Wake Up and Laugh!

There’s a great new blog about Korea, Robert Koehler Travel & Photography, started up by the editor of Seoul magazine. Robert’s also the editor/author of the city guide to Seoul I mentioned a few posts back. With incredible photos, and great info and details about places to visit, this blog looks set to become an incredible place to go for information about Korea. 

Aside from the historical places tourists may see, such as the Changdeokgung Palace (chang-duck-goong),

 

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 if you’re into Korean food, you’ll discover the great hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

 
  
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
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Robert’s other great passion is architecture, and he’s been known to travel half-way across the country to photograph an old building. 😉 
 
In one of his first posts, he examines the Catholic churches that were built just after the Korean War, many of them in cooperation between local members of the Catholic Church and Catholic members of the U.S. armed forces. They tend to have a very nice feeling of care and devotion. (I’m sure he’ll get around to some great temple posts!)

(All of the photos here are by Robert Koehler, and are from his blog.)

Start your study with experiences, with applying and experimenting with what you know. Don’t think that you can wait until after enlightenment before you have experiences. If you want to know your true self, experiences are the fastest way to go.  

When I first became a monk, the abbess at the main Hanmaum Seon Center in Anyang said to me, “Without the experiences (that come from trying to rely upon one’s inherent Buddha-nature), it’s really hard to live as a monk or nun for very long. You need the sustenance of these experiences.”   

Here is a bit more that she has said about spiritual experiences.  

The more effort you make, the more results and experiences you will get.  And the more effort you make, the harder your true nature will push you. The harder you study, the harder your true self, Juingong, pushes you.   

The first thing you have to pass through is learning to ignore the obstacles from other people.  To me, I’m focused on taking care of my practice, regardless of what other people are doing to me.  I have seen many people, including sunims and laypeople who drop out because of obstacles from laypeople and hardships from their teacher.  

There’s an odd thing I’ve discovered about spiritual experiences – they have a lot in common with fish: They’re alive and vibrant at first, but unless we release them, within a day or two, they really begin to stink.  

Unless we let go of them, nothing new comes, so it’s very hard to keep growing. In addition, if we don’t release them, they will become a foothold for “I” and the all the opinions and fixed views that go along with this sense of “me.” Without even being aware of it, a subtle thought begins to pervade our consciousness, “Look what I know.” From the moment this stink of I starts to pervade our outlook, things begin to fall apart.  I can’t claim to know all the details about why this is, but my feeling is that the dualistic thought, of what I know, begins to cut us off from the whole and our source of energy and wisdom.   

However, when we release what we’ve experienced and become one with it, even though we seem to lose sight of it, it’s still there, transforming us. And when we need it, it will return.  

Trusting our root, our true nature, means that we entrust it with not just the bad things, but also the good things. We release them all to this root, remembering that is what’s really taking care of our lives and everything we encounter.

“This is the Buddha’s compassion” the Sunim replied. “This is how you learn and grow. Everything comes from you, and serves to lead you to your True Self”.

Here’s the second part of the Venerable Ya-un’s Admonitions to Myself. While it seems pretty uncompromising, remember that this was written in the form of an address to himself and, as a text, it was aimed at monastics in around the year 1400.   While the details may not be realistic for us today, its underlying spirit is still relevant to our world.

It also gives a view of a world of poverty that most of us are unaware of, and which, unfortunately, still exists in places even today.

Refrain from fine clothes and food.

First, do not accept fine clothes or food. Beginning with plowing the fields until food is ready to eat and clothes are ready to wear, these things require an immense amount of effort from both people and cattle. Furthermore, huge numbers of insects are also hurt or killed during this process. It’s wrong to cause others to work for the sake of your own comfort, not to speak of killing other beings in order to maintain your life.

Farmers suffer from hunger and cold, while weaving women are barely able to cover their bodies properly. How can I then idle my time away complaining about being hungry or cold?

Fine clothes and delicious food are burdensome obligations that hinder cultivation of the way.* Wearing shabby clothes and eating vegetables with rice lighten the burden of the donors and are a secret kindness on your part. If you don’t brighten your mind in this life, then even a drop of water will be hard to swallow in the next one.

     Calm your stomach with roots and wild fruit,
     cover your body with clothes made from leaves and grasses.
     Take the wild cranes and the white clouds as your friends,
     and spend what’s left of your life
     among the high mountains and deep valleys.

 

 
 
 
*  In addition to karmic debts, this also refers to the increase in our desires as we become used to nicer things — trans.

