December, 1974 Volume II Number 9 Korea
361
VOL.
WON BUDDHISM
ll
No. 9
1974
EDITORIAL
Published by:
Research Instifute for Overceas Missions
A
Won Kutang Unioersity, Iri City, Chollt Pukto, Korea
CONTENTS Editorial From Dharma 'word-q on the New year Day service . The Relation between Buddhist Truth and Daily Life
1
I
by Dr. Song Chun-Eun
The Four Graces by Prof. Kim Pal-Kon
12
The Ethics in the New Age by Prof. Pal-Khn Chon
Religion and Science bg Reo. Atatpon
10
Do Your Best to Realize Justice
byP.K.C....
WON BUDDHISM
t7
The Greater Profit . . . A Vital Favor Repaid
19
News Corner
27
19
Forerunncr of the Social Service Movement
Every year whsn school vacation starts various kinds of service groups, mostly composed of university students are organized and start their service movements. lVe will realize in our mdern history that those soeial service groups contributed greatly to our society. Under Japanese rule they became the lawful forerunners of national movements by enlightening farmers who were sufrering from poverty and ignoranee and by invocating their sense of national independmee. Since the liberation of our conrntry they have been the voluntary leader group to modernize th,eir fatherland. Any lessdeveloped country requires a national movement which enlightens the people in ord,er to cast away the backwardness, and for a suceessful national movemennt a group to lead the movement has to be formed. The desirable form of the leading group will be one that is voluntarily united by leaders who deeply reoognize the neeessity of the national movement. Religious people must take over the task of leading national movement"s, which has usually been regarded a^s the role of students. It is not because the religious people have power or money, but because they are those who ignore all worldly desires and who foll'ow their conscienee-s; people whose basic attitude is expected to be "Do for Others". Needless to s&y, a most suece.qsful national movement may be achieved easier by an able Ieader with power. Often, however, a leader who i,s cl'osely ass,ociated with power itself may be situaL ed such that he has difficulty maintaining his genuine concern for the people. Acoordingly, this is the task of a voluntary social service group which is able to lead people. At present, the Semaeul (New Village) Movement is being erpanded nati'on-wide. To successfully achieve the goals of this movement there mus,t be some intermediate who plants the spirit of this movemen,t in the minds of people. And this task properly should go to the social serviee group composed of religious people. On the other hand, their task ,should be ful,ly recognized and supported so that they might aooomplish their task eompletely. lVhy does religion exist? I,t exists t'o serve society or the human race. Why does Won Buddhism exist? I.t exists to deliver all
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sentient beings iur the suffering sea of the world and to cure the diseases of society. Won Buddhism, on the ,oecasion of the H,alfCentennial Commemoration, is reaseured that it will continue on its way as an religious order by dedicating itself to society and the human raoe. In the Semaeu,l M,ovement, W:o'n Buddhism is ralizing its voluntary role. Then, what should be the assets of the social service group which we have to prepare. First, we have to restore and follow the fundamemtal spirit of the founder of Won Buddhism aad hrs nine followers properly: 1. The spirit of thrift and savings. They refrained from smoking and drinkins wine, which they were so fond of originaJIy, to gave money eent by eent. Even a eent which they earned fnom the riee ca.ke and eharcoal trade was never used in the wromg w&y, but went to found the Won Buddhist ordetr. 2. The spirit that star'ts with a small thins to achieve a great result. With this spirit the founder and his followers embarked against the sea oarrying: dirt cm their shoulders, Iittle by llttle, finally making the sea a riee paddy whieh became a basic founding resource for the \[on Buddhism order. 3. The spirit of eooperation. Once the master's order was announced, Do one objected to it, but everyone did his best to eo: operate without the least self-centered eoncer-rt. 4. The spirit of selfless senrice, or the spirit of being r.eady to dedicate life for Law. The founder and his followers did not care about themselves in serving others. As a member of a nation, of a commu,nity, and of. a fami,ly, we will have to show this basic attitud,e of religioni-qts so that ,we may be a friend of the people who can sometimes lead, sometimes drive and sometimes push the people i,nto the right way.
