This photo always touches something deep inside me. I think there are many things that apply to both people here. In allowing her picture to be taken like this, I also suspect that Kun Sunim thought there was something very deep and special about Abraham Lincoln. It was taken around 1995 when our center near Washington DC opened. (Generally she very grudging about having her picture taken, and we usually had to ambush her!)
I’m currently working on the introduction for a collection of Dharma songs, but some of the songs are so beautiful and profound that it’s hard for me to know where to begin. Anything I write about them seems shallow by comparison. Sometimes all I can do is exhale and say “thank you.”
At the center of our vast
and completely empty mind,
there is an eternal spark.
With this spark
I quietly light the sublime lantern
that so faithfully guides me.
I’ll take this lantern
and spread it’s light
all over the world,
sharing its boundless compassion
with all I meet.
This one mind,
deep and deep,
so deep,
so profound and mysterious,
within this is the truth of “embracing everything,”
within this one mind
flows the sweet water
that can truly save all beings,
the water that has the power of all the sincere tears ever cried.
I’ll drink deeply of this spring water,
and no longer be caught by life and death,
and together with all beings,
I’ll take the path of this truth
that transcends all fixed forms and ideas.
Some of you may be wondering what’s happened to me (or not!) but this is the time of year when we get ready for the Frankfurt book fair. Book contents have to be finished so that layouts and artwork can be finished in August in order for everything to get to the printer’s in September.
One of the new books we’re finishing up is a collection of Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s poems that have been set to music and used as Dharma songs. They all have deep meaning, and this one talks about an idea that Daehaeng Kun Sunim sometimes mentions: Unconditional letting go expressed as dying. For when we deeply let go of the things we want and the things we fear, it does feel a bit like dying, like a kid denied Christmas. And yet when we entrust all of this to our inherently bright essence, the places that we are stuck seem to lose their hold on us and we can move forward with a fresh heart.
That which I’m fighting with, that which I’m clinging to, is a part of myself.
Die Three Times and Truly See Yourself
(세 번 죽어야 나를 보리라)
Vast beyond imaging
filled with an infinite variety of life,
yet everything in this universe
is but a shadow of one mind.
From an inherently empty place
appear empty things
being empty,
they all vanish.
If I truly realize that everything I interact with is empty,
this is dying one time.
From great Buddhas who rule the heavenly realms,
to tiny weeds alongside the road,
without excluding a single one,
die together with them all
die together with this empty “me,”
and realize that everything, just as it is,
is the truth.
This is dying a second time.
Among all the people, plants, and animals,
among the stones and the clouds,
there is nothing that is not me.
You and I, all of us together,
are sharing the same place
and the same body.
Everything is the manifestation of this inherent Buddha,
so when can you freely take care of everything with life,
and without life,
this is called dying a third time.
My one mind, which brings in and sends out everything
is my true foundation, that which is truly doing things.
We have to die in order to truly live,
die three times and see yourself.
For the last several years, my Dharma brothers have been working on building a new Dharma Hall. I’m quite proud of them both because they’ve been doing such an incredible job, and because they’ve been waiting untill they have all of the money necessary before starting each phase. (No borrowing money!) It’s taken seven or eight years now, (I can’t remember), but the work is nearing completion. They’re just finishing the painting and artwork, and the next step will be installing the flooring and then the Buddha statue. Here are some photos I took yesterday; click on the images to see a larger version.
Here’s the Dharma HallHere you can see part of the carved wooden panel that will stand behind the Buddha statue
The interior scaffoding goes up the ceiling, and provides a rare opportunity to examine the artwork on the ceiling and the supporting beamsEvery single aspect of the artwork has great meaning. Here the colored bands represent waves of energy radiating outward into the world, from our fundamental Buddha essence. (perhaps you noticed the golden bat? Traditionally bats are regarded as Dharma protectors in Korean Buddhism. Hmm, so when I was reading all the comic books, I was actually studying the Dharma!)Did I mention that this was a bit high off the ground?!Details of the ceiling artwork
Temples in Korea will often have a “founder’s altar” on the left side of the Dharma Hall. Sometimes this to honor the founder of the temple, and sometimes it’s to honor a great teacher of the temple. In our case, it’s both. This is the altar that was installed a couple of days ago in our Dharma Hall. I was a bit surprised by the modern style of the design, but I like its clean lines. (Unfortunately, the low light makes this photo look a bit washed out. This is just to the left of the main altar. Tomorrow I’ll try to add a picture of both.)
EDIT: Here’s a photo of the Founder’s altar in relation to the front of the Dharma Hall.
This past Monday (July 9) was the 49th day memorial service for Daehaeng Kun Sunim. Traditionally, these services are to help the spirit of the dead move on, to help free them from what they may be caught up in. But for an awakened being, it is more truly a memorial service for those of us who miss her. It was a rather public ceremony, with many sunims and laypeople visiting to pay their respects. (Click on the images to see a larger version.)
Looking into the Dharma hallGreeting visitors“Any seat will do.” On the stairs that lead to the main Dharma hall
Offering flowers (everyone who came had a chance to pay their respects.)
Dong Hee Sunim is a chanting specialist. She isn’t from our temple, but years ago went with Daehaeng Kun Sunim to Alaska, and what she learned and experienced has been something treasured to this day. So she really wanted to make an offering of her talents.Hye Hwan Sunim is the last disciple of Daehaeng Kun Sunim to be ordained. (There are a handful of other postulants who are her disciples, but they won’t be able to be ordained with Daehaeng Kuns Sunim as their legal teacher.)After a final series of bows, we concluded the ceremony by singing “Become a Great Being (대장부)”The site where Daehaeng Kun Sun was cremated. (The flowers mark the center.) In just 49 days the grass has come in so green.