These days in Seoul we’re studying No River to Cross, by Seon Master Daehaeng. It’s a wonderful text with such hidden depths, that, from time to time, I thought it would be nice to recap a few of the key points here. Chapter 2 is one of the harder chapters because it deals with the fundamental reality of the world around us.

Everything in all universes is directly connected to the fundamental mind of humans and all life. Everything that functions and moves in the world is already directly connected to our foundation. Everything in the whole universe, including both visible and invisible realms, is connected and communicates as one. Nothing exists apart from anything else; the mind of all Buddhas is your inherent mind, and the Dharma of all Buddhas is the Dharma of your inherent mind and your daily life. (No River to Cross, p. 9-10)

 In Korean Buddhism, it’s sometimes said that we are the combination of our body, our present consciousness, and our Buddha-nature or true self.

Body and perceptions

What we usually think of as “me,” are the perceptions and interpretations that arise from our body making contact with the material world. If I encounter something, a feeling arises, it’s interpreted, and I react to that judgement. If it’s fun, I’ll start wanting more, and if it’s painful, I’ll try to avoid it.  In this way, the fears, desires, and judgements that occupy so much of my time, are only the automatic results of my body’s interaction with the environment.

An extreme example of this is sexual orientation:  If I’m born as a man, the make-up of my body will naturally turn my thoughts towards women, and yet if I were born as a woman, the elements of my body would turn my thoughts towards men. (There are exceptions, obviously, but you get the point!) These thoughts and feelings not fundamental to my essence, but rather a temporary result of this body meeting the environment. 
 
If you’ve stuck with me up to here, then you’ve probably already felt the sense of lack and incompleteness that comes from making these feelings the focus of our life. That’s because these conditioned feelings and concerns aren’t the whole picture: there is true self, also called fundamental mind, luminous mind, and God-nature.

Daehaeng Kun Sunim says about this aspect:

… true self has always been with us. However, we won’t know this unless we try to find it. Realize that everything comes from true self. The physical body is like the leaves and branches that come from the root, the true self. How could you forget about the root…. Know the root! (p. 14)

Because this root is where even this feelings and thoughts ultimately arise from, this is where we need to entrust them. However, hearing this, people often begin to think that the body and the feelings and thoughts it gives rise to are something to be despised. Daehaeng Kun Sunim cautions people about this view, saying:

There has to be a physical body in order to know the Buddha-dharma. You need to be aware that throwing away your body is not the way to know the Buddha-dharma. To think that the flesh is worthless and must be thrown away because it’s only a temporary combination is an extremely misguided idea. Without the body, you cannot develop, cannot broaden your wisdom, and cannot become a Buddha. Because the son exists, you can know the father; through the existence of the servant, you can come to know the master. By understanding visible phenomena, you can understand the invisible essence, the non-material foundation that gives rise to and animates all visible phenomena, and which always works together as one with all things.(p. 14)

So our body is certainly something to value and take care of, yet while doing this, we have to be careful not to mistake it for our totality. Ultimately everything has to be entrusted, everything has to be combined as one. When this body, its perceptions and consciousness, and our inherent Buddha-nature all function together as one, then I think we’ll discover what living as a human being truly means.

Together with Wonhyo’s Inspiring Yourself to Practice, and Chinul’s Admonitions to Beginners, this forms one of the fundamental texts of Korean Buddhism. Originally intended for monastics, practitioners of all backgrounds may find this useful and inspiring. It’s a fairly long text, with 10 parts, so I’ll post each section separately. It was written at the end of the Koryo dynasty (~1394~) by a Korean monk named Ya-un (野雲和尙), and I did the English translation. 

Admonitions to Myself
(自警文)
by the Venerable Ya-un

My own true self! Listen carefully!

There have been so many people who have achieved enlightenment by dissolving all attachments and aversions.[1] Why do you still linger within the realms of suffering and defilements?

For endless lives, you have turned your back on your true nature, and through clinging and attachments have fallen into ignorance. Committing all kinds of unwholesome acts while not cultivating the roots of goodness, you have repeatedly fallen into the sea of karma that leads to rebirth as one of the four types of lives. [ii]

The body follows the six senses. Thus you will suffer immensely if they lead you to be reborn in an unwholesome place. Having turned your back upon the transcendental teachings of the Buddha,[iii] even if you are able to be reborn in a human realm, it will only be before or after the appearance of a Buddha. Fortunately, this time you have received the body of a human, but you have been born long after the Buddha’s entry into Nirvana. This is heartbreaking, but whose fault is it?