AII Communicatlons Should be Addresss{ [s; Miss Pal Khn Chon
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Director Research Institute for Overseas Missions of Won Buddhism
Won Kwang University
lri,
tlu
Yen. Chungsan Late Prime Ltaster of Won Buddhism
Korea
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Ethics in the New Age bg Prcfi Pal Khn Clwn
We believe that Sotaesan, the Great M'aster, kindled the lisht of thought which would lead people in the new age and the thought of human 'beings is clearly shown in the Great Way of Il-Won which he taught. I will try to describe how the concrete standard of life whieh is to be practiced, friart is, the direction of Ethies irn the new age, is indicated in the Way of II-Won. First; Ethies in the new age should be ethics of peace. The barriers of time and distance which separated people in o,ne a,rea finom people in 'ainother area have fallen down. If 'something happens someplace, no matter how far away the place is, it immediately influences our lives either directly or indirectly. The Arab's decision not to export oil immediately threatened our lives immmsely. The most serious eleme,lrt of unhappiness between human beings in the age of having no barriers of time amd distance, is that human beings are still unable to exterminate the spiritual barriers betweea themselves. It is not necessary to say Xhat ethics of peace which is able to destroy the barrier should be the ethics of the new age. In "T,rufih of Il-W,on.S ang" in the Canonieal Textbook of Won Buddhism, it is said, "il-Wolt is the origin of all beings in the universe, the mind-seatr of all Buddha's and saints, the original nature of all living beings. . . ." With 'these words, we can perceive that all barriers between all religions are completely pulled down. As the Truth which all saints besame enlightened l,o is one, the mimds which are enlightened to the one truth should be one. As the ultimate goal of all rel;igio,ns returns to ong they should try to achieve goal of the same purpose. We also perceive that as the original nature of all human being is one, all hum'an beings are brothers of one fami'ly. How could there be differexces betw-een hum,an races, nations, classes, religious d,enrominati'o,ns? It says that we must return to the original point as one family amd one brother by pulling down all barriers betwee.n human beings. This Truth of Il-Won presents the ethics of peace with which all human beirngs are joined. Seecmd; The ethics in the new year should be ethics of harmony. There slrould come out ethics which help the unique culture of eaph huntan race and n'ation to extmd and develop properly so th'at it may harmonize itself into the one world while the barriers between a'll .
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human races and nations are being destroyed. In "The Truth of IIWon-Sang", it states, "II-Wo,n is the state in which there is no difference between the Absolute Unity and its Components or between Being and Non-Beiarg, the state i,n which there is no change of coming and going: of birth and death, the state in which Cause and Effect of gpod and evil cease, and the state in which w,ords and forms wi,th name are absolutely devoid of content." It shows that a,ll beings in the universe are united and made into one beyond difrerences. However, it again states, "According to the light of Abetruse 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 differexce of Cause and Effeet of good and evil; words and forms with name are apparent . . . ." This indieates that from the Void the abstruse differemces appear. All human races and nations which are united as brothers of one family clearly presmt their own characteristic history and culture properly and in the process of its perfect harmony, the ideal culture of the human race will be created. Third; The ethics in the ilIew age should be ethics of perfect integraticm of spirit and body. The world is now seeking .the principle of living which keeps both spirit and body perfect in our everyday Iife. In the pa"st, all religions wthich only insisted upon the deliverance of the soul ignored or neglected physical life, and as a result, the influence of religions was weakened and gradually separated from the majority before the power of seientific civilizaticrn. However, the more scientific civilization develops, the more human wisdom able to utilize it properly is required; and this wisdom should be able'to integrate the spiritual and the physical life properly. The new age evidmtly has ,to be such an age in which seience and morality should keep pace. It is the age that requires such a truth as integrates science and morality, and physica,l life and spiritual life. The traditional Eastern moral civi'lization and the Wsstern scientific civilization should be properly unified. lVe believe that the Truth that enables both civilizations to unite is the Truth of Il-W'on. Fourth; The ethics in the new age should be ethics for the masses. Ethies in the past were individual ethics. The new age is for the masses. Therefore if the ethics for the ma,s.qes is not practiced well, it is hard to deliver the world's people. Even if the massss happen to be a g:athering of good people, there ean be produced, what may be oaJled a Mass Evil. Engl'and, which is pr,oud of gerntle' manship, pr.oduced the colonial policy which oppressed and exploited
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India From Japan, a country well known for its
sense of individua.l ethies, eame the colonial policy which ruled over Korea for thirty-six years. When the Mass ethies as well as the individual ethies is erected, each nation and all human beings may be able to find the right way to ep. The "Principle by which the Inferior and the Superior can pnogress" which is taught by the Great M'aster is individual ethics and at the same time it is Mass ethics. It explains clearly that the new age is not an age in which the superior take advantage of the inferior, but the age in which the superior help the inferior to elevate themselve,s. It is tJhe age in whieh a superior eountry assists an inferior oountry until the latter elevates itself to the rank of the superior country. Them, the ideal age of coexistence will be achieved. Fifth; The ethies in the new age should be ethi,e-s for selecting right conduet. Until now, the ethies of Ea,stern eountries have beern the ethics of Ioyalty, the ethios of affirrnation. Needless to sav, great affirm,ation is an imdispen-qhble oondition in realizing truths. However, great affirmation which is to realize truths should be aecomuanied by great negation against non-truths. Human history is the hi,story of developrnent and it develops throught the conflicts of iustice and injustiee. The affirmation for justice neeessarily eal'ls for the negatiom against injustice. Nevertheless, it seemed that Eastern countries senerralty and traditionally have not the ethics of nesation, but the ethics of affirmation. Needless to say, ,there should not be anv negation for its own sake. However, we must 'admit that naturally numberless.
negatiorns aecompany some
true developments.
