Tag: Korea

Ordering Daehaeng Sunim’s translation of the Diamond Sutra

Chong Go SunimLeave a comment

We’ve figured out how to ship this overseas!
(It’s the English translation of Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s Korean version of the Diamond Sutra. Here’s a link to previews and book info.)

It turns out that the Kyobo bookstore offers the best deal for overseas shipping. They were also a good bit cheaper than even the Korean post office, so we’ll be using them to fulfill overseas orders.

Ordering process: email us at onemind@hanmaum.org, with your address and phone number (the shipper needs a phone number on the delivery end). We’ll send you an invoice from Paypal, and then have Kyobo send you the book. They are using FedEx, and the books seem to be arriving within 7 business days.

Costs: The costs are the book plus shipping. For most countries, the weak Korean Won is making this a great deal! (All prices are in USD. The Korean Won has been bouncing around quite a bit, so these prices might have to change later.)

Canada/USA/Mexico and Australia: $33 for one book, $56 for two

Germany/Western Europe: $35 for 1 book, $60 for two

Japan/Thailand: $30 for one book, $53 for two

For more copies or other destinations not listed here, email us and we’ll find out what the price will be. Most countries should be similar, but there are some weird things, like where the price for shipping one book to the Scandinavian countries is the same as Western Europe, but for two copies, it jumps a fair bit .

Ordering direct from Kyobo is a great option if you are in Korea, but the website is only in Korean, and can require some awkward security programs in order to buy anything. So just a bit of warning if you aren’t used to Korean websites.

No Master Criminals Here

Chong Go Sunim5 Comments

Tongdo Temple, one of the three treasures of Korean Buddhism

The Jogye Order had arranged for a professional nurse to be present during our 23-day ordination training session. A Buddhist nun herself, she had already probably saved the life of a male postulant. He had such a terrible cough I half wondered if he wasn’t there for some spiritual benefit that might come from dying as an ordained monk. Hearing him cough as she passed by, the nurse read the riot act to the overseers and had the trainee brought to her office, where she immediately started injections of antibiotics. By the time the training was over, his cough had almost completely disappeared.

           As time went on, she became concerned that some postulants weren’t getting enough calories. With over 1,000 full bows a day, and only two moderate meals, we were certainly going through the calories. On top of this, many of the men were already quite skinny when they arrived; I would have guessed that some had less than five percent body fat. Seeing this, the nurse began to surreptitiously give out food, usually pastries, chocolate, or bars of sweet, red bean-paste.  A trip to the nurse’s office became more and more popular!  Disappointingly, whenever I went, I was always escorted by one of the overseers. The result: no food for me. For which I was soon to be grateful.

             Sunims, I’ve noticed, are not particularly good at deception!

The hall where we had lectures, and did most of our bowing (photo by Jung Yeon)

Part of me, the one that spent my last year in high school trying to buy beer, shook my head in disapproval at seeing chocolate and bean-paste wrappers just sitting on top of the toilet wastebasket. “You have to hide the evidence better than that,” I wanted to tutor the unknown snacker.   The inevitable soon happened: A postulant was walking by the front doors, in front of everyone, eating a bean-paste snack. He walked right past an overseer, who twisted around so fast that he must have sprained something.             

        Within the hour, all 150 men were lined up with their grey backpacks in front of them. The overseers started with first person, thoroughly searching all of his belongings. We didn’t know what would happen to those caught with food, but we all knew it would be serious. Expulsion was a real possibility. But for all of the postulants’ incompetence at deception, the overseers had no better understanding of the sport. As four of them focused on the first few people, nobody was looking down the lines at the other postulants. At least a dozen of them were slipping pastries and other food out of their bag and down their pants legs where the material bugled out over their leggings. Further, while the overseers diligently checked the contents of pockets, it never occurred to them to actually frisk anyone.

             Disgraceful, I thought, as I stood there, with a rumbling stomach. I couldn’t help smiling though:  I suppose it speaks well of those choosing a spiritual path that they were so unpracticed in the ways of deception.

Dawn at Tongdo Temple. The pudo with the relics of Shakyamuni Buddha (photo by Jung Yeon)

Buddha’s Birthday parade

Chong Go Sunim10 Comments

Here are some photos of the Buddha’s Birthday celebrations in Seoul on Sunday. It’s always amazing to see, and Korea feels like a crossroads of Buddhism. In addition to all of the Korean-flavored events, there were booths or floats from every Buddhist country, offering culture and information, food and art. These are a few pictures from the day, with some nice ones contributed by Joseph, of Somewhere in Dhamma.  Go ahead and click on the photos to see a larger image.

the street in front of Jogye Temple

Must be a convention somewhere!

playing a scaled-down version of a temple drum

Buddhists from Mongolia

Friendly folks! (by Joseph)

I really loved the horn section! (A great offering by the Tibetan monks of Korea)

Enthusiastic Nepalis! (by Joseph)

Make your own mini Lotus Lantern

or your own wrist mala

with beads for all ages!

or you could make your own incense (It was really good!)

sign me up!

 

Traditional Korean dance and music

 

A river of lanterns (by Joseph)

Watch out for the Dragon! (by Joseph)

Under the lanterns at Jogye Temple (by Joseph)

Teachers’ Day

Chong Go Sunim2 Comments

This Saturday is Teachers’ Day in Korea, when people go to pay their respects to those teachers who’ve had an impact in their lives.  Seeing a group middle-aged men, made up of sun-burnt farmers in cheap suits and manicured business men all laughing and joking together, everyone passing by knows they were once fellow students, now come  together to greet their old teacher.

 
 
 
Korea’s Song for a Teacher

My teacher’s heart is like the sky above,
the more I see of it, the more noble and wonderful it seems.
Teaching us what’s true and upright
like a loving parent,
how can I express my gratitude?
Ah, how can I repay such kindness and love?

(Well, in Korean, and with the melody, it’s much more touching!)  It actually has a lot of the same feeling as To Sir, With Love.

 
Thank you to all who have been my teachers
to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
as well as the heretics and demons.
From a mountain in Korea,
I bow to you all.