey.

And whenever I become a bit discouraged with my goofy-footed journey, I remind myself of a quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

We all travel our own path to enlightenment.
  And just because someone is not following on our path, it does not mean they are lost.
 
Namaste, and be well!
                                        Doug

More about bowls!

The last couple of posts have really brought up some great points about striving, versus freeing oneself from dualities. I found myself laughing, because I agreed completely with everyone!

The first point is spiritual capacity. As Joseph brought up in yesterday’s post, our spiritual capacity is a like a bowl: it can only hold that much. Anything more overflows and is lost (or makes a mess).  So what can we do to increase our size, or as Barry points out, is this desire to be a bigger bowl actually a dualistic hindrance.

I think the answer lies in the approach. Why do we want to do this? Is it because we keep hearing Dharma talks and can’t remember them afterwards? Is it because we aren’t doing a good job of putting into practice what we know, or that we feel like what the Tibetans call a broken cauldron – no matter how much is put in, nothing is retained, nothing seems to be learned (from the experience).

At the risk of pushing an analogy too far, what determines our bowl size? To me, it’s whether we are living based upon our conditioned thoughts and urges of the body, or whether we are moving from something deeper.  Then the question becomes how do we get in touch with this something deeper, this something that has ten-thousand names.  The only way I know how to do this is by heavily returning everything to this fundamental mind, this Buddha-essence – letting go of “me,” what I know, and what I want to do. I’ve also heard someone describing this as “letting go to emptiness.” 

In a sense this is dying to all that stuff, but the unexpected result is that in becoming aware of this that transcends all dualities, energy and wisdom burst forth, and I’m better able to respond and be with what is happening.  Now, I’m able to actually hear what it is I’m truly called to do.

Somehow, all that gunk of “me,” desires, and resistance, is a paradox. If I indulge it and chase it, worry about it and fear it, my life slowly becomes a hell realm. Yet, if I fully become one with it and dive into this emptiness, then even that becomes an opportunity to awaken and grow.  Even that which I would despise becomes my gateway. This still seems so weird and amazing to me! 

Daehaeng Kun Sunim once said about the desire to practice, that “Yes, it is also a discriminating thought. But when you let go of it and entrust it to your inherent nature, it becomes a burning log that ignites and consumes the great mountain of logs that have accumulated over endless eons.”

At Saturday Sangha this week, Chong Go Sunim mentioned a Korean Buddhist saying that I hadn’t listened to before. Our spiritual capacity is like a bowl, it can only hold so much. Once it’s full, it just spills out over the edge. Then, no matter how great the teaching, only so much of it can be retained.

Of course, the first question that crossed my mind was, “So, how do we increase the size of our bowls?”

There is a magnificent temple in Ladphrao, Chokchai 4, in the north of Bangkok, dedicated to the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, which is well worth a visit. At the temple’s centre is a huge pagoda containing four thousand-armed Kuan Yins, and in every hall there are an uncountable number of statues and images of Kuan Yin and of Amida Buddha.

I went back there again last December as a guest of the Sunims at the Bangkok Hanmaum Seonwon, who had been invited there with many other Bhikkunis and female laypeople to recieve special awards honoring them for their work on Women and Buddhism by the Grand Master Shi Kuang Seng, who founded the temple, the ‘Avalokitesvara’s Great Compassion Stupa of 10,000 Buddhas’, twenty one years ago.

The awards were delivered by HRH Princess of Thailand, Prof. Dr. Chulabhorn Walailak, the youngest daughter of the King of Thailand, and so we arrived in good time to take our seats. The sight of so many Bhikkunis in many different kinds of robes – Thai, Korean, Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, orange, grey, brown, red, black – was wonderful. Sadly, due to a computer glitch, I have no photos to show you.

Dr Lee Bhikkuni, a regular visitor to the seonwon, was also there to receive an award, as well as Mae Chee Brigitte, and many others who I didn’t recognise. You can imagine the colours, the brass band playing, the fans whirring, and even the Princess herself, after presenting the awards, giving a recital of some traditional Thai music. And behind all the female monks were a thousand Bhikkus there to perform a chanting ceremony later in the day.

Spotting a few faces I recognised, I went over to the monks and learnt that Phra Pandit, organiser of the wonderful Little Bangkok Sangha, had also been there. Apparently he’d seen me wandering around with my camera and had waved furiously, but was unable to get my attention. “What sexism” he joked on the phone later that night, “taking all those photos of the Bhikkunis and ignoring the thousand Bhikkus behind you!”

The Princess left to the waves of crowds of enthusiastic Thai people in the streets outside, and we made our way back to the seonwon. Ceremonies to mark the anniversary of the temple, and to pray for the health of King Bhumibol and for World Peace, continued all month, with, on one evening, a Dharma talk from Hyaedan Sunim from the Bangkok Seonwon in Thai.

(For all us English-speakers, there’s no need to worry! We can study with Hyaedan Sunim every month at the Bangkok Seon Club! See you there!)

Link:
Sandy Boucher: A wonderful account of the event, and of her two weeks with Shi Kuang Seng.