The true happiness of the human race ean he aehieved onlv by seekins ,the Way with the spirit Iiberated from life and death. Without a dauntlessness we oan not Iead the human raee in the new age. The Great M,aster Sotaesan, never lost his imtrepid attitude of justiee before injustiee in everyday life evem under the diffieul,t Japanese rule. Moreover, even the relentless Japanese police officers unco,nsciously knelt nn their knees before his ttignity.
Now, Avdlable!
Ihe Canonical
Textbook of Won Buddhism 07.00
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Ite
Relation between Buddhist
fhth
and Daily Lile by Dr. Song Chur-Bun
"Buddhist Truth is found in Life; Life is Buddhist Truth iL self." This is one of the Won-Buddhist Mottos written at the very opening of the Canon. This M'otto means that everyday life is inseparably related to Buddhist Truth. In other words, we should keep Buddhis,t Truth alive in our everyday life. Once, the Buddhist Master, Hei-Neun.q said, "As Buddhist Truth is living in this world, we should not wi,sh to m,arster the Truth from any other plaae than the present world. Those who wish to Iearn Buddhist Truth from some pl,ace other than this world are like foolish persons who try to get horns from rabbits." The great Ma^cter Sotaesan taught that the religions which would not be useful to our life were simply not worth their existenee. 'W'e can say that in the past, the Buddhist Truth was regarded to be understood and profitable to the surrealistie (monk-eeatered) life alone, but it is the daily and social life in gerreral that this Motto Iays great stresson. And Iike the editorial in Won-Buddhist Review 51 saying, "Let's transform the monk-centered Buddhism into the Ia;rmen's Buddhism", the spirit of the Won-Buddhist Motto, "Buddhist Truth is found in Life" i,s to emphasize the coincidence of the Buddhist life and everyday life. This also means the ren'ovation of Buddhist Truth toward a new modernized one by applying the Buddhist Truth to our everyday life. If we wish strongly to realize Buddhist Truth in our daily life without its reformation, our daily life would be severely disturbed owing to the praetiee of the Buddhist Truth. Insrsting on the reformation of traditional Buddhist Truth, Sotaes'an, founder of Won Buddhism, commented on the impractieability of old Buddhism as follows: 1. Beeause old Buddhism was based upon monk-centered doctrines and systems, it was not suitable for secular life. 2. As a result, ordinary layman were outsiders to the Buddhist religions, and were rarely even listed as B,uddha's immediate disciples or as aneestors of a Buddhist order, unless they aehieved particular distinction through Buddhist works or study.
3. Religion has meaning when it teaehes peonle. Monks, however, established temptres in the remote m'ountains. How, then, could busy people find time to go to the temples to be taught? a
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4.
The Budalhist scriptures, also, were composed of phrases and e;hsracters which were too aimcult to be taught and understood by o'rdinary people, intelligenrt or ignorant, male or fem'ale, old or young. the monks, without any occupatiors As to their way of living, -offeriugs of donorsl which is an inas such, I,ived on the alms and maioriW. the adequate and impossible way of Iife for Marriage was also strictly prohibited for monks.
6. 6. 7.
With reg:ard to propriety, monks were instruoted otrly in the formalities of Buddhist worship and not ,the proprieties which are neeessary for seeular life. How, then, cbuld their lives encompass the totality of existenee? Therefore, in the Won-Buddhist order, we tave not made any distinction betweem monks and laymen in their basic right.s as members of the order, but the degrees of their Buddhist stiay and ap,tivities have been the standard of distinction. Also, wâ‚Ź have made no distinetion between monks and laymen as to their suc..oioo to the I'a'y'. Temples for moral training have been established the believers are iiving, and scriptures have been composed of *t """ of the teaohingi, using easy words, so that the'majority ift" "tt."tials or" and understand th;m. The msnks have been allowed to have -"f suilabte oceupations, ,and marriage of monks has been optional' We worhr". not observed tire all-too*omplieated proprieties of formal appropriatg most goaaha, the about but have learned more ;htp to ,o,f ,t.ful prop"i*io of ordinary life by- emphasizing the way of offering woiship to Buddha everywhere and in everything. These are the founder's reformations of the system toward the Buddhism-inJife, and emphasize, in order to be Buddhist Truth living in everyday life, some fundamental reformation evm in the idea and method of buddirist Truth itself. Thinking that Buddhist Truth should be made profitable to the public and to everyday l_ife as_well as to the present time, the Great Master Sotaesan i,nsisted on the populariza' iioo and modernizati,on of Buddhist Truth ,al'ong with its applieation to daily life To coincide Budd;hist Truth and ordinary life, it is inevitable that Buddhist Truth itself should appeal to the public in general and should be a form useful to the present time. Thereforq the popularizalisn and moderniz,ati,on of Buddhist Truth be-oides its application to the public have besn inseparably rel,ated with one another. In the long run, B,uddhist Truth shou'ld not be an obstacle to our daily life. On the contr&rL it should have powerful influenee to lead
