1974 VOLUME II NUMBER 7 KOREA
308
309
vot I No. 7
WON
1974
BUDDHISM
EDITORIAL
woN BUDDHISM
Ihe First fszue of Won
Buddhism
in the
U.S.
"Won Buddhism in America,", the missionary center of Won Bpddhism in the United States has published the first issue of "Won Buddhisfr", & monthly paper. As a first step, it is written in Korean. However, we have been assured that one side of the paper will be written in English in the near future.
Published by:
Research Institute for Overseas Missions Won Kutang Unioersity, Iri City, Cholla pukdo, Korea
The first edition of the paper contains an editorial, words of the Venerable Sotaesan from the Canonical Textbook of Won Bud'Won dhism and Dharma words from the present Prime Master of Buddhism. AII of these articles are of upmost importance.
It is largely through the initiative of Mr. Hyang K. Yim, the C,trairman of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Branch Temple, that this publieation has been possible. Although a busy man, having a secular oecupation in addition to his religious duties, Mr. Yim has unselfishly dedicated an additional portion of his time so that the teachings of the Venerable Sotaesan might be further broadcast in Ameriea. This work is truly in the spirit of Won Buddhism which admonishes the coupling of a practical and a re-
CONTENTS Editorial The Mission of the Won Buddhist Youth Association by Prof. Kim pal Kon
The Full Integration of the Spirit and the Body btt Prof. Song Chun-Eun
The Direction for Modernizing the Missionary service of Buddhism bg Dr. Etani Ryukai : . .. .
L4
A Survey on voidness from the Point of channa (Meditation) by Prof. Pal Khn
News Corner
Chon
19
22
libious life. The Dharma teacher,s and other staff members of the Los Angeles Branch Temple deserve equal recognition and praise for this pioneering effort in Ameriea. A word of special thanks is due Mrs. Chang:-Ilae Cho who donated the typewriter' without which the compilation of the paper would be impossible. The Los Angeles Branoh Temple has indeed made a significant advance with the publication of "'Won Buddhism", a Iead I hope our other American branch temples may soon be able to follow On behalf of the six hundred thousand Won Buddhist members, we sincerely express our congratulations to all of our members in Los Angeles. And we will send our heartfelt applause for their sound growtli. And also we sincerely call for all of our Won Buddhist members and friends with various backgrounds, especially for those living in the United States, to encourage t'he missionary working group in
-l-
3r0
3l
WOA/ BUDDHISM
I
WON BUDDHISM
the w'on Buddhist Branch Temple in Los Angeles. They are still Iike a child who has just started *urki"g, stumbring. The Truth of _ Il-won, the profound Truth which venerable Sotaesan was enlightened io and-with which we can establish our minds and world peace is the only possession with which they trave
rhe Mission of the vt/on Buddhist youth
Association by
kof Kim pal Kon
1. A CaIm Reyolution on the early morning of March 26, 1916, a poor vilage in the southern part of the Korean peninsura, tireincr.^ui Master,
the venerable sotaesan, attaining his great p"iigrrtenment, began a carm revolution in this land. This calrn-revolutio, seeks to break the old fetters without making a disturbance ,"4 to develop a new world full of fresh Iife with s,teadiness. There is no bioodshed and no death accompanying the calm revolution. There is nothins but girirre a new life to fa{e{.ones. By virtue of this vitaliiy the "iiulitv fisht of truth which had been fading was Iighted briltiantty and the wheel of Dharma (Law) which had been coming to a stanastitt began to ,tt te vig:orously again.
Long, long ago in the East, shakyamuni Buddha; in the west, _christ, achieved such .aim ,uroiriionu. Through these hory men the Truth of the universe was revealed and the will of Heaven was conveyed. Nlwadays, 2000- o_r 2500 years after they have gone, the light of the Truth has faded and the will of Heaven has been forgotten. Thus the advent of a new hory man who shourd lead new ealm revolution was the necessary demand of the times. Aa !-olv m?n appears not through eloquenl speeeh ruf p"rotieal acts. He teaches us b4 means of piacticai wisdom, not theoretical knowledgg: His spirit is full of Great Benevolence and Compassion transcending Iove and hatred; Iikes and dislikes. The Great Master, the venerable sotaesan, was born in a poor farmhouse and he studied in a private ota-tashioned sehool for the Jesus
-2-
study of Chinese Classies for only two years, not having the normal modern education. Neverthless, a great and original question about the universe and human beings was raised in his mind. He had struggled to attain the answer to the question for nearly 20 years, enduring hardships and privations. After 20 years seeking the original truth of the whole universe, at last he reached the World of Trutlr, called ll-Won-Sang, the Dharmakaya Buddha, that is, at Iast he attained the answer for his greatest question about the whole universe. Thus the Iight of Truth full of wisdom began to flow out from him, one who had never had the normal sehool education. Consequently, to say nothing of his neighbors, even his elder brothers and uncles came to respeet him as their master, and many men and wornen, educated and uneducated, came to follow his teachings, until at Iast his followers number nearly seven hundred thousand now. T,hen, what is the original Truth of the whole universe which the Great Master, the Venerable Sotaesan, attained? It is called "The Truth of. It-Won-Sang" in Won Buddhism. The Great Master, himself, expressed the Truth of ll-Won-Sang as follows;
"Il-Won is the origin of all beings in the universe, the mind"seal
of all Buddhas and saints, the original Nature of all living beings, the state in which there is no difference between the Absolute Unity and its Components or between Being and Non-Being, the state in
which there is no change of eoming and going, of birth and death, the state in which Cause and Effect of good and evil cease, and the state in whi'ch words and forms with name are absolutely devoid of content. According to the light of Abstruse Wisdom in the Void, the difference between the Absolute Unity and its Components and between Being and Non-Being appears, and from this results the difference of Cause and Effect of good and evil; words and forms with name are apparent, with the result that the whole universe appears as distinctly as a jewel held in one's palm, and the infinite capacity of the Absolute Void and Abstruse Being appears and disappears freely through all beings in the Universe for eons. This is the Truth of ILWon-Sang."
2.
