Vol-4-No-4 by Seonghwan Yu

t987 - 88 VOLUME IV NUMBER IRI, KOREA

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900

CONTENTS

.....

Editorial

of Founding Mottos of lflon Buddhism.and the Founding Motive of l4/on Buddhism . . by Ven. Daesan, the &ime Master of Won Buddhism

Meanings

The Life and Tho_}gh1_of Ven.

Soongsan

by Dr. Kim fum-Yong

The Disease of Society and the Role of Religion.

'''''

....

by Dr. Yang Hyun'Soo r-v\''sJr ,r of lt/on ttL'rr rJt't'q'r*"rr' Buddhism Historical Approach of Buddha-body

byMr.sung Il-Ho ',

On the Sudden Awakening

of Ch'an School in Dharma Teaching

of theMind$round by Dr. Han Ki-Doo

News Corner

WON BUDDHISM Published bY: Research lnstitute for Overseas Missions Wonkang UniversitY lri City, Cholla Pukdo, Korea

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903 WON BUDDHISM I

VOL,

IV NO. 4

VON BUDDHISM

rc87 - 88

EDITORIAL Seoul, the capital of Korea, seems to be full of people gathered from all gver the world, which reminds us of the old proverb 'All roads lead to Rome.' Today, Rome is replaced by Korea, Not only Seoulites but also even the remote villagers of Korea are in expectation of seeing the successful Olympic Games, now only a few days ahead. We Koreans are highly proud of being an Olympic nation. At the same time we strongly feel responsibilities as citizens of the host country. We sometimes witness taxi drivers practicing their English conversation to diminish inconveniences caused by the language barrier. Residents of many rural areas have devoted themselves to raising beautiful flower beds to delight foreign guests. Through this Olympic gathering we can foresee the seeds of much more broadly based festivals of Oneness in a world too much torn by violent confrontations in pursuit of narrow and prejudiced goals of ethnic, religious, political and economic ideologies. We fervently pray for the peaceful and successful conclusion of the '88 Seoul Games, and for the ensuing World Peace which we can expect would accompany such brilliant success. It is undeniable fact that we come to cherish sisterly or brotherly love and friendliness towards onr foreign guests who have been entirely strangers just moments before. Shaking hands, with broad smiles on each face, we solidify our long-cherished beliefs that the human race is one family. Despite physical differences such as color or size, and the differences in ways of thinking, customs etc., we cannot forget that the original nature of all human beings is the same. Truth is one; the human race is one family; the world is one workshop. This principle is of fundamental importance for increasing efforts to promote the cause of World Peace thrbugh the establishment of a world body of religions, which we propose be called United Religions. We have many religions of all sizes in the world, but world peace still seems to be far away. Wars between nation$ have too often been caused by religious conflicts. It is not untrue that many of the most serious wars have been the result of religious prejudices.

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World Peace without religious solidarity can be compaled to fishing in a mountain. The way to world peace can be led by religionists and have aU religionists must be enlightened to the truth that all religions tree, a of branches to the compared be cin religions all on. rolt. So -et-c., which has only on! root. All conflicts, prejudices, haueds, between different denominations come from ignorance about this truth of Oneness. This is why Won Buddhism advocates the orgni_zing of United ne5gions in the World on a basis similar to that of the United Nations. Lik; a home, run through solid cooperative inteEation of paternal strictness and maternal love, the wOrld, to establish a perfect peace, should develop both roles on an equal basis' Now it seems that Korea has 6..o*. a center of the world through the celebration of ih. *"gt ificent '88 Otympiad. We expect sweet and positive fruits of mutual understanding, cooperation, and harmonious reconciliation through this event, which will contribute to the cause of world Peace. However, it is our dream that, before long, all religions, lar-ge and come together in Korea or any other plce to talk over ,*"U,-*"y which "Lo ;;;H p."1.. But at present, to achieve world peace' the-first step especially prejudice or dogma all reliiions must take must be away from betwe6n different religions. Then the united Religions will become

of Founding Mottos of Won Buddhism and the Founding Motive of Won Buddhism

Meanings

by Ven. Daenn, the ftime Master translated by: Dr. Chung Bongkil,.kofessor of Florida International U niversity, U.S. A.

of Founding Mottos of Won Buddhism "As Material Civilization Develops, Cultivate Spiritual Civilization Meanings

Accordingly."

A. When the earth

redity.

opens itself, material things ransform into formidable forces, resulting in advanced scientific civilization, which drives out poverty, diseases, and ignorance and thus improves the daily commodities like clothing, food and shelter. This leads to the way of physical paradise of one life span. This is only of secondary and external importance. When the heaven opens, the spirit unfolds, resulting in advanced moral culture. The moral culture can be improved by Threefold Learnings and Eight Articles with which we overhaul our mental life, and by Fourfold Graces and Four Essentials with which the world is to be delivered. This leads to the eternal spiritual paradise. This is of primary and eternal importance.

In this slogan is reflected the traditional view that when an old On the twenty-sixth of March in the first year of Won guddhism, the Gieat Master, Venerable . Sotaesan, upon the rtflll bein-gs are of attainment of his Eeat Enlightenment, said, things and principles - originate- {ro1t one onr Reality and

heaven [era] comes to its end, a new heaven [era] opens itself. An ideal in this new era is that both the spiritual and the material should strike a balance between morality and technology. This slogan has a hopeful

vision towards the future of a paradise characterized by a perfect equality.

Our dual task is to cooperate in order to wipe out poverty, ignor-

"it of No Birth and No Death and the Princi where the Truth **.r, 'Cause on an interperfect

ance and disease, both spiritual and physical.

related basis."

fi.

pie of

and Effect operate as a

organ

From "Introdu ction" of the Scripture of Won Buddhism

"All

are Incarnations of Truth-Buddha; Do Each Thing as an Offering of l4/orsh ip to the Buddha."

There is nothing in the universe that is not a Buddha;hence by doing all things as an offering to the Buddha, one is to requite the Four Graces and thereby to realize gneat virtue. In this lies the realistic way

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of offerings to the Buddha. To realize that everywhere is the Buddha is to see one's own nature; this leads to ,the right enlightenment, resulting in wisdom

lprajnal.