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our everyday life into a sound direction. During a long period of time, some religions often tend to be formalized and stagnant with their established habits. Consquently, unless they can regenerate our daily life into one worthwhile to live in the field of ,both thoughts and estivities, ,they may be, as is oftem the casg some elements to hinder sound social developmeat. The essential meaning of this Motto is to give as much benefit as possible to individuals and society. Furthermore, we ean learn from this tvtotto the lesson that we ca;n attain the realization of Buddhist Truth successfully without ignoring our everyday life' *tltt Dharma Words on the New Year Day Service The way to attain Buddhahood and to become a saint should not be sought outside of our mind, but it should be sought in mind training. Therefore, try to check your mind eornstantlY, ffi if it were your oc' cupation, and find pleasure in the remedy of your mind. And in the new year, we will make more efrort, with a new effort, to aChieve Buddhahood together. The meaning 'of a new year is not in the new day itself, but it exists in our mind. Aecordingly, the reatr meaning of a new age will be found in an increasing effort for both mind training and works. Therefore, we will be able to meet a n_ew day or I ,r* year always when we keep the new mind; without the-new mind it is impossiblL to meet a real new year, even if it is a day within the new year. 'W'e see many foltrowers whose religious faith is rooted deeply, but some others are rooted superficially. The person with a superficiaIIy rooted faith is always affected by various ki,nds of doetrines, theories, other peoples prin,ciples or assertions. Such a person, without his own eonviotions, is always driven to and fro by other powers, and finally finds himself in a helpless situatitrn. This kind of root of faith is eompared to a falling leaf. A person who established his faith upon a riglit Law does not agitate his mind if the oeeasion, gogd o" brd, is not overly strong. H'owever, when he meets some extremely powerful circumstances, he may agitate his mind, but he will not degrade himself. His root of faith is like the root of a tree. A person whose root of faith is so deeply set that he never shakes in the face of any hardships and difficulties and in all his aetions is dominated by his conseience, is a person who never br'ings forth any suffering punishment. His root of faith may be said to be as firm as a
From
great mountain or a rock
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forth the war is evil. The hum'an spirit which used atomic power
Rcligion and Science by Reo. Atawon
Before a,nd af,ter the seventeenth century, scientific civiliza' v'iew of tiorn achieved revolutionary progress thro-uSht @ch a Tew
fit. tto,u.. Particutary when the Cope'-ig* Theory' ""a Motion and Darwin's Theory of Evolution were of iii;"nbd,s l-aws developed in t".. ruling 'and introduced, ;;t "git"ti""-"y"ion" " ;i crtriiti*ity in .tlie essentiallv medier,al traditionel *oird ,ie; 'And there was trte great- copernican change European *o"i"tio. before 'a,nd after the seientific revoluviews betweem the world
iil ,"iterse
tionn.
According to the change in our wa-y of viewing dfue world it religion to have a new interpretation uecame inevi&uii io"
ocrnstan'f argumemts. These arguments arose oi itt doctrines, causing"rotr and a from the difrerent inter?retations betw"m the traditional from the conclu-
unA sfiU they ccvntinue. Apart, new world into "i"**l sion of these arguments, , "w world view has been brought the in race human the For unconsciously. all religious thoughts rs traditicrnal of re{ormati'on a civilization, *i""[in" ag-e of this In required' are ""* tt o-io"m"tion of a new religion i[i.;; pornt we c,&n nnd ao historical meaning for the appearance of won Buddhism.
The founder of won Buddhism called the past a Dark Age world r;; l,igtrt Age; the Light Age implies the and the recognize " cleartry We "o*i"J clearly. ufpuurr where all Turth or Rea,son strcrngel day bv -d.av, ih;t scientiRe-or materi,al influ&ce is getting people who are ignorant about mateiial tlings, and lef,t behind -11" ranks scieniiRe iivilization, are falling off the mar'chingpeople. it uncivil'ized called be to of the civilized human ra&e, so as human race ff-o*&.t, the main factor which drives the modern people'-'but among uncivi'lized the amcvng found into . crisis it -misuse influenc,es. the rapidly expanding mater,ia-l 1i*" people *lr"""t mastLr which makes use of the power the ir upi"it human Our -'ihe material po*u, itself -,is neither good n'or bad, of materiats. some people misjudge but stands in a neutral positions. But, often, p'ower' u]:eq in a war' Atomic things. wicked tfr" ,"rtoia[ ; that the atomic say will harm numberless people. But we can not bomb itsâ‚Źlf is a wicked thins' \[ar itself is not evil, but the human spi'rit which bring:s