Nevertheless, if you sincerely repent and want to change your direction, then cut off all attachments to the world. Leave home, carrying your bowls and wearing the kasa, and take the direct path and learn the profound Dharma, which is free of all defilements. Like a dragon in the ocean depths, or Spring coming to a mountain, this profound truth is utterly inexpressible!

People have a past and present, but the Dharma is neither far nor near. People can be wise or foolish, but the Way is neither strong nor weak. Even if you had lived at the time of the Buddha, what would it have benefited you if you didn’t follow His teachings? Even though you live in a period of decadence, if you believe and live according to Buddha’s teachings, the benefits of this will be beyond measure.

Thus the Buddha said, “Like a good doctor, understanding the disease, I prescribe the appropriate medicine. The doctor is not to blame if the patient refuses to take the medicine. Or like a good mountain guide, I show people a safe path. If people ignore the directions he has given, it is not the fault of the guide.”

“The Dharma, which is beneficial to myself and to all beings, is omnipresent and inherent within all. Thus, even if I were to remain longer in this world, there would be no additional benefit. If my disciples continue to practice the Dharma without ceasing, then the Dharma-body of the Tathagata will never disappear.” If you understand this truth, then you will regret only your own lack of practicing, rather than worrying about things such as the decadence of the era.

I sincerely hope that you develop a resolute and expansive mind, and determine to completely cut off all ties to the mundane world, and get rid of all delusive thoughts. Thoroughly investigate the hwadus [iv] of the Patriarchs, attain the highest wisdom, and thus overcome the great matter of birth, aging, suffering, and death. Make the attainment of ultimate enlightenment your goal. Don’t take this lightly, don’t step backwards.

In this age of degeneration, it has been a long time since the Buddha left. Mara has grown strong and the Dharma has become weak. Those who lead people astray are many, while few are the ones who correctly show the path. Wise people are few, while the ignorant are many. Not only do they ignore the Buddha-dharma, but they also distract others. It’s not possible to talk about all of the hindrances to spiritual cultivation. 

Worrying that you might go astray, I have outlined ten points to be cautious about. Please believe what I say and do not violate any of these points. 

                           If you are ignorant and do not study,
                           your arrogance alone will increase.
                           If you do not polish the darkness of your mind,
                           your egotism will only deepen.
                           To have an empty stomach and a haughty mind
                           is to be like a hungry snake,
                           or an ignorant and lazy monkey.
                           Although you readily listen
                           to harmful and evil speech,
                           you purposely ignore the teachings of
                           the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
                           If you have no affinity with
                           the good path,
                           who will be able to help you?
                           Following the six senses,
                           leads only to terrible suffering.

---

[i] Literally, “…achieved enlightenment through the gate of emptiness.” This can mean a deep experiential understanding of emptiness, or it can also mean making your behavior and thought in harmony with the principles of emptiness.

[ii] Lives born from wombs, eggs, moisture, and through transformation.

[iii] Literally, the One Vehicle.

[iv] koan(Japanese), kong’an(Chinese)

An Introduction
One of the major figures in Korean temple food is Seonjae Sunim. She’s been researching Korean temple food for many years now, and I had the privilege of attending a series of lectures she gave about the topic.

Modern history
One of the interesting points she made about Korean temple food is that much of the know-how has been lost. She said that before the Japanese occupation (1904 – 1945), there was a lot of accumulated techniques and knowledge about vegetarian cooking in the big temples. But with the Japanese control of Buddhism during the Occupation era, followed by the destruction and poverty of the Korean War and years afterwards (1950-1970 or so), this was lost.

Japanese Era – the loss of the vegetarian tradition
The biggest thing about the Japanese occupation for Buddhists, was the “reforms” forced on Korean Buddhists. Chief among these was the effort to create an acceptance in Buddhism for the monks to marry, drink alcohol, and eat meat. They put this into motion around 1920, when after having centralized all of the temples into one network, they appointed their own people as abbots of the regional head temples. These men drank, ate meat, and tended to be married. The traditional Korean monks were outraged about this, but at first the Japanese government ignored their protests, and then made drinking, marriage, and meat officially accepted.

Through coercion and enticements, by 1945 the vast majority of the men in temples belonged to this system. This was really the biggest blow to the vegetarian tradition in Korea.  For, after 30 or 40 years of this, a lot of the monks and nuns who were masters of the old system of vegetarian cooking had simply died without having passed on their knowledge.