To do everything as an offering to the Buddha is to realize Buddhahood;this is to do the right things, resulting in blessings. Il-won is none other than the Four Graces; Requital of Graces is nothing other than making offerings to the Buddha. Similar ideas are found in such statements as: Man is heaven; Serve man as heaven;Treat others as gods.

2. 3.

Three Great Ways of Offering to the Buddha

Offering to the Buddha without sparing one's own life. Offering to the Buddha through abstinence and ascetic practices. Offering to the Buddha by doing various charitable works.

fiL

"hactice n@ditation Continually; hactice Meditation Everywhere. " This way of ch'an helps one attain the complete freedom of mind because it can keep the mind constant and uniform in all places and at dl times, whether one is motion or in Quietness. Thus this is the way of living ch'an.

l. 2. 3.

Stop the mind from being perturbed as often as possible until the mind attains the power of samhdhi (calmness and serenity of the mind). Guard the mind against being perturbed by setting a check point. Roll your thoughts until you attain the power of prajni (wisdom, a thorough contemplation like a well-polished mineral). Train the mind to do the right and to discard the wrong until the power of SiIa [precept keeping] is attained. Your conduct should be like a personal check that will not be dishonored.

This is the correct and short way of disciplining oneself constantly with one's whole heart to attain the three great powers [of samddhi, prajnh,3rJa]

The Method of Incessant Meditation in Motion and in Quietness

When the six roots [five senses and the mind] are free from work, exclude worldly thoughts and cultivate the One Mind (sam5dhi); and when the six roots are at work, exclude the unrighteous and cultivate the righteous.

How to Guard and Nourish the One Mind in Motion and in Qgietness.

stepping on thin ice in a deep lake.

2. Be watchful over yourself when alone. 3. Guard the mind against falling into evil and correct the dispositions. 4. Have no depraved thoughts. 5. Do not let the mind off guard: do not let the mind become perturbed. 6. Do not be irreverent toward anything. 7 . Keep the One Mind from disturbance. 8. Be scrupulous and attentive. 9. Ordinary mind is the Way.

10. Be harmonious with

others without losing the identity of the Bodhisattva; be in samadhi in motion and in quietness.

IV. "Keep Such Oneness in Motion

and

in Quietness. "

When the One Mind functions, its discriminations are without attachment; when the One Mind is at rest, its mental functions are in due course. This is like naga's gireat samEdhi. NEga is a sanskrit term meaning dragon. NEga and mahdndga are titles of the Buddha. Dragons are regarded as beneficent, bringing the rains and guarding the heavens; they control rivers and lakes, and hibernate deeply. So naga's samidhi means the calmness of this hibernation.]

In Motion : Discipline the undisturbedness of mind in motion In Quietness: Discipline heedfulness in quietness. You should develop a mind which guards itself against carelessness. Cultivation of the One Mind in Motion and in Quietness:

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In Motion

Keep calmness in clear awareness. This is the ch'an of motion and the same as the samddhi realized in motion. This is the same as the honest mind, not being irreverent, and marvelous existence [the incomprehensible spiritual absolute, as contrasted with the superficid reality of phenomenal. In Quietness: Keep alert in quietude [quiet illumination]. This ch'an is in quietness smadhi realized at rest, calmness of One Mind, no depravedness in thought and true void [sunyaa]. "You shoulcl develop a mind which does not abide in anything." [from the Diamond Sutra]

"Maintain the FuIl Oneness of the Spirit and the Body."

By keeping mind and body in integration one can attain both blessings and wisdom. The spiritual life should be improved by keeping

precepts tSila ] , keeping calmness [samidhi ] and maintaining wisdom lprajnl] ; the physical life should be improved by improving clothing, food, and housing. These six items should be improved simultaneously. This is the way to keep both mind and body alive and to make both morality and technology keep pace with each other.

VI. "Buddhrst Truth rs Found in Life; Life is Buddhr'stTruthltself." One is to live eternally in the Buddhagrace, redizing the Buddha dharma in daily life by modernizing and popularizing the Buddha dharma [uuth] . By realizing Buddha dharma in daily life, one is to make life this is done by requiting the graces with one's whole heart. and bright; By realizing life as none other than Buddha dharma, one is to practice Buddha dharma in daily life; and this is done by requiting the graces wholeheartedly. These ideals aim to establish a religion that can be practiced in daily life.

The Significance of the Buddha-Enshrinement (Enshrinement of the Mind-Buddha): We enshrine the Buddha in order to worship. and we worship the Buddha in order to become living Buddhas. A living Buddha realizes the Buddhahood in daily life:

WON BUDDHISM

The Founding Motive of Won Buddhism

The statement that we ought to unfold the spirit since the matter is about to unfold itself is the motto with which the gneat master Sotaesan opened the gate of this religion. From ancient times it has been said that an old world is replaced by a new one unsurpassable in human history when the old heaven and earth are replaced with new ones. This does not mean that a new heaven and a new earth open after the destruction of the old ones. It rather means by "opening of heaven" that human mind improves in accordance with the flowering improve-

ment of spirituql and moral culture. By "splitting the earth open" is meant that material life gets better in accordance with the development of technological and material civilization. While material civilization alone had progressed, the human spirit to use its result had become so weak as to be its slave; thus it hadbecome inevitable for a new religion to arise. It was at this time that the great master, Sotaesan, upon his great enlightenment, had an insight into the grand turning point of the opening of a new heaven and earth. As the ground for new spiritual culture, he asserted the faith in a truthful religion and the discipline in a sound and practical morality. Firstly, the attitude of worshipping the heaven only was changed so as to worship the earth also; the spirit to respect paternity only was changed so as to respect maternity also; the tradition of esteeming a scholar official was changed so as to treat equally people of all occupations such as farmers, artisans, and merchants; the spirit of esteeming the legislators was changed so as to treat administrators and the judiciary equally. Heaven and earth, parents, brethren, and law were rendered as the objects of worship without any gradations among them. The innovations advocated by the grreat master Sotaesan penetra[e also through social systems. The tendency to depend on someone else for living was to be replaced by the spirit of self-reliance. The only discrimination allowed was between the wise and the foolish, abandoning all other, unreasonable, discriminations; The selfishness to educate one's own children only was changed to an altruistic attitude to educate the children of others as well. The selfishness to make only one's own Iife prosperous was to be changed to an altruistic attitude to make all human beings prosperous as well. Secondly, the limited faith of the past in one object was to be changed to an integrated faith in the whole; the eccentric faith of