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in the war should be held responsible. The responsibility of moraliW and relision is to erect human spirit uprightly. It is most urgent to make spiritual power strong enough to make use of the increasing material power for the good of the human race. Theref,ore, the Ven. Sotaesan, whern he opened his religious order, put for,th his motto; "As Material Civilization Develops, Cultivate Spiritual Civilization Accordingly." This suggests the napid progress of seientific civilization and that the progress of spiritual civilizatiwt must keep pace with that of seientific civilization. In other words, this means that we must cultivate a new moral civilization required by the new age. W'on Buddhism opened its gate bearing tne new task to rer' store moral eivilization, and the Great Master, S'otaesan, taught and showed us the way to cultivate our power of mind by following the principle through which we can cultivate our human spirit. TIi-e coming 'age is evidently a light age. Therefore, it may not be possible to carry out a perfect life if we are blind to the truth of either material or spirit. The human raee of the future is to acquire material power by a scientific civilization which d,iscovers the rea"s'on of materials, ar,a must cultivate spiritual power by a moral civilization which enlighteas the reasorl of spirit. Material power should be utilized teJty for human happiness in the world of panadise on the ear'th. In the past material was usu'ally strictly discriminated from spirit, and ail religions were rrying to suppress the material things wh,ile'setting a high value on the spiritual things. Howe-ver, in the eoming age, which- will be increasingly bright, orlr4 and materials should be harmonized into one. Otherwise, a satisfactory Iife can not be expected. The original source of all ,things in the universe has been expressed by words such as God, Taeguk, or Truth. In Wbn Buddhism it is expressed by the words Dharma-kaya Buddha I'l-Won-Sang. Apart fiom discussing the expressional words, it is lnown that 5o,.th spirit and material owe their existences to the original sourCe. This place can be ealled nei'ther Being nor Non-Being, but is the place where Being ,and Non-Being are perfeetly integrated; It is not a place where only m,aterial is to exist, nor a only for mind, but the place where mind and mater'ial it,rr" reservedharmonized. Evm in this ultimate place, the principle are perfectly
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of material and that of mind oan not be separated, but integrated into one. Therefore, scie,ntific civilizatiorn which cultivates the truth of material, and moral civilization which cultivates the principle of mind will be ultimately connected in an ultimate Truth of religion. Therefore, even one of the greatest physici'sts, Albert Eienstein (1879-1955), said as follows; "Religion without science is lame, science without religion is blind." It is evident that a religion which does no,t aecept the principles of science is not able to lead the human raee in a new age into the principles of science; it is not able to lead the human race in a new age into the right way. However, religion can not be seisnce itself. Science discriminates this vast universe into parts and synthesizes it again cultivating truths. On the contrary, religion cultivates truths through synthetical intuition on the original principle of the whole universe. Scienee is mainly an intellectual activity ,and religion is an activity of the AII-Human Character of intellect, emotion and volition. Therefore, seientific truths can he transmitted as disciplines, but religious truths should be experienced through personality. If personality itself fails to approach religious truth through ohanges of chanacter, the Iife or religion will f,ade away, however rich the studies on religion may be. I wish to state clearly that even a partial truth should be accepted properly into the integrated Tru,th, ,&rd that even the activities founded upon only the intellectual function should be integrated into All-Personality activities as an important function.
1. Ihe
Grace of Ifeaven and Earth W'e lrnow well that without trhe sun, the moon, the earth, the
air, the water etc., we could not earry on our l.ife for even a moment. - we live our ordinary life, forgetting Grace. It is our Nevertheless, duty to requite s,uch a Grrace, and in order to reguite the Grace, we should learn the ways of Heaven and Earth and practice them in our daily life. There are eight ways given as the ways of Heaven and Earth. They can be described as follows. (1) Heaven and Earth keeps the very brisht way. Following it, we should be well versed in all Facts and Principles by studving them.
(2)
(3) Heavm and Earth keeps the very impartial way. Following it, we should keep to the middle way without attachment to situations in whieh we feel close and intimate, or remote and estranged, and without attachment to situations in which we feel joy, anger, pleasure,
or sorrow.
(4) Heaven and Earth keeps the proper and natural way. Following it we should examine and take what is reasonable, abandoning what is unreasonable in the management of all things. (5) Ifeaven and Earch keeps the way of the vashress and limitIessness. Following it, we sh6uld abandon the disnosition of attaeh.
ment
tt*:t** i
Ihe Four Graces by Prof. Ktm Pal-Kon
In Won Buddhism, Grace is suggested as the fundamental relation-term of all beings in the universe, and Il-Won-S ar,g, the Dharma-kaya Buddha which is the object of faith and the standard of moral training is translated into the Four Graces; that is, the Grace of Heaven and Earth, the Grace of Parents, the Grace of Brethrea, and the Graee of Law. The Great Master, the Venerable Sotaesan taught that as we, human beings, cannot exist without those Four Graees, we should realize the Graces and lead the life requiting them. Then, let us investigate the oontent of the Four Graees in detail.
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Heaven and Earth keeps the very sincere way. Following
it, we should fulfil the purpose of all our works consistently.
