Wake Up and Laugh!

There is a place where all Buddhas have practiced, and it’s not in some higher realm. It’s the same place they’ve all attained enlightenment.

Let me know that all Buddhas exist
within my one mind,
the place where enlightenment is attained.

원하건대 일체제불이 도량의 집 내 한마음에 계시옴을 알게 하소서.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,

One mind,
the Way that isn’t a fixed path,
its inherent brightness is never troubled by birth and death.
I vow to realize one mind without delay.

본래 밝아 생과 사에 걸림 없는 길 없는 길 한마음이
하루속히 이루어지이다.

This part repeats a couple more times, and it may seem like the meaning is straightforward and doesn’t need repeating, but it’s repeated a number of times in the text. I think it’s because we truly need to grasp this deep down. When we’re stressed, when we’re hurting or overwhelmed, where is our first stop? Where do we look to first? What’s our first, instant thought about how to take care of something? It needs to be our one mind. It’s connected to everything inside and outside, and so can provide energy and/or guidance.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,

Virtue, precepts, and actions in harmony with the Dharma
are all done through mind.
I vow to attain these without delay.

마음의 공덕 계율 법행을 하루속히 이루오리다.

My one mind hears and responds to all the cries of the world,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,

Things that “live” and “die”
are not my true essence.
Thus I will achieve one mind,
which transcends all distinctions
such as realms of the living
and realms of the dead.

산다 죽는다 하는 것은 고정된 참모습이 아니기에
이승 저승 없는 한마음 되오리다.

Are you remembering to recite these out loud? I just finished the subtitles for an interesting video from a Dharma talk by Daehaeng Kun Sunim, where she compares how we use our mind to feeding the lives within us — they grow into what we feed them. If we feed them wisely, then that’s what they change into.

My one mind hears and responds to all the cries of the world
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,

(If I entrust everything I’m searching for to my one mind, I will realize that)
Inherently “I” does not exist,
so there is no need to obtain something else.
I will find the one who says
there is no need to obtain something else.

본래 내가 없기에,
건널 것도 없는 것을 알 것이니, 건널 것도 없다 하는 그 님을 찾으리라.

Daehaeng Sunim always seemed to have a much broader vision than anyone I’ve ever met. It certainly seemed that she wasn’t looking at things in the same time span as other people, where for her, naturally viewing things in terms of lifetimes was, well, as natural as us thinking of the week ahead.

So to see people goofing off as if they had all the time in the world must have caused some head shaking from time to time. Like a high school student who thought they were always going to be in high school, with mom and dad always taking care of them. But to her the limited nature of this world was (apparently!) very clear.

Sometimes she would talk about this world, saying that it’s role, it’s purpose, was to help sort people into higher or lower realms. Dwelling here wasn’t the point. Rather, our time here was a powerful and flexible opportunity to grow. Stepping forward to where you haven’t been, or only by accident, is hard to do, but it’s what we have to keep doing. And as we do so, moving forward from where we are now will become easier and seem more natural. It really will!

Being born as a human being is such an incredible opportunity.
Would you just leave without taking advantage of this chance?
— Daehaeng Kun Sunim