The Advance Party for the CaIm Revolution
At the Half Centennial Commemoration Ceremony of the WonBuddhist Order held on October 8, tg7l, it was declared that Won Buddhism should make a great advance so as to be a world-wide religion. The Iast half-century waa the preparatory period for the
-3-
3t2
3t3
WON BUDDHISM
WON BUDDHISM
Won-Buddhist Order to cultivate an inner power. With this half century as a turning point, we made a new departure in order to spread the Truth of ll-Won-Sang all over the world. On such an important occasion, what was the mission of the Wo,n Buddhist Youth Association (WBYA) which should be the advance party of this order? At the 10th general meeting of WByA held on July L5, L972, they decided as follows: First; WBYA shall advance "From the Youth Association which has been greatly interested in TRAINING to the Youth Association which shall be greatly interested in both TRAINING and woRKING." second; wBYA_shall propel "The New Life campaign,, as the first task of the working Youth Assoeiation. Then, in training, what are they trained for? They are trained to comprehend ll-Won Spirit. What is lt-Woa Spirit? It is very difficult to express the meaning, because it has infinite meaning. But I will dare to summarize it into two kinds of sp,irits.
First ; Il-Won Spirit is the one that allows us to break down all kinds of barriers in the world and build a united peaceful world. This spirit replaces fears, grudges, and conflicts of the mind with peaee and a sense of gratitude and love. Seeond ; Il-Won Spirit is the one which allows us to keep justice and build the sincere, true world. Trhis spirit causes us to make the utmost effort to perform righteous acts even if we dislike performing them, and to avoid unrighteous acts even if we earnestly want to do them.
Next, in working, what kind of work do they try to do ? The answer is public welfare work. It is in order to'cariy out public welfare work that we have cultivated the inner power of ttre brder for the last half-century. WBYA is the advance barty of the order. Therefore, WBYA should be a pioneer in public welfare work whioh the Order will carry out. Thus the first public welfare work which WBYA plan to carry out is "The New Life campaign". The purpose of this Campaign is to cultivate the independent abilitv of the m1nd, the self-supporting ability of the body, and the self-reliant ability of the economy. This New Life Campaign is a movement for every individual, home, society and nation to cultivate self-ability in the three
-4-
fields of mind, body and econoffiY, to escap'e from a dependent life, and, by cuitivating ability, to help others. The Great Master, himself, taught about the Cultivation of Self-Ability as follows: ,,Unless one is an infant, senile, or ill, one must cultivate selfability so that one performs one's unavoidable duty and obligation and, as far as one can, takes care of those who do not have self-
ability."
The Full Integration of the Spirit and the Body by Prof. Song Chun-Eun
The platform "Keep the Spirit and The Body Fully Integrated"
is one of ihe characteristic thoughts of Won Buddhism. As one of the
platforms, it is introduced near the beginning of the Canonical Textbook of W'on Buddhism, Book One, Canon, Part of Practice, and in the Discourses of the Great rMaster, B,ook Two, of the Canonieal Text: book of Won Buddhism. It means that religion which aims to save the soul and cultivate it should keep pace with the material life which aims to maintain our Iife and steadily pro,tect it. Hence our perfect life can be established. fn "Integration of Spirit and Body" (Chapter 16, Part Three Practice, Canon, The Canonical Textbook of W.B.), this is expounded a,s follows: "In the past, men who lived mundane lives were not regarded as men of moral training. As a result, evil habits of empty Iiving without jobs prevailed among the men of moral training which cast evil influences upon many individual,s, families. societies, and even up'on nations. In the future, however, the old world will be transformed into new world where religion will become a living religion in which a moral training will be completely integrated with the normal activi-
ties of daily life. Therefore, through faith in the Truth of the Dharma-KWa Buitdha of lt-Won-Saig, which is the mind-seal correctly transmitted from Buddhas and patriarchs, and by practicing the Threefold Trainings which deal with the Cultivation of Spiritual Stability, the Study of Facts and Principles, and the Selection of Right Conduct, we will
-5-
3t1 3r5
WON BUDDHISI,T
obtain o'ur clothing, food, and sherter. At the same time, by question_ ing the princ_ipres -bv wr,i.ii ;;;t1;i,; .iog,1rg, rooa, ana .qherter and how we ouqht to prac-t-ice ilre ft,r;;f"rd the Truth. Thus, *. *iff hru. i"tesdtd Trainings, we w1r attain spirilLnd the body so poriiir. irn,ir;;";,the inai-riaur,_families, so_ :l#.X;#,,i,1ffi.,
This principre means, lhu.t the rerigio_us practice and Iife are not to b. ..prrai.a, io murj;;%,rife
mundane
the r_erigious training ,;i;i;;;'training the mundane lrril,." iil'ffifect human rife w1r be Iife spiritual lire' ana pr,r,'i.;r itr. ilr;;lru.iu"rbre es-
shoutd be practiced and il *hould be carried out. oru,'
lf,l[T:'
rera-
we are apprehensive tlrlt the insistence onry on one side _ either on physical Iife or spiritruilii.l may lead human life into a wrons direetion. The nrd;y.q1..I ;; of thinking wil be a great Ioss to individu-ars, domeiti. rii", *.i.li lrd euen to a nation. If we insist onlv on the.sublimity or spirit *itrrlut understanding materiaJ Iife and without its- dev;iop*.rt, ou, ,o.iety w1r tre leit behind in poverty, disease and depressio".'crr. iJrigiou, peopre who put the higher value to spirituuf iu. pav rittru-uil-.ntion t" ir* development of materiar life. ivrr.l attention to the peopre,s materiar rife, the sociar deveropm.;t "rtio.r-prv.,littil;iri ; a degree, and finally it will affect the area of ,u,g-;{q;ii, spirituat rife. shakyamuni Buddha said that the bad deeds of the peopre to raise their economic tife; Men.liu, witt u.-aecreased 6y herping them attention to the proprieties *1,.q *i.o ,"uia that the peopre w,r pay 1hey- ;;1. enough to eat and wear. However,- as_ to generar ;iliil lhe toward spiritual t!i1ss, peopte *rro orilt of rerigions has been religion naturally did-not--Lrtion iui" devoted t[emselves to a tfreifu" -suJtr Iife very often, but rather-commonry emphasizea evil"i;;;; siae. trrougtrts of spirit-first and morarity-first r,u*,-il.."itsgreary critieized by the scholars who value the Scilnce of practice. The scholars of the science of Practice thought that the science of Moralitv shourd be abre to Iqla pr*ticar tr,. some direction: It should make the pracii.ur'ritu Iife toward a whoreneither stagnant nor impoverished. They ,arsea-a way of study; practicar improve_new ment in the administration of..1uch-liri"gr"* porities and Iaw; and improvement in various scientific ai."iprjies and of agriculture,.commerce, medicin.;;;:il;y_also in the techniques true facts and meanings objectivlfy -if,""ugr, tried to seek out positive researches.