(6) Heaven and Earth keeps the way of eternitv. Following it, we should emaneipate ourselves from the transition of all things and from the birth, old age, illness, and death of human beings. (7) fleaven and Earth keeps the way of having neither good nor bad luck. Foll'owing it, we should not become attached either to geotl or bad luek by trying to diseover where bad Iuck lies when confronted with good luck, or by trying to diseover where good luck Iies when eonfronted with bad luek. (8) Heaven and Earth keeps the way of not maintaining pride in the offering of benefit. Following it, we should cultivate the way of being free from all prides and thoughLs in Moving or Being Quiet; and we should abandon any idea or notion in offering benefit to others, either spiritually, physically, or materially. We should not hate or besome a foe even to those who are ungnateful for the benefits that we have bestowed on them. -13-
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2, Ihe
Grace of Parents W'e limow well that the Gnace of Parents is very great. Neverthe-
is so great'and broad that we ea,nnot keep gratitude heart. Thinking about the Grace of Parents more in our ordinarily deeply, we can see that it contains the Grace of all our aneestors. We *roUa-tear such a greatGrace in our mind, and lead the life reouiting it. In order to requite it, reeollecting the faet that we had been protected by prr.ri. in childhood when we didn't have self-ability' Iess, the Grace
ie
should proleot the people who don't have self-ability. The pur?ort ,of heiptress people will be described more concretely
of the proteetion in the following.
individuals and hostilities among soeieties. Naturally, we should, at least, secure others' interest, seeking self interest. (2) Sacrificing Pr:ivate Interest Now that we can live only in the Grace of pubtrie society, we should respect preferentially the public interest over the private'and among:
we should serve for others, sacrifieing ourselves. (3) Identifying Others' fnterest with Self Interest By making the service for others and the sacrifieing ourselves for the public into 'the benefit of true Self, universal great self transcending small self, we should iden,tify true self-interest with altruism.
4. Ihe Grace of Law
(1) Self-Perfection fn order to requite the
Grace that our parents rear and take care of us with rrreat love, regardless of all troubles, until we attain our own self-ability, wâ‚Ź shoutd respond to their wish towards us, ty *o.plishing a- srea,t religious pLrsonality and by being a leader remedying soeial evils. (2) Comforting Parents When our o#n parents are unable to support themselves, we should take care of fhem as far as it is possible so that they may retain the comforts of both mind and body. (3) Helpless PeoPIe ' trfelpinghow we were indebted to the Grace of Parents when Realizing it was impossible to support ourselves, we should protect and help,' as far as possible, the old, the p,oor, the disabled, and orphans who are unable to suPPort themselves.
3. Ihe
Grace of Brethren W'e human beings are social animals and
we cannot live
even
for a short time, away from hum'an society. In our daily life we are indebted to the food, clothing and goods which other persons
produce. Even birds and beasts, and trees and grass' are helpful io -*. We should realize that we live in such a Great Grace and we should lead the life requiting it. In order to requite it, we should realize that \tre are indebted to brethren by way of mutual interest, we should follow and keep this way of mutual interest. The purport of the way of mutual inferest will be described more concretely in the following. (1) Conquering the Egoistic Mind If we are egoistic and ungrateful to brethren, there will be strife
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Generally, law means an equita,ble rule of human iustree by which individuals, families, societies, nations, and the world will be helped and advanee into the right path and maintain comfor,t in life, if this equitable rule for human justi,ce is annlied to them. \tr/o should, therefore, realize the Grace of Law and Iead the life requiting it. In order to requite it, we should comply with the recommendation and the prohibition for human justice, and have the equitable rule for human justice practiced hroadly in human society. The purport of the practice of the equitable rule for human justiee will be described more concretely in the foll'owing. (1) Make the Utmost Effort to Perform Righteous Acts and to Avoid Unrighteous Acts It is difficult to perform what is good and to sever what is evil, even though we know that goodness is desirable and that evil should be cut off. The most important aim of religious training consists in developing the ability to perform by all means what is righteous arld to sever by heaven and. earth that is evil. If'religion should fail in doing so, the life of religion would be lost. In order to requite the Grace of Law, we should be trained so that we may free ourselves fnom habits con'solidated in evil like irron and rock. (2) Never Abandon Even One Person, Condemning Iniustice Naturally we should make the utmost effort to transform unrighteous acts into righteous ones, but we should not hate the person himself. \Me should introduce him into the right path, tolerat'ing him with a broad and generous mind. IMe may classify all the relatioms among human beings into two kinds of relations, Grace and Resentment. With the development of science, the intervals of space-time have shortened and the whole of
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380
381
WON BUDDHISM
WON BUDDHISM
mankind throughout the world are being joined into one range of life. Besides, the destructive power of weapons are increasing day by day. If we cannot transform the relations of resentment among human beings into those of Grace, the persistence of human beings will be threatened. Today's human beings need heartily the relations of Grace. The Great Master, the Venerable Sotaesan taught us that the true relations persisting in human life and in the universe should be those of Grace and that we should seek it without delay. Once one of the disciples asked the Great lilaster, "How do we practi,ce our faith in the Truth of Won?" The Great Master ans,wered, "The way is to believe in the Truth of Won as our object of faith and to pray for all blessedness and happiness from the Truth. Il-WonSang is oomposed of the Four Graces, and the Four Graces comprise all beings in the universe. All things that we see in the universe are nothing but Buddhas. Therefore, at all times and in all places we must be very respectful and cautious toward all things, keeping a pure mind and a pious manner, as if we lvere before the real Buddha. You are also to try to practice Offering \Vorship to Buddha directly
Won cipating
Bui,ddhist
in the
lollowerc at the Eoerlasting Memofial Hall square, partl-
cerernony
for world peace.