One of the very first Buddhist texts I read explained how the idea of “I” or “Me” is just a composite, just a shadow that arises from the interaction of the material world and our senses. It’s always changing, coming and going, and yet we can build up such desire, hope, and anger based upon this. And yet, if we just let go of this “I” and “Me”, all of those things just pass by, unable to find a place to glom onto. Perhaps this is why letting go like this, or bowing, leaves my heart feeling like it’s been washed clean.
I love this image of “self” as the ghost of a thousand sharp-edged pieces of garbage!
Here’s another spectacular Dharma song that gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. (Click on the link below to listen to it being sung by our choir at the Dharma song festival last autumn.)
Even a small, ignored weed is also myself. There’s not a single thing that isn’t my shape, that’s not my life. Evolving over a billion lives, I had no idea that my shape was also there within others, that others’ shape was also my shape.
That shape is also my shape, that shape is my shape…. Trying not to see them as separate, trying not to see them as separate, finally becoming one, finally becoming one, they all become Bodhisattvas, I too become a Bodhisattva, become a Bodhisattva.
Although these are traditionally known as the Ox Herding Verses, I think they are also a fairly good spiritual biography of Daehaeng Kun Sunim.
1. Searching for the Ox On plains that stretch forward without end, pushing through the tall grass and brush, looking for the ox. Going here and there, following a nameless river and unknown paths deep into the mountains. Utterly exhausted, yet still no trace of the ox, In the gathering dusk, only the sounds of the crickets.
2. Finding Tracks of the Ox
Suddenly, on a river bank, under a tree, hoof prints of the ox! And there, under the sweetly flowing water, an ox print clearly seen. Stretching out before me as plain as day, hoof prints! 3. Glimpsing the Ox
Somewhere a bird is singing. Under the warm sun, a peaceful breeze. On the banks of the river, the willow trees are brilliant green, how could an ox hide here! But look at that massive head, and those wide horns. What kind of strength will it take to drag it back to the path?
4. Catching the Ox
It was a difficult fight, but at last I’ve caught the ox. So stubborn and willful, its strength seemed endless, like it could tear through mountains. But at last the ox has come to a standstill. Long accustomed to roaming here and there, at last it has come to a stop.
5. Taming the ox
To tame this ox requires a whip and some rope. I tied the rope through its nose ring, but still have to use the whip. Otherwise the ox will rush about, rolling in the mud, or getting stuck in the marsh. But when he’s tamed, his gentle, true nature will show, and he’ll follow me, even without a nose ring.
6. Riding the Ox Home
As I ride the ox, making my way home, it turns out he already knows the way. Sitting on his back and playing the flute, its harmonious melody goes far and wide. Hearing this sound, the villagers all come out to welcome me.
7. Forgetting the Ox
At last the ox and I have returned home. My mind is utterly at peace, the ox too is resting, and an auspicious light fills the entire house. This small, thatched-roof hut knows no worry or suffering, and at last I can lay down the whip and reins.
8. Myself and the Ox both Forgotten
The whip and the rope, even the ox and myself, are all empty, gone without a trace. Oh this sky, so wide and open so vast and boundless. There’s no place for even a single dust mote to settle. How could I ever be ensnared again?
9. Returning to the Source
I’ve crossed over so many mountains in order to return to this root. Here is my true home in appearance like the open sky with nothing hindering it and nothing to be gotten rid of. The waters of a stream just flowing, the flowers so beautiful.
10. Returning to the Town Although I’m wearing old rags, there’s no sense of lack. As I mix with the many people on the streets and markets, their suffering fades away, and even dead trees come to life. Such a deep valley, yet the turbulent waters cannot claim me.
Last November, we had a huge festival of Dharma songs here in Seoul. The singing was truly spectacular, as were the contents of the song. Listen to the song as you read through its lyrics, and see if it doesn’t touch you! (You may have to open the song in a new window while viewing this page. Let me know in the comments if the music isn’t playing for you.)
The Gugeong Pagoda on Buddha’s Birthday (at Hanmaum Seon Center)
When you’re able to use your mind harmoniously and generously you’ll be able to use it freely, becoming one with others and manifest according to the need. This harmonious mind can become smaller than the smallest dot, and larger than the vastest universe.
Returning things inwardly makes your mind harmonious, raising harmonious thoughts helps you be more thorough about returning things inwardly. Returning things inwardly also gives rise to compassion and caring. If you have just compassion, just caring, everything can be melted down, and anything can be achieved.
If you can return things inwardly you can communicate with everything. You can become one with Buddhas, one with a bug or a blade of grass. Everything is also yourself!
With equanimity, with an empty mind, observe your inner foundation, without any thought of trying to see it: This what it means to return things inwardly and observe.
Seeing everything as one, embracing everything without learning to one side or the other, this is equanimity.
When everything has been put down when there’s nothing left to hold onto, and not even the thought that you have to put something down, this is empty mind.
When you have such generous and harmonious attitude, you can become one with all life
one with the whole universe.
This mind can make even rough things harmonious and generous, and can find a use for them. Not a single thing is thrown away! This mind becomes one with all life.
This mind can make even rough things harmonious and generous, and can find a use for them. Not a single thing is thrown away! This is compassion!
This photo always touches something deep inside me. I think there are many things that apply to both people here. In allowing her picture to be taken like this, I also suspect that Kun Sunim thought there was something very deep and special about Abraham Lincoln. It was taken around 1995 when our center near Washington DC opened. (Generally she very grudging about having her picture taken, and we usually had to ambush her!)
On plains that stretch forward without end, pushing through the tall grass and brush, looking for the ox. Going here and there, following a nameless river and unknown paths deep into the mountains. Utterly exhausted, yet still no trace of the ox, In the gathering dusk, only the sounds of the crickets.
Wake Up and Laugh! 