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self-reliance and that of other-reliance were changed to be an integrated

faith of both. Eccentric and partial discipline was replaced with the integrated disciptine of the Threefold Learnings. -Emphasis was put on b;iti worship and discipline. Both spirit and body were made to keep Iioth discipline and daily life were to be carried ;;; 'out *itt each other. simultaneously. A way was shown to discipline in motion and at

the great master Sotaesan has opened-t-le gate of a new heaven and earth and provided a wide p_ath to build a [oundless paradise into which all sentient beings will be delivered from the world of spiritual illness.

r6t. By these reformations,

** The Fundamental Ideals of the Five Great Sages

The Buddha's ideal lies in the great compassion of equality and the grreat enlightenment. Lao-tiu's ideal lies in the great naturalness and emancipation, and the teaching of no'action Jesus' iieal lies in the universal sacrifice and love, and the teaching of meekness. Confucius' ideal lies in the practice of Middle Way, and the teaching j jen of - [humanity, benevolence] and [righteousness]. Soiaesan's' ideal lies in lJwonism of great perfection, and universalism.

One of the disciples asked the Great Master, "What may we call the great WaY?" The Great Master replied, "The Way which all people can follow is called the univeisal great Way, and the Way which only a few people can follow is called the narrow Way. The fundamen' tal teaihings of I|-Won, the Four Graces and the Four Essentials, and the Tlireefold Learnings and the Eight Articles of our Order .r. to be taught to and can be practiced by all people. Therefore, these teachings are called the great way." From "On Doctine" of the Scrrp ture of Won Buddhism

The Life and Thought of Ven. Soongsan by Dr. Kim Sam-Yong

One year and a half have passed since Ven. Soongsan entered Nirvana. He left a great mark on his age and oaWon Buddhist history. His achievements in the Won Buddhist Order and in the education of the students of Wonkwang University are so gireat that they will be long remembered and cherished in our mind. Park Kil-Chin, Ven. Soongsan, was born the eldest son of the Gieat Master, Park Chung-Bin, Ven. Sotaesan, the founder of Won Buddhism, in Youngkwang, Chonnam, Korea. Influenced by the close relationship of blood and Dharma with his father, the incumbent saint, he accustomed himself to meditation from childhood. His truth-seeking temper was evident throughout his adolescent years, including seodang (Korean traditional school for children) and highschool. Encountering the 'new western sciences, different from Korean classical learning, in his early school days, he decided to engage himself in politics at one time, but changed his mind in favor of his stronger religious passion, and preoccupation with the ultimate reality and lives cycling through birth and death. In L937, he entered the Department of Oriental Philosophy at Dongyang University in Japan to get down to learning in earnest. While studying abroad, he devoted himself to reading a wide range of classics and surveying both western and eastern philosophers. He was also fascinated by literature and art. He met with many religious Ieaders to discuss the ultimate problems related to truth, and life in general:

After returning to his Won Buddhist origins, his wanderings through the worlds of philosophy developed into establishing his religious subjection to the Great Master's teachings. On the basis of his selfenlightenment to ll-Won-Sang Truth, he started in religious life as an educator and devotee of Won Buddhism for the Won Buddhist Order and l4/onkwang University. In other words, he realized his lofty ideals in the realities of life, thus bringing into bloom the personal IL-Won World. His life as an educator and l4/on Buddhism devotee and truthseeker inspires us

with

a feeling

grreat reverence.

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Il-Won Philosophy

The thought of Ven. Soongsan can be defined as "Il-Won Philosophy." It is composed of his religious search for Truth, the philosophy of eastern and western societies and a wide range of learning. His article, "On ll-Won-Sang" (1967) well represented his thoughts and studies so far, and also provided a guidepost for his future life. "Il-Won Philosophy," the major topic of the article, means belief in ll-Won-Sang Truth and its practice in our daily lives, and the essence of l4/on Buddhist doctrine which Ven. Sotaesan tried' to teach all his life. Ven. Soongsan grrasped the essence of ll-Won-Sang as having the following qualities: endless circulation, eternity without beginning or end, absoluteness beyond all discrimination, roundness not Iacking in anything, and the one and only linking all existence. It was clear to him that such an insight is attained by a "metaphysical desire to be awakened to the Truth" and by existential meditation. Another reason to pay much attention to his philosophy is that his "Il-Won Philosophy" opened a new horizon for the explanation of l4/on Buddhist doctrine. The first attempt to annotate the main tenets of the Great Master's philosophy was made by Ven. Chongsan, the first successor to the Great Master. While the approach of Ven. Chongsan can be thought of as the deep understanding and practice of Ven. Sotaesan. Ven. Soongrsan generalized the thought on the basis of his broad and deep study. According to him ,ll-Won-Sang Truth is nothing other than the Tao commonly pursued in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the traditional oriental schools of thought in common with the "Only Being" consistently studied in western philosophy. In the Scrrpture of Won Buddhism, four questions about ll-Won' Sang asked by him are introduced in the chapter. "On Doctrine": (1) "How is ll-Won-Sang related to human beings?" (2) "How do we practice our faith in the Truth of, Won?" (3) "How do we practice the morality of ll-Won-Sang?" (4) "Then does the very form of. Il-Won' Srng, drawn on that flat board, preserve the Truth, the great power, and the way of study?" The answers by the Great Master provide the basis for the ll-Won Philosophy. The essence of the answers are, respectively: (I) We worship IJ-W on-Sang (the Perfect Circle) with the same spirit as that with which traditioni buadhism worships the Buddha image . Won Buddhism chose the Truth of ll-Won-Sang as the standard of our real life and

WON BUDDHISM I I

of the two entrances to the way of faith and the way of moral practice. (2) The way is to believe in the Truth of l4lon as our object of faith and to pray for all blessedness and happiness frorn the Truth. I|-Won-Sang is composed 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. (3) We set ll-Won-Sang as the standard of moral practice and follow the Truth of lL-Won-Sang to as an explanation

cultivate our personality. (4) People who practice the Law must see the real Truth of ll-Won through the /l-!t/on-Sang, the symbol of ll-Won.