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to all thing:s with which you are involved, thereby creating blessedin your real life. In a word, this is the way to turn a partial faith into a perfect one, and a superstitious belief into an actual one." (Fnom the Dis,eourses of the Great Master, Chapter 44' Do Your Best To f,snlizs fu$ice
ness and happiness
by
P.
K.C.
As a follower of the Great IMay, how should a man cultivate his If one tries to achieve a Buddha's grer,,t charaeter, he must unceasingly try to keep a noble mind which stands above worldly desires. Be,sides, honesty which follows his eonscienee, modesty which includes no self-interest, generosity, and a courage which can thaw even an iron wall, should be cultivated with a constant earnestness. (1) A no,ble mind means a mind which trie*q to experience the Truth. There is no life and death in the Truth itself. The Truth never has anything to be compared with. It is a sublime, pure and unstained place. When we experimee the true state of Truth, following the Way, we may retain our original conscience and may overcome worldly desires. The noble mind never changes what it once cherished even in hardships, diffieulties of suffering circumstanees, but keeps the same mind from the beginning to the md. Therefore, saints and sages showed little interest in wealth and fame, and when they happened to be in possesion of them, they could not have special pleasure from them, and when wealth and fame left them, they never regfeted it because of their disattached attitude toward such things. Likewise, wâ‚Ź also have to be e.areful on every occasion not to become attached to anything, but to learn how to cultivate ourselves, constantly polishing the emotion and eultivating the noble mind. Leaving our body in the earthly world, our mind should be purified Iike a golden lotus, purifying the impure world; and this is the responsibility of the followers of the Way. (2) Honesty or honest mind means a true mind, a mind of frankness, 'a right mind. The result of any good or bad deed that is hidden becomes larger and when it emerges openly, it becomes smaller. The Truth of the universe discriminates clearly, m,inutely, all good and bad deeds, or all deeds of beneficence to be blessed and wieked deeds to be punished. The honest mind should follow the brightness, minuteness, clearness and honesty of the universe. And also, even m,ind and what manner should he keep?
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382
383
WON BUDDHISM
WON BUDDHISM
a thought in our mind becomes a faetor of eause and effect aecording to the reason to circulation of the Universe. Therefore, the Universe is Iike an accurate tape recorder and time may be compared to its tape; as the tape shows what has been reeorded before, a present life of a man shows what he reeorded in his former life. Our present deeds and thoughts will be recorded in the tape recorder of the Universe. Therefore, all the functions of our mind and bodies are creating our futures. A man who is enlightened to this Truth of the Universe will never be able to commit evil, false and wrong deeds. (3) Followers of the Way must try to keep a modest mind which does not expect any requital from others when we do things that deserve to be requited. When we keep this state of mind, the mind becomes greatly pacified and peaceful. When a man constantly makes an effort to attain a perfeet personality through a modest refleetion upon what he lacks, in his personality naturally, his value will become recogrrized by other people. The enlightened ones, therefore, never worry about how to show their abilities, qualities, knowledge or distinguished asset, but rather adopt a humble manner. (4) Generosity, a generous mind, is a standard moral principle in practicing the Way in living. When we become broad-minded, bright and right minded, everyone we contact will becorne happier and m,ore pleasant. On the conttary, when our mi'nd becomes narrow, dark, evil or self-centered, we will be surrounded by a lot of enemies in everyday life. It is a life of trouble*o,. W'e should try to keep a gmerous mind which forgives other people until the establishment of an ideal world where the universe becomes a happy h,ome and all people become Iike brothers. (5) A Courageous mind indicates a boldness which can beat back injus,tice, practicing justice at the risk of ones life. It is never defeated in the face of any difficulties or hardships. In order to realize an everlasting peace within homes, nations and the world, the man who has a courageous mind hopes to contribute honor, fame, property, even his own life, and inwardly he seeks to attain Enlightenmmt desperately, having previously decided that he will never retreat until he reaches Enlightenment. These five kinds of mental attitude can not show their real value without some rcalization in the course of our lives. If we continue training these five sorts of mind, we will establish the perfect personality of saints and sag:es and will become masters of the world who can deliver the world's people and all sentient beings of the univerge.