Not helping was the poverty of these years, and the years after the Korean War, when anything at all to eat was gratefully received. So by the 1970’s what you had was temple cooking that was simply ordinary Korean cooking, minus the meat. Which, nutritionally, really isn’t adequate.

The Nature of Plants, and Seasonal Energies
One of the interesting things that Seonjae Sunim discovered as she was re-discovering these old systems of vegetarian cooking, was that just because it was a plant or vegetable, that didn’t mean it was good for you. In the old system, it was very clear that every plant, vegetable, and dish had a season. This didn’t mean merely what was available, but that given the energy of a certain plant, it should only be consumed during the appropriate season. So there are dishes that are spring dishes, and only consumed in the spring. For example, mugwort has certain properties that make it beneficial only during a certain season or two.

Likewise, people’s energies also have seasonal fluctuations, and different seasonal needs. So what’s good for you in the spring, might be harmful in the fall. So traditionally prepared temple vegetarian food is based upon the interaction of the plant, the season, and the person. This is also a very local food, with the cook checking the markets, and hillsides, to see what’s available and appropriate for the season. Thus, if you visit a very traditional temple restaurant, all of the dishes on the menu will be those appropriate to the season.

The Energy of Local Food
This way of looking at traditional food has an interesting parallel with traditional Korean medicine. Rather than following the prescriptions from the great texts of China, Korean doctors realized that the best medicine would also have the energy of the same land as the patient. So instead of focusing on Chinese ingredients, they started researching local plants and their effects on people. That is, they were looking at what was nearby, and seeing what it’s effects were. A lot of traditional temple food is awareness of the energy of local food, and what it’s properties and flavors are, and seeing how this feels. 

Thus, food should ideally be made with local ingredients that are fresh and seasonal. So dishes that require expensive, exotic ingredients aren’t really in keeping with this spirit. Rather than exact copies of Korean dishes with Korean grown ingredients, I look forward to seeing people (in other countries) creating their own “fusion” dishes, taking into account the local produce and the Korean techniques and spirit of preparation.

Now the disclaimer: I know good Korean food when I taste it, but I’m terrible at making it. Somehow it always comes out blah. If you’re really interested in Korean food, there are a lot of Korean cookbooks that look pretty good. Likewise, there are also a lot of websites dedicated to Korean food. And I’m sure there are cooking classes in most big cities.

Here are a few interesting links I found:
http://www.koreankitchen.com/
http://www.maangchi.com/
http://koreanrecipes.org/recipes/soup-and-stew/

If you’ve stuck with me this far, you deserve a treat!
So here’s a recipe for a type of daal that Daehaeng Kun Sunim likes quite a bit. The recipe originally came from Yoga Journal, and is one of the few dishes I make that comes out great every time. The only caveat is that I have to follow the steps in order. Whenever I’ve tried to save time by combining steps, the flavor’s off. (By the way, if anyone knows any good daal recipes, please share them with me. Thanks!)

Kun Sunim’s Porridge

Grains
250 ml (1 cup) of glutinous rice, the Korean variety (chap-sal) works better than Indian rice
250 ml (1 cup) of mung beans these are a small, yellow legume

The rice and the mung beans should be rinsed several times and soaked for at least an hour before cooking (2-6 hours is best, but one hour is okay)

Spices
1 ml Turmeric powder – (1/4 teaspoon)
1 ml ground Cloves  
1 ml ground black Cardamom
1 ml Salt
1 ml ground Pepper
2 ml ground Cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon)
3 Bay leafs   

Cilantro Puree
Cilantro, about a handful –   clean leaves and stalks
30ml shredded coconut – 2 table spoons 
15ml minced Ginger – 1 tablespoon   
250ml of water – 1 cup

Put the coconut, ginger, cilantro, and water in a blender and pureed.

Cooking
Sauté all of the 7 spices in 30ml (2 tablespoons)of clarified butter or coconut oil (organic) until brown.
Stir in the drained mung beans, and thoroughly mix with butter and spices.
Next stir in the rice.
Add the cilantro puree and thoroughly mix together.
Add 1.25 liters (6 cups) of water and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Once it starts boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and stir occasionally, cooking for 25-30 minutes. Take out the bay leaves before serving.

It’s a hot day here in Korea, and for some reason it seemed like it would be fun to share some of my favorite books about Korea, along with a couple that I’d like to check out.
(I’ll add links to these, because they can be hard to find, and expensive, depending on where you’re ordering them from.)
 