-6-
II/ON BUDDHISM
Those who first called this trend of thought by the name of the of Practice were Park Eun-Sik, Jang Jee-Yeon, Sin Che-Ho, and others, who were the patriotic elite in the period at the end of the Rhee Dynasty and the beginning of Japanese domination. Park Ji-Won, the seholar of the Science of Practice, emphasized that economic life would become rich when all things had been used rightly. When the economic life became rich, morality eould be firmly established. He criti,cized the headstrong Confuciin scholars wh-o stuck only to morality obstinately and ignored the economic side of Iife. He was also agains,t the narrow-minded view that rejected the reasonable scientific technique of Ch'ing only because Ch'ing was a barbarous country. He saw the necessity of Iearning the advanced techniques of Ch'ing relating to such things as agriculture, sericulture, pottery and metallurgy. Yun-am studied an agricultural book along with the experiences of an old farmer, writing a booklet on farming. In this book he criticized the Confucian scholars for their indifference to the development of agriculture, maintaining ardently the improvement of farming and its instruments and the expansion of irrigation systems. He also made an offer to distribute the farming technique by establishing model farms in a suburb of the capital of our country. He insisted on the development of vehicles, ships, trade, national commerce, etc. In addition, many scholars of the Science of Practice advoeated that science, morality and religion should be able to guide improvements in our practical life. This meant the beginning of a new enlightenment in the history of our country. Science
This was an important problem to be checked in religion too. Nevertheless, the new sprout of the Science of Practice whieh had originated in our country in the latter part of the Rhee Dynasty, was unfortunately a way without any fruit. Religion has contributed to and influenced the spiritual life'of human beings greatly, however, it has sometimes failed to harmonize itself with practical life resulting in a condition of stagnancy. The great Master Sotaesan, the Patriarch of Won Buddhism, at the age of 26 without having any master to guide him. He had Shakyamuni Buddha as a sage from whom his Truth is derived, and he created a new religious order based upon Buddhist Truth, saying that his Truth is, for the most p&rt, similar to the original Truth of Buddhism. He devoted his best effort toward establi,shing a sound religious order in which spiritual training and achieved the great Way
3t6 317
trVON BUDDHISM
materiai life^ courd keep pace with each other; in the beginning he organized a savinss Association, starl-ed- a cftarcoal trade and reclaimed a drv beach wiih his discipres. wh,; ilu **. working at Byunsan, Puan on the compiration of D^h;;-;;;;firs materiars for his future Buddhist order, he made-it-, ariiy-rri"'to *ork on a farmin the davtime and to studv at night. et irruJi*. when he established the Iksan Headquarters-of his order, rr" *tr"t.a ,,yutt,, _ a vending kind of a hard cake made oi ,i.. _ *itf, frlq disciples; established the works of agricurture, rivestock and *.ri.rrtore; and finaly Eastern and western medicine, while r...p*g lhJ"retigious training schedule of his missionarv works. The pai;dr;i;iried to maintain the independent and serf-supporting finan.iri .-oraition r;'h;;";rganization, as much as possibre, whire rearizing idears. A perfect reIigious discipririe is not at ail, "ori*ious from the ffi r.pu"r*tud. private or F organized activities of produetion. Accordingly, 'Integraiion of Sprit and Body, in the Canon em_ phasized the importanie of contributing io the deveropment of individuals, homes, societies and a perfect integration of spirit and Body. our crothing, rrtt-.;;'-by food ,rJin.rter are to be obtained while we practice The Threefiia r*ai"iLr, ura the Truth shourd be obtained through our physical l,ife ;i"flrirg, iooJ unj.n.rter, and bv the Threeford Trainings. In other "f ;;;1.: the must be like a great vehicre {]u-a!raranaj^irrich rerigious disciprine can keep pace with productive activities and material lii;;;;,i also the pursuit of material Iife such as crothing, food and shert";;h;;d be conducted under the spirit of religious disciprine so that such uehavior;i;;; b. in agreement with the Way. T,he ideai of "Integration of Spirit and Bod y,, can be considered from four directions. First, it can h-e considered as an ideal which began to eliminate the evil custom of an idle life for religious devotees and religious orders, and to estabrish flnanciar mentionecl previousry, arthough the patriarch independence. As r sotaesan esteemed shakvamuni Buddha as his Dlarma stil he was asainst the 'r.ri;;" _";;i;; non-practicat Buddhis,t way of life. H. i,rrt;d'; which has strength enough to make piogress in conjun.tio, *ith ;;;;;icar living. He critisized a religion whieh did little thought that the right rerigious discipri"e for our practical life. He was t" ;I;;;ii..a whle we were doing _o-ur .esponsibilitier ara--tauors so that *. *igrrt pay for our materiar life such as crothing, food ura .rr.tter. He .qaw this as
-8-
WON BUDDHISM
the right direction for religious practice. It was against the ideal of the Patriarch to be idle by doing nothing but religious discipline. Such religious discipline contributes Iittle to public welfare but is rather harmful to individuals, homes, soeieties and nations. This is well written in "fntegration of Spirit and B,ody" of the Canonical Textbook. Other motives and meanings that this platform brought out were to correct an improper attitude of religious devotees toward material life and, to bring a harmony between religious discipline and material Iife. Human beings can not retain their lives if they ignore the physical life and they can not achieve their noble object by ignoring the s,piritual life. Both are indispensable to human beings. Accordingly, it is most natural and reasonable to pursue both ways. Thi,s prineiple is not necessarily only for a religious order or for "expert" religionists but it has a broad meeting which includes "common" religious people as well. Religious thoughts which are to save the human race should be those that can also improve individual living standards. They should never stimulate only nihilistic emotions. The economist Max Weber regarded Calvinism as the greatest dedicator to the formation of the Capitalism of modern ages. Moreover, he said that Calvinism was the motivating power in the formation of Capitalism. According to the trend of the thoughts of religion, religion is either dedicated to the development of the economy of the human race or to the harm of the race. It is known that the role of religion in the rostoration of Denmark was great. Religion also has to take a position to support the development of economic life either directly or indirectly. It is a responsibility of religion to create an improving society in which people overcome all practical hardships, work diligently and save money through the religious noble spirit. When a religion is able to make our economic conditions or the living standard of material life more aggressive and positive by accepting the religious ideal, this religion then can be regarded as having the spirit of "fntegration of Soul and Body".