Ven. Soongsan's View of Religion

His unique view of religion is based on the IJ-I,t/on Philosophy. He left no systematic writings on religion, but by uniting the fragmentary remarks, we can amive at some conclusions. First, a desirable religion, he thought, must be helpful to human Iives rather than simply be Buddha Truth, for the sake of the times, everyday life and ordinary people. Concerning this view, he said that Tao is not superhumanism and inhuman. Tao is always part of the prosperity of heaven and earth, so that there should exist life enhancing activities and development. Tao apart from life in disregard of this cannot be viewed as noble and lofty. From this viewpoint, Ven. Soongsan warned us of the danger of disregarding human duties and entering the mountains to seek the Truth, emphasizing only mystic meditation. He encouraged his followers to practice Buddha Dharma in their actual lives. His strong intention was to build an ideal life integrating body and spirit, and casting aside the more traditional attitude of Buddhism, i.e. standing aloof from the trivialities of life. Such a feeble religion, he believed, when confronting politics and science, could not lead the modern world. Of course, it does not mean catering to popular taste, but rather "transcending but not neglecting the world." It is for this reason that Ven. Soongsan emphasized a pure and undefiled attitude in the religious life. Second, he insisted that religious teaching should be simple and plain in order for religions not to leave the real world. This was also based on the spirit of Ven. Sotaesan, that Right Law must be a way everybody can practice. The real meaning of this lies in the idea that the transmission of Tao itself must not be complicated. It does not refer to simplicity of meaning itself. According to him, the so-called

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Right Law should be formed on the basis of the essential ways of humanity into a more perfect, easier style than the old prejudiced and difficult one, so that all people may enter the great Way without any difficulties. If one seeks the Law apart from the mundane, or tries to attain only supernatural power, ignoring the way of humanity, one is seeking an unrighteous way.

Third, Ven. Soongsan did not mean one should indulge oneself in daily life itself, but emphasized the transcendental mind, or the mind delivered from all attachments, as in Son (Zen) Buddhism. And he was sure that only the teachings based on the original nature can open our closed minds. He said that a religion which does not teach about Nature is not a perfect religion because Nature is the origin of all Laws and the basis of all Principles. No matter how well built the doctrine such a religion may have, it only adds confusion, never opening up the closed minds of human beings. On the other hand, study rooted in Nature can guarantee real freedom. The freedom acquired from Nature never makes one become attached to objects, and breaks down all discrimination and walls between religion and mankind, uniting them into one world from every direction. Ven. Soongsan also accepted corhmunication, or dialogue, as the most important way to get at the Truth.

3. Educational Philosophy An element we cannot omit in the thoughts of Ven. Soongsan is his philosophy of education. His philosophy is well represented in the school motto of Wonkwang University-Integration of Intelligence with Wisdom, the Practice of Justice, and Morality. This motto aims at fostering able minds with knowledge, virtue and wisdom to build whole personalities. His view has much in common with the Threefold Learning of Iflon Buddhism-Cultivation of Spiritual Stability. Study of Facts and hinciples, and Selection of Right Conduct. It is on this basis that his philosophy is sometimes called "Human Education." He would say, "Before acquirini; knowledge and techniques, you must become real men and women. If persons don't fulfill their duties as human beings, I wonder whether they can be called persons. Originally men and women are born with good nature, but the dark cloud of covetousness shades that nature. Therefore, we must recover the original goodness and practice it in everyday life. This is the way of

true humanity.

As is well known by the above saying, it follows that the mission and essence of education is to restore the origindl face of Nature and make it the basis of an affirmative recognition of the Nature. This idea comes from the founding spirit of "Yuil Hak<rim" (predecessor of Wonkwang University) as promulgated by Ven. Ch1ngsan; "The only object is to deliver mankind and cure the disease in this world. The only activity is selfless devotion to mankind. The only achievement is the construction of an ll-Won World." In conclusion, Ven. Soongsan's educational ideal is the construction of a happy garden in this world through a firm belief in Original Nature, and developing this ideal with intelligence and morality. The Great Master spoke to those assembled at a monasterv, "The regular training at a monastery may cause beginners to feel uncomfortable and restricted while following exclusively the required courses of meditation. However, there will not be a more comfortable or more pleasant life than this when you become proficient at it, arid your mind and body gradually become disciplinsd. Hence, examine your mind to determined whether you are leading a hard or comfortable life while you follow the daily required courses. Those who feel monasterial life to be hard and troublesome have not sufficiently divested themselves of the Karma accumulated in worldly life. For those who do find the monasterial life pleasant, the door to attainment of Buddhahood is gradually opened." The Great Master said, "The degnee of sincerity with which one manages affairs depends on whether or not one knows the relationship between the work and oneself. For instance, the reason one earnestly drives oneself to earn money for food and clothing is that one knows that food and clothing are indispensab1e to life; the reason one who is sick is sincere in seeking medical treatment is that one knows it has a vital relationship to the maintenance of health; the reason a student is sincere in the effort to learn. From "On Moral hactice" of the Scripture of Won Buddhr'sm

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The Disease of Society and the Role of Religion

by &ofl Yang Hyun-Soo The modern societies are now experiencing more serious cultural shock than ever before in the spiritual history of mankind. Even though the process of modernization has its rocit in rationality, it seems thatit has lost its basis. Here the question "What does the ieligion mean to persons in the industrial society if anything?" is raised. Modernization is closely associated with development of high technology, various organizations, industrialization anh urbanizatio-n. When discussing the relationship between modernization and religiqn. I think it is useful to start with Max Weber's great work "The Pr6testantic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism." The point of this work was that, in the background of modernization, especially industrialization in the western world, the renovation of popular ethic sustained it. What's more, this popular ethic was consistently related to the tradition and renovation of western religion, i.e., Christianity, and led by it. Maybe such a view would be helpful to grrasping the process of modernization in Korea. The problem is, however, that only a religious view can grasp the situation in modern industrialized society.PeoplL,whether they be influenced by religions or not, have been gradually estranged from it. This phenomenon is in direct proportion tt the dct that ihe domain of religion has shrunk. Humanity, relatively diminished by the prevailing materialism in the gigantic industrial society cannot yet find a new morality to which it will become subject. It is said that man is the lord of all creation. This means, in other words, that the huge mass of the world, without human beings, is no more that an empty crust, and if people suffer from disease in the spiritual sense, the lustrous decorated earth is merely a polluted environment. The materialistic society, lacking spiritual dlvelopment, can be called.a diseased society.