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Buddhisf Stories (1) Ite A
Greater profit
Buddhist minister, who had finished his sunday Buddhist
services, was going to visit some I'ocal Buddhist tempies io" aiu.ourre, w,hen a Buddhist follower came to him with tt ir r6quirt, .,There are
people in the main hall of my temple who wish to hear y;;; fa!{ Buddhist
diseourses. would you prease come over to my temple ,and for them ?',. Howeirer, the Buddhist minister said, ,,r have already done my duty in the morning. If you want_ me to preach an additional you will have to pay me some add,itional money.,, """*or1 The follow_er, being inwardly astonished by the minister,s wordly 9fftrr went back to hisLssembly to *rrroii *ith them about the minister's reques't. Th"y aeeepted the offer beeaue they aiar;t think it was proper to change to their minds only because he had asked for preaeh
money. The minister had requested a consiclerable sum. Moreover, he t-old them to pay him the money in advanee. The followers colleoted the money and brought it to the minister. The minister, after reeeiving the money, immediately started preaching. His sermon was so impressive that almost all of his Iisteners were moved to tears. After the sermon the followers came to him to express their gratitude. The minister immedi,ately took out the money that they had given him and gave it back to them. He said, "Please take this money back. r don,t need it anymore.', The followers, being all the more astonished, insisted that lie takes the money as their expression of gratitude. The minister, t o*erer, wouldn't keep money, saying, "you have had many chances to -the h_ear sermons, but I do not think you have ever been so attentive to the sermons before as you were today. I think you attained the most profit from this sermon today. If it is you who have the biggest profit from my sermon, why should I take this money?', He gavJtt. rrio".y back and left the temple. Many people go to temples merely as a habit and lose time and money. Vt/'e must be very attentive to the sermons at chuneh and must praetice the teachings in our everyday lives. Then we will a.qoir. profits greater than the time and money we lost at the temple. (2, A Vital Favor Repaid once upon a time, there was an old man who had a beautiful
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385
3El
WON BUDDHISIVI
WON BUDDHISM
daughter. Gne day whm the girl was on the bank of a river, a man earrying a bis crab p'assed her. She stopped him asking what he would do with the crab. The man said he was going to kill it to cook. The girl felt so much pity for it that she asked him to give her the crab, offering him whatever he wanted to have in exehange. The man, looking at her for a while, requested her to give him the comb that she was wearing on her pretty hair. It was a beautiful comb decorated with some beads on it, and was too precious for her to give him, being a souvenir of her dead mother. However, she gave it to him and took the crab. Thm she released it into the river. The next day, her father was working in a field when he heard something squeaking sorrowfully. He saw a frog being cauqht in the mouth of a snake. The man told the snake that if it would release the frog, he would do anything it wanted. The snake upon hearing this, released the frog telling the man that it would take his daughter on that very same night. It also added that he should keep his promise. The man was so miserable when he came back home that be could not eat his supper, but just sat worrying about his promise. His daughter asked him about his poor mood and he informed her what had happened to him that day. The dauqhter, however, eonsoled him and assured him that the Iove of Buddha would proteet ' them. Then the daughter began sitting in meditation absorbed in ehanting nutras. At midnight they heard s,omething knocking at their door. The father Iooked out of the door and saw the sn'ake who had come to take his dauehter as thev promised. It told him to open the door quiekly. The father trembled, but the daughter still just sat absorbed in her chanting. For a time the knocking persisted but gradually it beeame quieter and quieter, and finally thev saw the morning sunlisht. They carefully opened the door and there they saw numberless bie erabs, Iiving and dead, around the bis dead snake. Some were stiil bitins
the
snake.
Thus even a tiny living thing feels a favour reeeived from others and requites it. How then, can hum'an beings, the master of all things, be ungrateful beings? \Me are living in the Four Graees; Heaven and Earth, Parents, Brethren and Law.
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nl"-o â‚Ź,or^", 1.
Qualifying Examination for Missionaries
The llth qualifying examination for Won Buddhist missionaries was held from December 23rd to 25th at the Headquarters of Won Buddhism. The applicants are students who are anticipating completion of either the Won Buddhist Course of Won Kwang University or the three-year'intensive study course of Tong-san Won Buddhist
Institute in
2.
1975.
Regular Fall Missionary lhaining
The 21st Regular Fall Missionary Training Courses were held from the l1th to the 30th of October at the Headquarters. Two hundred seventy persons took part. All were qualified missionaries currently in service at branch temples or cvther Won Buddhist institutions throughout the country. 3. Special Frayer for World Peace and Holyland Pilgrims A special time of prayer for world peace and the Won Buddhist Holyland pilgrims took place at b'oth the Headquarters and Yungsan Holyland. Over three thousand f'ollowers attended in the spirit of Won-ism, that i-s, The Truth is One, The Wo'rld is One, Human Beings are One Family, The World is One Workshop. Everyone il attmdanee vowed to strive to eliminate all the evil elements which threaten world peace. The Prime Master delivered at Dharma speech for world peace during the ceremony. 4. Seminar on Won Buddhist Thought Is HeId A seminar entitled "Won Ba.rddhism and Buddhism" was held on November 14th at Won Kwang University. This was the first seminar to be sponsored by the newly established Research Institute for Won Buddhist Thought. 5. Won Buddhist Dictionary Is Published A Won Buddhist Dictionary, in Korean, has been published by Institute for Religious Thought in Won Kwang UniResearch the versity. Two years of work have gone into its six hundred fifty-two pages.
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Won Buddhist
Ministresses
Commemoration Building
for
in uhita
Buddhlst robes going to
the geneml assembly
of
Mi,nistresses.
Ministers and, Mittistresse.e at the Secred Eaerlasting Memorial Hall "Yungtngo-iun" on the 30th October, the last day of the 21st Regular Ttaining Courses.