It
neees,sary for a religion to take a course toward the of Praetice. Doing this, the product should be a number of businessmen, economists and men working for social welfare who
is most
Science
practice religion in their daily lives. While establis,hing a prosperous economic condition, the pursuit after the religious ideal should be
-9-
3r8 319
IVON BUDDHISM
its focal point. Hence the method of constructing the economy arso should be sound. rt musf tryrn'**iti,'.1edib,ity and an agreeabre objective. An excessive empha-t, man society rniserabry inhuman ;;;;'onry economy w,r make hu-
and brutar. Humans are beings which are unable to live without material items. However, arthorist'ihe *ri*iri**lr. living' they are not the u"ltlmate goal-iri*uor"r,the basic things for our our desire,q for material things arerlecessarily often .ri'..r..a. irri. is why we put more stress on our mind training even though material life and morar or re_rigil* *u--.r4* the harmony of our iii.. The canon (Book r, The canonicar rext-roook of won ,Th; M;;;.r'B.hird p;aairtr;; the Foundation of Won nuaat is*' .rnpt-r.iles that we should utilize all materiar things through mind the disciprine through re_ Iigion of Truih, as th"e -.or" of^t-ri;'i;; trai"l-ig!. Accordingry, .rntegration of Body and sou, does *.un to rr-ru..the spiritrrr things and material things equary but "ot to keep- tt.- in pace with each other. It is hard to sav that the prejuaicedmird whieh rejects making perfect use of material or economic thins; perfect is -llich in mind training from the Mahayrl, point_ of ui"*. a view was one of the oharacteristies of the Patiiarch sotaesarf Iaid upon the philosophv or utitizatio" tn.o*q central thought was *iiieh is based upon the Truth. The third of the meanings of ,Integration of sour and Body, is the parallel progress of retigious r;i;i;-;;d scientific technique. To promote the lever of econo-i. ,r religion to cooperate with *.i""tin";;ilJ. Iife, it is unavoidabre for i;;i,;i;re. r said when r mention_ ed the science of practice-on previous p;;, thatthe use of scientific technique is unavoiaanie when i"ni"ilirs the social situation. Likewise, it is impossibi;;; rearize the ttrought of ,,rntegration of soul and Body" wittrout ..i.ntirr.- t-..ir"iqr.. The paJriarctr said, "The perfect worrd, in which tri. -piritr"i physicar ara life are wop_ integrated, wiil be constil.t.d *f,."-i"ril*ary, ;;;;l;tuay develops through the progress of spirituai ;i;ii#ion, the philosophy of scienc" ieuerop* A;;;H"th* una when, outwardry, prcgress of rnaterial civilization. However, if we eontrnue ,. ,r'oi to be ting emphasis onry on materiarism anJ-ignor. prejudieed in putspiritual eultivation, we wil te r-ike ;';;r;i.ss the importance of chitd ptaying with a sharp-edged toor, beiqq exposed to the tr**t of other words, the worlA wiri.t, .*pf,r.ir.r"orfy constini danger. In *rt;;i;iism may be Iikened to a cripple whose bodt l-: -f*riir, 6rt spirit. And the worrd where *prruri;-;;" praced*iro;;. an aiting onry on spiritual
-10-
II/ON BUDDHISM
civilization may be compaied to a cripple whose spiritual condition is perfect but who has an ailing body. How can a one-sided world be called perfect? Therefore, when the development of the inward spiritual civilization can keep pace with the outward material civilization, perfect peace and tranquility will be brought forth in this world." (On Doctrine, The Discourses of the Great Master). I also said on previous pages that the seholars of the Science of Practiee regreted the trend that was indifferent to the improvement of practical life but only sought to preserve the tranquility of their original minds. It is irnpossible for religious people to realize the thought of "Integration 'of Soul and Body" without the cooperation of science which is the motivating power of cultivating the material field. They need to make an effort to draw scientific technique into life under Truth and moral spirit. The improvement of the teehnique for production also needs to have the cooperation of science. This direction will greatly contribute to the realization of the spirit of religion in practieal life and to spreading this spirit. This is because a religious spirit separate from scientific techniques will lose practicality and widespread applicability. This is said from the standpoint of social realization but I do not mean that a religious devotee should always have the knowledge of scientific technique as well as the reIigious spirit at the same time. However, in the area of his own responsibility and duty, he has to know the proper usage of science and at least must try to understand it while practicing mind training. There is no reason why religion should be in opposition to the seientific life. However, as the Patriarch declared in his discourses, scientific technique without a purpose based upon religious spirit bec.omes a great threat to the happiness of human beings. Therefore, while our bodies are making use of the scientific technique, our minds have to try to realize the ideal of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Fourth meaning of "Integration of Soul and Body" can be in religious discipline and in physieal improvement. In the section of "Integration of Soul and Body" we do not see any direct comment on our physical improvement or protection, however, the parallel progress of religious discipline and physical improvement is an indispensable element for the thoughts of "fntegration of Soul and Body". By putting stress only upon religious discipline and ignoring physical harmony, one is faced with difficulty in the practice
found
-ll-
320
321
WoN BUDbHISLT
IT/ON BADDHISM
of the study of Law'and other work. It is read in the Canonical Textbook: "The Great Master suffered from coughing every winter and the coughing always interrupted his preaching. He said to the assembly, 'My birthplace, Kilyongni, as you know, is noted for the unusual poverty and ignorance of its people. Fortunately, however, aceording to my habit from former lives, I made a decision to study the Law in the early part of my life. But although I sought the way with sincerity, I had to think by myself and had to suffer from various difficult and hard as,eetic disciplines because I had no teacher to inform me about the way to become enlightened to the Law. Sometimes I went to the mountains, staying there overnight, or sat up on a road or in a room until dawn. I took baths with ice water, abstained from food, and made my room iey cold. My ascetic discipline was so severe that I becarne unconscious. Finally all doubts were solved, but a disease had deeply rooted itself in my body and it is growing serious according to my declining physical condition. I had no choice at that time for I did not know how to study. You are greatly blessed people because from my pas,t experiences you have been taught the perfect way of Mahayana mor al practice, wit'hout suffering from a difficult and hard ascetic discipline. Generally, the practice of eonstant Ch'an and omnipresent Ch'an is the shortcut in Mahayana moral practiee. If people practice in this way, they will achieve twice as much with half the effort. AIso, no disease will affect them. I beseech you not to practice the wrong way and ,hurt your body, but remember the useless sufferings that I had when I could not find the risht way of study.' " (47, On Moral Practice, The Discourses of the Great Master). He emphasized that the Mahayana practice of Law meant to practiee religious discipline while keeping our bodies very healthy.