The Disease Phenomena of Society

The diseased society refers to the community where sociil diseases are aggravated and structural evils are built in without reflection. Con-

sidering the present situation, wâ&#x201A;Ź need to look at modern society. Urbanization and rapid economic development have brought gneat change in the social structure and philosophical outlook of the Korean people. A conspicous social change in the midst of rapidly industrializing society is the drift of population. As industrialization proceeds on a large scale, people resident in rural ereas are compelled to move to large cities to meet the demand for a labor supply. This results in the division of social functions. Consequently, as traditional local communities are confronted with disorganization, the foundations of religion are also shaken. The traditional controlling power of religion can no longer bind the individual to cultural and social restraints. Children have no chance of being socialized by religion. The simple belief that the religious experience creates a sense of value is not accepted anymore by modern society. In such a cultural environment, there exist the social systems of Gemeinschaft and GeseJlschaft as described by Weber. A good example of the former is an agricultural society, while an exampie of the latter would be an industrial society. Agricultural society still values humaneness and harmony. A moral senie among family members and mutual assistance among villagers are emphasized as ethical norms. But efficiency is cherished most in industrial society and it may be that all factors which hamper efficiency should, as a matter of fact, be eliminated. But scientific proofs are presented that men,even in modern society, cannot abandon friendly human relations. It is now confirmed that "gemeinschaftlich" relations played an important role in promoting unity and morale in the workplace. It is, therefore, not necessary for us to pattern only after the Western "gemeinschaftlich" human relations. The advanced capitalist so_ciety shows the trend to seek the "gemeinschaftlich" in order to be free from the shackless of heartless " Gesellschaft.

The "mass society" governed by inhuman bureaucratism deepens a sense of alienation and other pathological phenoma. Extreme egoism muddies the distinct moral standard between good and evil, and right and wrong, promoting us instead to follow lustrous superficials. MJny persons believe that money is everything in life, playing down to

people's secular taste. _ The great losses made

in the war arb almost unimaginable. If the human lives and material wasted-both spent and used unnecessarilyhad been spent and used productively or necessarily, human society

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would have been and would be far different from what was and is. Nevertheless, powerful and wealthy nations are still all out to waste and to be prepared to waste further, their manpower and material in the competition for increased armanents. It is easily imaginable that another world war would not fail to result in the unthinkable waste of the entire world. A great part of the history of the human race is a story of homicide and exploitation. Modern science has enabled mankind to annihilate itself at any moment, allowing superpowers to compete to make more and more sophisticated killing weapons. International and intra-national politics are practised not so much in a human way as in an inhuman way. A superpower nation can be said to be no more than a potent super killer. We are afraid that the time may come when human society will be renamed inhuman society. Humanity is now seriously at stake. Ven. Sotaesan detected social disease early and was deeply concerned about it. Seeing through the chronic disease of society, he said that the more higher eivilization developed outwardly, the more the world would come to suffer inwardly from disease deeply rooted in the world. According to him, the diseases affecting the world are: (1) money (2) ungrateful mind (3) dependent mind (4) indifference to learning (5) inattention to teaching, and (6) lack of public spirit. In opposition to the social diseases, Ven. Sotaesan made an analysis of them. The remedies against these diseases are nothing other than teaching people-morality, self-satisfaction with what they are, finding benefaction, independence, and positive attitudes toward learning and teaching. At the present time, systematic devices are keenly needed for the completion of personality and realization of social welfare alike. I believe that religion will pave the way for such devices.

The Present Object of Religion

Through the analysis of modern societies, we are confronted with two pending tasks in modern religion. The first is the recovery of the sacred domain that enables religion to endure. The second task is to restore the influencing power to carry out social roles. Firstly, we must recognize the nature of religion. The recovery of religious identity in the fundamentally changed society today well provides us with a source of life. While we feel keenly the necessity of the religious experience of the ultimate reality, the wisdom of generaliz-

WON BUDDHISM 17

ing it is also apparent. Religious.people have to show that the spiritual innerworld does exist. This also will serve the standard to distinguish secular from holy action, and lessen the retardation of spiritual civilization. Secondly, the most important social role of religion is to offer a source of life to diseased society. Originally the prime mission of religion. is spiritual' salvation. When this mission is brought into a ro.irty, it has the effect of social renovation through spiritual cultivation in each person. This also implies that religions should erect embankments of the common good against the structural evils. The question of whether human nature is originally good or evil is very difficult to answer because the two are on a par with each other in their achievements. From an absolutist viewpoint, it may be needless or meaningless to make such a division, as Ven. Sotaesan pointed out, by saying that there is nothing good or bad in the Original Natureonly thinking makes it so. By the woy, one thing we must remember is that human relationship coexists with each other. If he is alone, unrelated with others, he will be simply reduced to animality. Ven. Sotaesan says that if one wishes to know how much one is favored by the Four Graces-of Heaven and Earth, Parents, Brethren and Law, then one has only to reflect on whether one can have one's being without them. One will soon teabze that existence without them is an impossibility. The ways presented by Ven. Sotaesan to cure social disease have their foundation in this doctrine of the Four Graces-a philosophy of human relationships. All persons in charge of leading society should recognize their responsibility to make society a more harmonious community on the basis of religious principles stressing social salvation-especially the improvement of human relations.

920

92t WON BUDDHISM WON BUDDHISM 19

Historica! Approach to Buddha-body of won Buddhism by Mr. Sung Il-Ho

More than 2,500 years have already passed since sakyamuni

Puddha passed away. In Buddhist history, ovei this vast extent of time, there have been many changes, developments and adaptations to the times. The philosophical contents of Buddhism have beln enriched by these changes. Here I am especially interested in the theory of buddhi-

body as the main manifestation of Buddhism in its historical aspects. Before going into detail, I think it's better to make mention of Buddha image to understand the buddha-body theory. It is said that the earliest image of the Buddha appeared in the Kusana Kingdom. At that time Buddha images were shown with plain, simple nionk's robes-without adornments. With the seventh century there rose a new lind 9f Buddha image, the "Adorned Buddha." This type of Adorned Buddha was particularly popular in Southeast Asia,.eveiling the belief that Buddha sometimes appeared as universal monarch, a manifestation of Buddha. Etymologically, the sanskrit word buddha means "one who has awakened". In the Indian religions it is used as an honorific title for an individual who is enlightened. The buddha denotes not merely the individual incumbent but also a larger conceptual framework. guaaha has been used to describe a broad spectrum of persons, from specific persons to those who have had transforming and liberating insighis into the nature of reality. Buddhist have, in general, employed thjterm in