The all-time best travel guide to Korea has to be South Korea by Moon Handbooks. If you just want bus and hotel info, then Lonely Planet will probably be fine, but if you want history and details about the places you’ll visit, then this is the book for you. My Korean Dharma brothers were always amazed that I knew more about the places we were visiting than they did. This book is why!

(The new edition at Amazon has only two ratings, but if you look at the previous edition, you’ll see it was highly rated.)

   
However, if you’re going to be spending most of your time in Seoul, then you can’t go wrong with SEOUL.  For years the only city guides to Seoul have been small, pathetic things, but now that’s changed! 
 
This is a huge book, filled with photos and every kind of information you could imagine about the city and the areas around it. This book was put together by the same team that publishes Seoul magazine, and runs the Seoul Selection website, so they really know their stuff. (If you live in Korea, you can also get it at the Seoul Selection bookstore.) 
 
 
 

A very nice book about Buddhism here is Korean Buddhism. The photography in this book is incredible.  It’s a nice introduction, but also quite detailed in explaining the different parts of the temple, temple etiquette, and a fair amount of Korean Buddhist history. (I really, really want to meet the photographer and see if I can use his images for this blog. They’re extraordinary.)
 

A book I’d like to check out the next time I visit Seoul Selection is Minhwa: Tales of Korean folk paintings. As you can see from the cover, Koreans traditionally really like wild drawings of tigers. A friend and I joked that it was because artists were trying to draw them from old skins, as few people survived getting good look at a live tiger! 
 
 

 
 

On a similar note, if you’re interested in Korea’s mountain spirits, then the book you have to check out is David Mason’s Spirit Of The Mountains. You can also order this directly from David at his website, San Shin (which is an incredible reference guide in its own right). This book is almost out of print, so if this topic interests you, order now. Filled with photos and in-depth explanations, you won’t see a book of this quality again.

  
 
  
 
 
 

 
 
 
If you’re into tea, then you might like Korean Tea Classics. I happen to know one of the translators, Brother Anthony of Taize, who in addition to being a wonderful person and fluent in Korean, really loves his tea.

This book is a collection of three texts by the greatest figures associated with tea in Korea. If you live in Korea, you can also find this one at Seoul Selection. 
 
 
 

Recently, one of Korea’s most well-known monks, Beop Jeong Sunim, passed away. He was famous for his down-to-earth and humane essays that people of all religions could appreciate. Fortunately for us, Brian Barry had just finished an English translation of some of Beop Jeong Sunims most important essays, The Sound of Water, the Sound of Wind: And Other Early Works by a Mountain Monk.  (Here’s the link to Seoul Selection.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 If you find Korean culture interesting, or want to share it with someone else, you might like the quarterly magazine, Koreana.  This is really one of the very best sources of regular information about the history and culture of Korea, both modern and ancient. 

(You can also order copies from Seoul Selection, or subscribe at the link above. This is also often sold in the major bookstores around Korea.)
 
 
 
 
 
  

For a bit of fun and culture at the same time, check out Meeting Mr. Kim, by Jennifer Barclay. This is a great book about her time in Korea. She realized that if she really wanted to experience Korea, then she had to get out of Seoul. So she started taking weekend trips out to the countryside and just seeing who she could meet. Her description of life there, and the kindness of the people, really hits the spot. If you want to see what life in Korea is like, check this one out.

 (You can also find this at Amazon UK, or Seoul Selection.) 
 

Finally, feel free to share any favorite books about Korea that you liked or that left an impression. I’d love to hear about what you found!

No matter how many thousands of things confront you,
no matter how painful or difficult,
even if someone you love is about to die,
entrust all of these to your foundation,
your inherent nature,
your true essence.

It’s always been taking care of me,
it’s guiding me even now,
so what’s there to worry about?

Just entrust everything there
while going forward.

You need this kind of attitude.
All of those things that confront you are your homework,
the path through which you can grow.
If everything in your life is smooth and trouble free,
you won’t be able to rise above the level
of an unenlightened being,
or understand the hardships facing others.

It all depends upon how well you can handle good and evil,
on how non-dually you can let go of both sides,
even including the Buddha.
Frustration, stress, and loneliness,
and situations where success seems unlikely,
all of these things are the raw materials of your spiritual practice.

So, when difficulties and suffering come,
be grateful for them.
For through these
you are able to practice and to grow.

          –Daehaeng Kun Sunim 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
copyright 2010, the Hanmaum Seonwon Foundation