It happened that one of his disciples amputated his hand as a token of his faith in the Great Master, Sotaesan. The Great Master rebuked him greatly and warned his diseiples saying, "Your body is a necessary asset for carrying out your stud.y and work. How useless it is to harm that asset to show your faith. Besides, true faith dwells in the spirit, and not in the body. Hereafter, no one should ever commit such a stupid act" (17, On Faith, The Discourses of the Great Master). The sound body does not interrupt religious discipline but it aids greatly the study of Law. A healthy body is also very necessary to work toward realizing the religious ideal. Accordingly, the Maha-
-t2-
yana moral practice which is constan,tly practiced in all activities must be more stressed than in active moral practice which gives excessive physical restraint. As the principal element of a religion is spirit or soul, religious people are apt to be careless about their physical training and weaken their bodies. Prior to thinking that the body is nothing, we must regard the body as a great asset necessary to practicing moral training, and we should be practieing moral training eonstantly. If a sound body is able to contribute to the improvement 'of religious life and national health, that is the most desirable trend of a religion. Therefore, religious people must try to improve the physical condition of the people and to exterminate all diseases. They must pay attention to medical treatment and hygiene, to inside or outside physical education or to sorne other methods to promote physical health. Diseases are a great enemy to the welfare of human beings. We maintain the health of our physieal body ultimately to sever relations with all evils and to make an effort to practice good, trying ultimately to reach the vast garden of happiness which is the last goal of human beings. Therefore we can not lose the ideal of Buddha.
The Threefold Trainings, that is, The Cultivation of Spiritual Stability, The study of Facts and Principles, The Selection of Rieht Conduct are the basic training ways through which we can achieve the Won Buddhist moral trainings. While carrying out our material' Iife, we can not neglect this religious discipline even for a moment. "Integration of Soul and Body," points us to the exact direction for human life where the soul and the body are harmonized without reaching out of their own standpoints. In previous pages I summarized the directions of "fntegration of Soul and Body" in four parts coneretely. First: The parallel progress of an occupation and a religious discipline.
Second: The parallel progress of production, scientific civrlization and religious civilization or religious discipline. Third: The parallel progress of spiritual and phy,sical works
and religious discipline. Fourth: The parallel progress of physical improvement and religious discipline.
-13-
322 323 WO)rf BUDDHISM
WON BUDDHISIIT
The Direction for Modennizing the Missionary Service of Buddhism 'Ihe follotoing speech
by Dr. Etani Ryukai, Dean of the College of Buddhism in Kyoto, Iapan,last year on the-occasim of the Koreanlapanese Buddhist symposium helil at Wonnam-dong Branch Templc of
Won Budd.hism
in
usas deltusered,
ma Seal stands for the three greatest principles or original principles of the universe. The three greatest principles are: 1. Nothing has an ego, 2. Whatever is phenomenal is impermanent, 3. Calmness and Tranquility of Nirvana.
Seoul.
r am very glad to have a chance to meet you here today, especially for the opportunity to observe yolu" ceremonies in progress. -because
I feel extremelv delishted dhism is alive.
I
have discovered-tLi Won Bud-
Buddhism is found in Korea, Japan and southeast being one of the countries where ilodAhilr, i, prosperous.Asia, Japan But I have never seen so liverv a Buddhism as won Buddhis;: i h6, this great teaching will influence p-eopre aot onry in I(orea, b;tri; in au other countries as well, spreading throughout the world. I was asked to speak on "The direction for modernizing the missionarv service
(Evangerization)
B;;ehism,,. "f There may be many ways to mode rnize Buddhism, but I think that the most appropriale one is to break *itr, trre orJ ietiers, and to seek a new direction. In order to talk about the modernizing of Bud$hism, we should know, to begin with, ;h;; the essence of Buddhism
is.
_ Though Buddhism is widespread in Japan, one of the why it is not alive is that it has not beln modernized. Then inreasons order to realize the- Iiving Buddhism that I,m talkins aboui,- guaahism should be modernized. Looking into the essence of Buddhism, it 'liaw'. I am going to talk aboui 'Law' called 'Dharmal in --Sanscrit. is 'Law' is very different from the worrd ,raw, as it is generaily used. 'Law' or 'Dharma' in Buddhism *.rn* the principte of the universe or that of the Great Nature. The fact th;i or r am ;;; Iiving and acting in the world depend" on itre first original principle of all things and all phenomena. For that reason, ,Law, different from the word 'law' as generally ,sed in dailv iir.. irri.is ,Law, or Dharma makes us live and act. This law or Dharma *"-*. printhe ciple which makes it possible for us to live and act, and for alf kinds of things to come.into being. This Law or Dhar*u ir .ru.*.ified into three kinds, what is cared rhe Tripre Dharma sear. The Tripre Dhar-
-t4-
First, "Nothing has an ego" means that every thing and phenomena in the universe is constantly changing. Second, "Whatever is phenomenal is impermanent" means that no thing or phenomena in the universe exists independently, but rather correlatively. Third, "Calmness and Tranquility of Nirvana" means that every situation that appears to be conflicting is actually being brought into harmony. In addition, this Triple Dharma Seal is highly regarded by modern scientists as well as Buddhists, that i,s, scientists think that the ess,ense of science will be realized by realizing this principle. Therefore, it is said that Buddhism is in aocord witrh science. I think that leading our Iife by these three prineiples, we can find the true happiness of human life. A holy man who realized this principle was Shakyamuni Buddha. There is great significance in the fact that Shakyamuni Buddha not only realized. this principle, but also lived his life in accordance with it. Thus the modernization of, B,uddhism must be sought for in the essential aspect of Buddhism a*", is mentioned above. I think that what this essential principle of Buddhism is, expressed symbolically, is the ll-Won-Sang of Won Buddhism. The principle of Buddhism, namely Dharma, is very difficult to describe. thi,s Law or Dharma is symbolically expressed by 'IlI dare say that'W'on Buddhism. It is by reason of this Law or Dharma Won-Sang' in that we human beings and all other living things can preserve life and being. Therefore, in order to live a true life, we must realize the truth that wte live by reason of the Law or Dharma. Such a life indicates the Iife "Embracing Three Treasures". Embracing Three Treasures means embracing Buddha, Dharma and Buddhist monks. 'We must have the attitude in which we ,ernbrace Three Treasures. A lot of time is needed to explain 'Embracing Three Treasuros', but, briefly speaking, 'Embracing Buddha' means living brightly, 'Embracing Dharma' means living rightfully, and 'Embracing Buddhist monks' means living amicably. That is to s&yr 'Embracing Three Treasures' means living brightly, rightly and amicably with eaoh other, and this is the fundamental attitude for Buddhists to keep. Taking scientifie examples, I am going to explain why we should live by such a fundamental essence of Buddhism, namely by Embracing Three Treasures. There is nothing changeless in the universe, and -ID.