this second, stronger sense. The early Buddhists may not have immediately applied the term buddha to the person-historical Gautama. However, bnce the term buddha was adopted, it was not only the primary designation for Gautama but also assumed a central role within the basic structure of Buddhist thought and practice. As an appellative term utilized in classical Buddhist contexts, buddha has had three distinct, yet interwoven, levels of meaning. It has referred, first of all, to what we call "the Buddha"-otherwise known as the Sakyamuni Buddha. The second level of meaning associated with buddha as an appellative term has to do with "other buddhas." Many

of different times and places are named in Buddhist literature. Finally, the term buddha has the third meaning that provides its widest conceptual context. This view is constituted by the recognition that the Buddha and other Buddhas are, in a very profound sense, identical with ultimate reality itself. The term Buddhahood has sometimes given somewhat depersonalized meaning to the notions of the buddhas. Early Buddhists, reluctant to depict Gautama in human forms, liked to use impersonal and symbolic representation to express their perception of the guddha. In some later traditions, this third level of meaning was expressed through the formation of the concept of dharmakaya, the source of more personalized manifestations of Buddhahood. Quite early, Sakyamuni Buddha is perceived as one of several Buddhas in a series that began in the distant past. According to the conceptions that are closely related with notions concerning previous Buddhas, the appearance of a Buddha in this world is determined not only by his own spiritual efforts but also by other circumstances. There can be only one Buddha in a particular world at a given time, and no Buddha can arise until the teachings of the previous Buddha have completely disappeared. The belief in a future Buddha played an important role in "Maiteya Belief." According to the Maitreyan mythology that has been diffused throughout the entire world, the future Buddha, who was on6'of Sakyamuni Buddha's disciplils, now dwells in Tusita Heaven, awaiting the appropriate moment to be reborn on earth where he will inaugurate an'era of peace, prosperity, and salvation. The wish to be reborn in the presence of Maitreya, whether in Tusita Heaven or when he is reborn among humans, has been a sustaining hope of many Buddhists in the past. Korea has also paid much attention to Maitreya, in part because Buddhism was introduced on the peninsula at a time when the Maiteya cult was at the pinnacle of its importance in China. Since Maitreya practice was one of the first to be introduced. Korea held it in high esteem and continued to do so long after Chinese interest in the tradi' tional aspects of Maitreya had died. . In the chapter of "On Doctrine" of the Scripture of, Won Buddhism, Ven. Sotaesan declared the relationship between Shakyamuni B,iddha and Dharm akaya Buddha. According to him, we can worship Dharmakaya Buddha as the symbol of the Truth and Sha kyamuii Buddhas

922

923 WON BUDDHISM

Buddha as the original Teacher. It foltows that we can worship equally the Dharmakaya Buddha and the Rupal<aya Buddha. He supplemented his view on buddha-body by'saying that Dharmakaya and Shakyamuni are identical when considered from the point of view of the Truth without discrimination. It is important to note that Buddhist usage has always held the three levels of meaning closely together, with the result that each level has had a continuance in the others. Thus, even though a disconnection between the different denotations of buddha is helpful for purposes of interpretation and understanding, it cannot be drawn too sharply. Ven. Sotaesan also has it that such a classified e:<planation is just only when based upon the distinction of dharmakaya and Shakyamuni. Ven. Sotaesan holds that all physical phenomena are just the manifestation of the source, dharmakaya, but does not stay on the conceptual insight. He further develops the idea into the practical method of' belief. He says, "In teaching people it is difficult to actually prove that the Buddha image itself is the source of our blessedness and punish: ment, but ll-Won-&.ng (One Circle) is the symbol of Dharmakaya Buddha. Heaven and Earth, parents and brethren are its incarnations. It is with this spirit that we worship ll-Won-Sangr as our object of faith." As shown in this saying, Won Buddhism uses the symbol of One Circle for representing Dharmakaya Buddha more illustratively. Although the Korean traditional Buddhist order pays little attention to Maitreya, the laity of Korea refuse to let Maitreya fade from their religious practice. One disciple asked Ven. Sotaesan, "A number of people are anxious to see the coming of Maitreya Buddha, and the establishment of the Yonghwa ("dragonflower") Order in this world. kay tell me about thbm." He answered, "Maitreya Buddha symbolizes the Truth of Dharmakaya Buddha, who is to come forth. The Dragonflower Order stands for the world that is perfectly bright. In other words, it is the world where the teaching'All are incarnations of TruthBuddha; do each things as an offering of worship to the Buddha', is widely practised In Won Buddhism, the status of Maitreya is elevated to Buddha from bodhisattava. In a word, the world where Maitreya descends is rife with the real meaning and practice of Dharmakaya, leading to the Yonghwa Order, the widely spread belief in Korea. To conclude, the view on buddha-body is consistent with the traditional Buddhist thought. On the basis of trikaya ("three bodies") theory, Dharmakaya

WON BUDDHISM 2I

Buddha, with the new but traditional symbol of ll-Won-Sang (One Circle), is worshipped as the object of belief and the standard of religious practice. But Won Buddhism never rejects the Buddha as rupakaya, but rather, regards Shakyamuni Buddha as the antecedent of the Law of Won Buddhism. Ven. Sotaesan makes clear his intention to establish the grreat and perfect religious Order with Buddha Dharma as the central principle.