321 325
WON BT]DDHISM
14/ON BUDDHISIil
every thing and phenomena_ is This changing means that tr,. continuousJy changing by metaborism. of Nirvana is broken. g.o*irgrrr.*;;; i"- carmn-es;;i Tranqu,ity ,a-olrr.r. *luo* our mind and body have gotten out of harmony with .r'.rr There_11e- probabry many more exampres to prove in detair the;b;;; facts. ri irrla'time enough ,Dharma' to explain accordi"g il- uJJido.rrf scientific examplas, could reinforce your ass,urance ii i* Buddhism that allows usI to live in the worrd. B;t; I r,rr.trrat At any tate, r am sure scientific ,o ;i*'; now to telr you in deta,. ^;ir; verify trre iact thail iving 3"u*f1., brightlv, rightfuilv ara amicanrv ls Iife' As vou can see from wFi i hrr;'jirsttunaamentJ-principre of said, ,Embraeing Three taken- into con.ia""rtion, trans..rairg a, kinds SXfr,HT;ri:LJ"
rt may be very difficult to Buddhism' so r-'T goirs-to explain theoretically the doctrine of pious Iife of a Buddf,isi -is. rp"it-i, iltuil onrv about what the r *ili -----*' three attributes as the creed of the pious life of Buddhisir.."n*iier The first attribute is that we should feel grateful for our Iives by virtue of the rimitr* gr.utne,qs of it"uuen and Earth, and we should Iive brighfly, ,ishtdrffy u"J-u*i.uilfy. W.e should appreciate Dharma, Iiving our'rirrls owins to it."uiiir.. This is why the first attribute is necess ary. r think rir.r, rit. g-r*titude oi is fundamental in leadins a religior. tir..-rn otrre" ,Awareness *""i-, -b"u.ur,,ilris means of Graces and Requitat of ru-.r;f' thut *. of graces and iequite gru.... Mahayanu nuaani*rnshourd be aware has made 'Awareness of riuquital or Gru..s, its centrar idea. this _Grices And it seems that w'on nuaarri.m-reads_itr-niow "ia life according to the creed of 'Awareness of Graces and Requitar of Graces,. Examining the situation as it took shape in Europe and AmeriII, it may b.;;fiAJt'I'.itration ,lia ot thought presently exists. rn order to lonquer such a crisis some have claim,ed that' eastern thought must be introdu..a.-rraeed, Buddhism has been ^tutahayana the center of eastern ttrougtrt, 3.p..iui[, the teachins of 'Awa".rur."of Graces ,ra-n.quital Buddhism. And of Graces, is the central idea ,of Mahayana Buddhis;. --r ilerilve ilrat will be tealized,, with the thorght 'A*areress of wlrrd peace Graces and Requital of Graces, being the central of idea. The second attribute of the Buddhist,s pious ea after Wortd War
life is that one
-16-
should always reflect on oneself, never acting recklessly, leading a
life without disgrace, feeling no discomfort in such living. The third attribute of the pious life is that whether we are rich
or not in our practical lives, we should cooperate and help eac,h other, working for rnankind and the world. It is in our practical life that we should find what is outlined in theory, that is t'o say, we should find and realize the Law or Dharma of Buddhism in our daily lives. Above all, our owri pious Iife is most significant. If our individual pious life is not right, we can't educate (evangelize) others. Therefore, after we establish our own pious life correctly based on these three attributes of the B,uddhist's pious life, we must consider the modernization of education. Education means 'missionary service' as, I refer to it. Such a missionary service is pondered not only in Quddhism, but also in other religions. But especially in Buddhism, the methods of education are described as follows. Iooking back upon the 2500 years of Buddhist history, there have been many kinds of evangelizing methods. They rl&yr however, be divided into six kinds. They are: First; Oral preaching of sermons. Second; Written messages or letters. Third; Information conveyed by audio-visual methods. Fourth; Counseling, that is, religious eonsultation, domestic consultation, etc. Fifth; Special methods of edueation for boys, young people, women and aged man. Invocation (calling the Name of Buddha), Meditation (Sitting up Meditation in Crosslegged Form), etc. Sixth; Methods of 'practice'. Religious practice should be modernized. Education through music is included in this eategory.
These methods should not be fixed but should be improved and in keeping with the times. I may have no time to mention the above six methods in detail, but I am going to outline roughly the concrete items. developed
'Argument' of the first item contains Sermon, Law Talking, Discussion, Giving Lectures, Table-Talk, etc. The method through Argument also should be studied, improved, and updated. In the education through letters of the seeond item, we, to begin with, can distribute
-17 -
326
327
WON BUDDHISM
WON BUDDHISM
religious books, ma-gazines, advertisements, etc., whioh bring about pious faith. Next, I might suggest the method in whi,ch ,,p-osting', plays a leading part, now being widely used in This method of education through advertising on billboardsJapan. prnti. notice ;;A boards has been extremely effective. The use of audio-visual methods, item three, which attract special attention, includes the use of plays, puppet shows, movies, radio, television, B,uddhist arts, etc. _ Fou_rth, r mentioned the method of counseling. Recengy, in the advanced nations, the increase in technological ciiitiraUin has been accompanied by an increase in person. *ith mental aisora.rs. The counseling method is said to the best way to educate such spirituai !9 patients. Within the counseling method ih... are *nv separate methods, but it is said that we above all should understand the problem of the disturbed persons and guide them according what is understood. I think this counseling method i* a*o"g t[. toprop." ones that will soon have great influenee on many people. I will consider the other _methods together, education of children, young people, and women. women, of .6r"r., have a great influence on domestic education. since, witirin the home, hous[wives have a vital role, the problem of educating them is very i-portant. Next, education of the aged should be ouflined. Since many aged men can,t understand the principles of dem oeraey, the probr.-"oi-rg;d men has become a social problem. In order to s-oive srich u p".ilr*i, we should attach importance to the problem of educating elderly *.n. Besides, education through special groups such as charitabte organizations, invocati'on groups, ete. can be studied. - Finally, I would like to mention an education through .practice'. Religious practice should be used as a method to u"J*. faith in one's mind. Memorial services (Buddhist mass) and musical memorial services can be counted as religious praetice. It seems that religion has much to do with music. Mahayana Buddhism, .spoiutty, shiws as a characteristic of its development, a vital link wiitr music. That is, its practice consists of the hymn of glorifying Buddha, etc. of course' in traditional Buddhism there is also importance attached to music._ Today, while watching a memorial servicl of w'on luddhism being held, I r,vag deeply impressed. I was still mor. i*pr..sed, because it seems that Won Buddhis,m is the most advaneed religion, judging from the splendid service I witnessed today. it ril.. to.;;; more, but I'm afraid there is no time to do so.
-18-
A
Survey on Voidn.r, Lo1n the Point
of
Channa (Meditation) by Prof. Pal Khn Chon
It is very common that we have to suffer from numberless hardships throughout our life. We are constantly groping in a whirl of desires, imprecations, attachments and conflicts flnding no hint as to how to escape them. Sometimes our heart is full of hopes and vision and we try to seize the objects which we desire, but at other times we grind our teeth and shake our body with rage against our enemies. This stage of our life is very colorful with brilliant illuminations such as intimacy, closeness, estrangement, avarice and hostility. Even during these confusing illuminations, people devote themselves toward pursuing enjoyments, griefs, pleasures and sorrows, until they are aware of the true meaning of the world and regret that they have wasted their time; but by that time their hair has turned quite gray.This is the course of human life. Among them, .o*.ii-es we find a very reasonable person who claims that man must restore a calm, reasonable mind, instead of having continual curses and hostilities. Any objects we desire or eurse can not be the objects desirable or cursed all the time. Desire or curse is nothing but the expression of our feelings toward objects. It is not the original nature of the things. When I think a g:irl Iovely and a man hateful, the love and hatred are only my own feelings but not the nature of the girl and the man. Her loveliness is an expression of my love, and an enemy is created by my own feeli'ngs. Love or hatred is nothing but a subjective valuation which we put on things. Therefore, the objeets of our desires and feelings are only ideal objects in our eonsciousness but do not really exist by themselves outside our consciousnes$. Yet we think these objects of our desires which are only the contents of our consqiousness truly exist, sornetimes enjoying and sometimes grieving as though we realIy obtain them or lose them. Compared with the obiects of our desires (avarice) and feelings (love), such Objects of the Senses as colors and sounds, and the Objects of Perception such as things, men, mountains, rivers, Iands, etc. seem to have more objective reality. The red rose can not be taken for a white one. The desk which obviously exists before me ean not be taken for non-existence. Like this, the Objects of the Senses or the Objects of Perception are a kind of restraint and seem to force us to see, to hear and to recognize them
-19-
328
329
WON BADDHISM
WON BT]DDHISM
if we consider it one step further, color can not be real existence outside of our consciousness nor can not enter into our eyes (sense of sight). Moreover, a thing which exists outside can not enter into our consciousness. A substance which is called sugar is a production of a human consciousness which synthesizes and simplifies its attributes such as white color, rough touch, sweetness, etc. through our sense organs. Even the sense of feeling originated in a human sense organ. The simplicity of the substance, the sugar, is given first by the human consciousness (the thinking ability). The synthesized simplicity of the sugar has never existed in the sense of feeling of the direct experience. Human beings, however, believe that these objects of our sense of feeling: and of perception are realities which exist by themselves. Moreover, they cherish cornplaint which is caused by unfulfilled desires, or continue bl,oody competition ag:ainst enemies for the sake of the Objects of the Senses. Then we,are living by an upside-down delusive idea like Don Quixote who attacked a windmill with his sword mistaking it as an enemy. Therefore, in perfect Enlightenment Sutra, there is a word of caution to keep far away from such a delusive idea. If we thoroughly realize that all the objects such as the sky, mountains, rivers, etc. which we believed firmly to exist as realities outside our consciousness, are, just like foams, delusive phmomena which confusingly rise and vanish in the experience of the stream of consciousness, then where can we stand and where can we find a thing which we can grasp onto to support ourselves. And at that moment when the objects on which we depend vanish, I as a conscious function which is conscious of the objects, will vanish. Since the conscious function is nothing but to be conscious of the object, as soon as the objects disappear, there can not be any function. Master Bodhidharma expressed this state as follow: "All external causes cease, there is no inner disturbance." In this state, there is no sky, no earth, neither I who see you nor you whom I see, as if all things which I saw clearIy in my dream were gone when I awoke. Then there remains only calmness and extinction, the mind state of empty voidness. In this state there should not be even the slightest consciousness of "Oh, this is the very state of calmness and extinction". Because this concept again falls into delusion of the subject vs. the obiect which becomes conscious of the calmness and extinction. Here is an old story. Respectable Ohm-Yang asked Master Cho-joo, "What will follow
when I hold simply nothing in my mind ?" The Master answered, "Cast away even the idea to." When he asked again, "What can I cast away without holding anything?", he tossed off; "Then you carry it away with you." W'e should not be conscious of even the calmnes,s and extinction of our mind but just keep the mind void in everyday life. This state of empty mind, however, does not mean merely a meaningless calmness and extinction of nihility. When Hui-,K'O, the success,or of Bodhidharma informed Bodhidharma of his att,ainment of the mind state of "All external causes cease and there are no inner disturbances," he warned, "You are not going to fall into nihility, are you ?" Hui-K'O revealed his mind state, "No, f'm not. I s,ee the state where all external causes cease and there are no inner disturbances. But it is not to be explained in words." Therefore, an old high virtue said, "When the concept of the subject vs. the object ceased and vanished, Knowledge which is different from a knowledge which comes from the subject vs. the object comes up brightly in calmness." It is because even if the consciousness (attachment) toward the objects vanishes, the consciousness itself is never extinguished. An allegory of the most Reverend Master Bo-Jyo that, "An empty bottle means that nothing is in a bottle, but not that a bottle is not there" express,es this idea very adequately. In the book "An Introduction to a Sudden Enlightenment" we see a phrase which means that even if we distinguish goodness from evil elearlrr, as they are, we should not attach to the good thing and the evil thing themselves. fn real almsgiving, neither an almsgiver nor a receiver is conscious of almsgiving, and the almsgiver never expects any deed of requital from the receiver. Therefore we say that, even though you see things and know clearly what they are, east away the attachment upon the things themselves. The moon clearly shows its,elf in water, but it never leaves any ttack where it entered the water. The mountain echo obviously answers to our calling, but is it conscious of our calling? Mountain streams which flow in ravines wind where the ravines wind and flow straight where the ravines are straight. Likewise, in our daily life, we can not try to escape from seeing, hearing, knowing, feeling, etc. But we must steer clear of obstinately taking things as realities which are merely the objects of consciousness. We must live with an enlightenment that all things are illusional flowers. Then we are establishing a worid of Meditation, Channa, in our practical Iife and a life within the world of true Voidness and Abstruse Being.