The Great Master said, " In doing anything in the world, we must know first of all what is fundamental and what is incidental, what is primary and what is secondary. If we try to put emphasis on the fundamental things first, the incidental things will naturally be successful. On the other hand, if we put emphasis on incidental things only, we will naturally become ignorant about the fundamental things. And also, if we understand the primary things and place emphasis on them, the secondary things will become successful. But if we only seek after the secondary things, we will become ignorant about the primary things. For example, in mankind the mind is fundamental and the body is incidental. In the world, morality is fundamental and science is incidental. One who is able to discriminate between fundamental and incidental things and between primary and secondary things. can be called one who knows the Way. Only such a one will be able to lead the world into a righteous Way." From "The of Humanity" of the Scripture of Won Buddhr'sm

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WON BUDDHISM

WON BUDDHISM 23

On the Sudden Awakening of Ch'an School in Dharma Teaching

of the Mind Ground

by Dr. Han Ki-Doo

The Ch'an School's Seeking for the Sudden Awakening

The Patriarch, Bodhidharma, who qame from the westqrn area in what is today India, had a fresh effect upon Chinese traditional society, and is regarded as the founder of the Ch'an School. The Ch'an School is significant, as it began a great renovation of traditional Ch'an thought. The primary characteristic of the Ch'an School was its stress upon awakening, or enlightenment, as the dominant principle in the remaking of actuality in terms of one's awareness of self-nature. A considerable amount of ideological controversy and internal struggle accompanied the spread of Ch'an. The ideological disputes in the early days of the development of Ch'an can be generally characterized as follows: First, there was a controversy beiween the doctrines of proponents of the two ways of attaining the truth, i.e. enlightenment. One way was through SengChou's (â&#x201A;Ź,[E) Habit Ch'an (Htttr), (Tien-taj school X6fi), the other through the two entrances and four disciplinary processes to which Bodhidharma's hajna Ch'an ( ftft#4i$) belonged since his period. Second, as is generally known, there was a controversy between Pu-chj ($ffi ) of the northern school (JtH) and Shen-hui ( ffi@.) of the southern school (ffi-H), involving differences of perspective, and the direction of teaching, dating from the period of the latter. While an important renovation of Ch'an thought occurred between them in its early days, by that time the foundation of Chhn thought was already well-established. The point at issue in the thought of that period centered around one's grasp of the main objectives: Sudden Awakening (fiFl-*), and Seeing the Nature ( E,'14). The way to lead all sentient bLings to attain Sudden Awakening and Seeing the Nature is precisely the bharma teaching of the Mind-Ground. Giving Hui-go (ffirT) the four volumes of the Deung-Chia Sutra (Eflmffi) , Bodhidharma said, "This is Tathagatha's Dharma teaching of

the Mind-Ground. Enlighten all sentient beings to this." The Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground was passed from Bodhidharma to HuiNeng (ffiAC), and from Hui'Neng to Ma-Tsu (,Emg), Pai-Chang (tr't), Huang-Po (ffi#) and Lin-Chi (HHE).AU of these men are significant figures in the historical development of the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground. The Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground is freQuently apt to be regarded as being generalized words without a special character. It can be praised highly for having sought a variety and an inclusiveness of thought such as developed by the Ch'an School. What, then, is the real meaning of the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground, and what are its contents? Though such a question cannot be answered both fully and briefly, the basic thought of the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground leads to Sudden Awakening and Seeing the Nature, and transmitting the mind of the Ch'an School.

il. The Dharma

Teaching

the Mind-Ground

in the Southern

Schoo] of Ch'an

Kuei-Feng Tsung ltti (+il4*ffi,780-84I), who is the Dharma of Ho-Tse Shen Hui (ffitrim'S', 670-762), spo{<e frankly of the Ch'an Dharma as the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground. Consequently, Kuei-Fei Tsung Mi showed that the content of their thought, which was attained through the seven Dharma successors, would be the C hu n g -Hu a - Ch u an -H si n -T i -Ch an -M e n - Shih -T zu -Che n g -Hsi- Tu ( * +ffi U.AU ilHPTBmHAHtr ). His view of the succession of the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground was carried forward by, and centered in, the southern Ch'an School. The Hsin -Ti-Kwan Sutra (,L.flUffif$) attributes the original words of Mind-Ground to such references as "Tri]oka (=51), the Three Realms is only one mind by which all things come into being just as the great earth comes into being. So mind is the ground of all things." So says the Fan-Mang Sutra (ffifiHfg). . An article of Hui-Neng in a collection of Tsu-Tang (rfltrâ&#x201A;Ź) presents the following: Hui-Neng, Ch'an master, always said to his disciples, "Don't doubt that your own mind is Buddha. You are capable of creating your own mind without depending on anything from outside. It is through reason that original mind produces' all things."

.successor

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927 WON BUDDHISM

He continues, Therefore, the Buddhist scripture says that all things come into existence when onefs mind comes into being and all things vanish when one's mind is extinguished. Keep a state of Samadhi in which hate and love, acceptance and rejection, are repressed, in which the mind reaches an undivided state anchored in quiet calmness ( ffiffi), and the realization that the nature of all Buddhas is the same

Some seeds in the earth begin to sprout and bear fruit when it rains. Then, both the bud and the fruit are contained in the seed, just as a state of Samadhi, in which mind is alive vrrth no restlessness, reveals itself. .Your Buddha nature must be as the buds of the seeds in the earth just as if my Dharma teachings were benevolent rain on the earth. Here is Buddhist rain of benevolence to bring out the bud.

A person who has perceived my words can be sure of attaining Buddha-' hood, and so can one who has imitated my practice by all means obtain saintfruits. My intention in delivering the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground instead of cassock and almsbowl, is to lead all persons to realize that only through belief in self-mind can one become a Buddha. Hui-Neng continued speaking to his chief disciple, "The Mind-Ground includes various potentialities, wherein suitable Dharmateaching brings Buddhahood into being. It is natural that the Buddhahood fruit should ripen when a flower of sudden awakening has unfolded." As stated above to Hui-Neng, the central meaning of Ch'an is the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground. Accordingly, the Platform Sutra of Hui-Neng (Xrflreffi) focused on grasping the origin of Mind-Ground (,L',fiU), since he spoke. of a disciplinary platform without abiding mind (tr+EfrrH ) as a discipiinary platform of Mind-Ground without abiding mind. So as to gain perspective on the practice of Three Learnings between the northern and southern schools of Ch'an, Hui-Neng conversed with Chih-Cheng to explain the practical way of Three Learnings in terms of the teaching of the northern Ch'an School. Thereupon, Chih-Cheng (frff) answered as follows, "The prohibition of all evil is discipline, the purification of the mind is meditation, and thought in action which produces good is wisdom." Hui-Neng explained the Three Learnings correctly by criticizing Chih-Cheng's way of the Learnings as being centered on gradual practice. "Non-abidance of any evil in the Mind-Ground is the dis-