-20-
-21 -
as they are. I{owever,
330
33' WON BUDDHISM WON BUDDHISM
nlr*o â‚Źorn*r Professor
fien Man shih
visited won Kwang
I_r.
compilation of the dictionary. The eompleted dictionary will be a large, attractive, hard-bound volume having about 500 pages. lversity
Professor Tien Man Shih, an oriental painter now teaching the chinese culture Institute in Taipei;;;,, " rvited to visit our at uni_ versity by Dr. Kil chin park, president of w on Kwang unir.rril;. she arrived in Korea on the sixth of ociober. I-n 7972, Professor Tien arranged to make a sister school tionship between won Kwang uniriersity and t e" s.t ool, doingrelaher best to eneourage academie excharg. n.i*een the two schools. president Park expressed his gratitud.lo" her contribution. Professor Tien also became a won Buddhist member, express_ h9r hope to translate the Canonical Textbook of Won Buddhism ins into Chinese in the near future. Her Won Buddhist nameis Tuk-Hae, virtue sea. she is the first won Buddhist in Taiwan. Prof,essor Tien also holds the post of Vice-Director of the World Art Association and has had her alt exhibited in fifteen countries. Free service performed by Acupuncture professor team Professors of the chinese Medicine course, Lee chang-Bin, Kim Moon-Ho, Kinl-chung-soo and others gave free Acupur.ir". treatat rong Hw_a Hospital, adjacent to won Kwang university, on relt both the 10th and the llth of bctober. About 400 patients from all over the country had the treatment free of charge. one of the patients, who has b.u, surering from neuralgia for over ten years, was greafly impressed by the effect of Acupuncture, saying with a broad Jmile lrrut he seem.d to be reborn.
A Dictionary of won Buddhism is ready to be published The won Buddhism Dictionary, which has been eompiled by w'on Buddhist devotees in won Kwang un,iversity, is going to bl in print by February Lg74, at the latest. It was reviewed and certified by the members of the Supreme council of w'on Buddhism on the. 26th of October. About fifteen selected won Buddhis,t members helped with the
-22-
VYon Buddhism
in Los Angeles
The branch temple in I"os Angeles, "W'on Buddhism in America" has been steadily growing since it received recognition as Juridical Person by the Federal Government of the United States on the 8th of June, L973. All kinds of religious bodies have great freedom of activity under U.S. government policy. The temple also acquired an exemption from taxation from the Internal Revenue Commission. The members of the Board of Directors are as follows:
Chairman: Hyang-Keun Yim Directors: Hwa-Soo Lee, Moon-Sook Moon, Pal-Chin Yim, Chang-Bae Moon and Sung-Bak Hue
Won Buddhist Newspaper is. published in America "W'on Buddhism in America", the branch temple in Los Angeles has issued the first Won Buddhist Newspaper in the United States. It is printed with a standard-size newspaper format. The paper is now written in Korean, but the editor hopes to print oxe page in Engtish in the near future. Mr. Hyang K. Yim, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, is taking care of publishing the paper.
on Won Buddhist Thought Speeches on Won Buddhist thought have been frequently delivered by both devotees and lay members of Won Buddhism. Speeches were delivered at Kwangju, Namwon and Chung Eup. Their titles follow the location and dates ,of their delivery. Speeches
Kwangju
June 17th
A View- on Valuation in the New Age.
A View on Religion in the New Age. June 9th and 10th Let Us- llave a Life Full of Meaning Spiritual Attitude Toward a New Age
Namwon
19th - August The Direction for Our Nation in the New Age The Task of Our Religion in the New Age.
Chung Eup
-23-
333 WON BUDDHISilT
Miss Pack Kyung-Ko The Won Dharma Teacher
The Won Buddh*t Branch
Templ.e,
that is, Won Buddhistn in Amefica, was establlshed in Los Angeles in 1g72. Reo. Pack Kgung-Ko, the temple Mistress wcceeded Reo. Rhee Hwa-Soo in 1973. Mr. Hyang K. Yim, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Won Bud-
dhism in America, al,so deootes himsetf to the missionary uorks of Won Buddhtsrn.
Prof, Tien Man Shih usho rrr.as Dr. Kil Chin Park, the
voited by
hairman
All
of the Supreme Coun-
I of Won Buddhism and Presient of Won Kwang Unirsersity
Miss Pal Khn Chon
Directot, Ooerseas Mrsslons
of Won Buddh*nn
rlks with Won Buddhist members t the Won Buddhist Headquarters
n the 7th October,
communications should be addressed to;
Won Kuang Unioersitg
Iri city, clulla
1973.
Eukdo,
Korea
-24-
-25-