WON BUDDHISM 25

cipline of self-nature, nonabidance of any disturbance in the MindGround is the meditation of self-nature and non-abidance of foolishness in Mind-Ground is wisdom of self-nature." From this, it is apparent that Mind-Ground is made up of the Three Learnings of self-nature. In view of these facts, the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground can be summarized generally as follows: first, the Dharma teaching of MindGround is not only a Ch'an way of the Patriarch Dharma, but also a central meaning of the Ch'an of Hui-Neng; second, the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground is the content of transmitting mind since the succession of Dharma; Hui-Neng and Lin-Chi; third, the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground during the period of Hui-Neng is the content of preaching the Dharma of a disciplinary platform not abiding mind, and forms the foundation creating Dharmic seeds, flowers and fruits; and fourth, the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground is the principle of wholly building up the perfect Three Learnings of self-nature. So, in this light it can be seen that, following upon the thought of Hui-Neng, the Dharmateaching of the MindGround resulted in a controversy among Shen-Hui, his successor Tsung-Mi, and others of the southern Ch'an School. Shen-Hui's view of the Mind-Ground changed after he experienced some serious disputes during a grreat Hua-Ta (ffia) meeting with the northern Ch'an School. The Mind-Ground was held by the northern school to be the original state of one's nature, but Shen-Hui had thought of it as the knowledge enabling the perception of all things as well as being the sensitive, perceptive principle. Therefore, the knowledge can only have evolved in the absence of false thoughts, in Hui-Neng's interpretation. This is not wisdom acquired through meditation but grown spontaneously in the midst of one's nature, absent any false thoughts. Thus it became necessary to cultivate wisdom regardless of whether one practiced meditation. In summary, the following three outlines appear: (I) Such minds as solidifying mind,.abiding mind, rising mind and collecting mind accelerate evil passions and wild fancies, according to Shen-Hui's view. The riddance of those imperfect minds is the precise meaning and purpose of Ch'an. Its basis was the emptying of all thoughts from the mind, as asserted since the period of Hui-Neng. Herein is the first Chhn meaning of the teaching of theMind-Ground, as contended by the southern school. (2) Traditionally, the conquest of evil passions and wild fancies required one to replace them with pure thoughts and correct actions as

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WON BUDDHISM 27

WON BUDDHISM

counteractive measures. Shen-Hui, however, insisted on a more direct approach, vigorously extirpating the undesired states, holding that the other way allowed the obstinate passions and fancies to remain. ShenHui emphasized that it was the most natural and important to enter into the state free from all ideas and thoughts. (3) Shen -Hui maintained that Ch'an of the northern school was the way to wisdom through meditation, whereas that of the southern school was the way to the Three Learnings through cultivation of wisdom. So he placed great emphasis on knowledge and wisdom. Driven by the stress on knowledge, he explained it as the gate of all abstruse productions, as well as of divine knowledge in the void. He also stressed that knowledge should be the harmonized and balanced state between meditation and wisdom.He advocatedthewayof Sudden Awakening and Gradual Cultivation so as to acquire harmony and balance. Shen-Hu

i's Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground was well-known to those of the southern school, but to the extent that his reputation was that of a master of intellectual knowledge he was less respected. He criticized the Ch'an of the northern school as being nothing but gradual cultivation and counteractive measures (cf. Buswell 1983: 391). In turn he received criticism because of the problem of intellectual knowledge.

ru.

Criticism of Dharma Teaching of Mind'Ground by the Southern Ch'anSchoo]

g Hui Chung

(ffiEH,B, , ?'775), who held the highest rank of priest, criticized Shen-Hui's view of Ch'an. Volume twenty-eight of Chuan Teng Lu (6ffiffi) contains the following dialogue between NamYang Hui Chung and an unnamed Ch'an visitor, probably Shen-Hui's disciple. Nam Yang asked, "What kind of knowledge does the southern area have?" The Ch'an visitor answered, "There are several varieties of knowledge in that area." Nam Yang asked again, "How does the southern one teach people?" The visitor answered, "The southern priests teach that life and death of the disciple's flesh is transitory, but one's original nature is immortal, exempted from life and death. The original nature never changes even in mortal flesh, no more than a dragon migfrt bhange its Nam-Yan

bones depending on the season, to use a metaphor. It is the same as if a snake sloughs its skin, or a person moves to a new house." Nam Yang then spoke critically against the southern Ch'an master Shen-Hui's thought, "Then, it is no more thanSenikaism ( )." He especially deplored that the 6th patriarch Hui-Neng's right teaching had lost its prestige because it regarded Seeing, Hearing, Awakening and

fttrrlff

Knowing (Hffiffifu) as Buddhas nature, which wrongly added to the Platform Sutra of Hui-Neng. So Nam-Yang Hui Chungb criticism was that the southern school exemplified hy Shen-Hui had misinterpreted the Platform Sutra, and that the misinterpretation had three aspects: first, the misunderstanding of Seeing, Hearing, Awakening and Knowing as Buddha-Nautre; second,

the view of the flesh as mortal and the mind as immortal; and third, the assertion that all sentient beings (-91Hffi) had Buddha-Nature but

(-91ftffi) had no Buddha-Nature. Noting that, with the exception of Tun-Huang Book ( #trt ) in the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, most reference books contain two contradictions.in terms; with regard to the first aspect, Hui

all insentient beings

Cltung held that the absolute in self-nature produces thought, whereas eye, ear, nose and tongue by themselves cannot alone pr6duce sensation. Second, the rising mind of self-nattre exists never being affected or contaminated by any sense such as seeing, hearing, smelling and tasting, or by any external situation either. Third, Nam-Yang Hui Chung asserted that even insentient beings had Buddha nature, and preached the principle of the Dharma of insentient beings. Accordingly, Hui Chung defined his position to An-Ku o-Hsien-Ting (*WkW), the 6th successor of Niu-Tou School (+q*), as follows: "I don't belong to the southern school or the northern school of Ch'an. I am only of the Mind-School (ffi,L',Hf;)." His definition of his position clearly put more stress on Mind-Ground. In the Mind-School, the MindGround is the undivided state of mind and surroundings.

The Dharma Teaching of Mind-Ground and the Consciousness of Sudden Awakening in the School of Ma-Tsu

Kuei-Fei Tsung Mi, who tried to correct the Dharma system of Shen-Hui, was greatly critical of the Niu-Tou School and the HungChou School (*/l{ft ). He was interested in Ma-Tsu Tao Yi in particular, but he thought that even Ma-Tsu was of Hui-Neng's party (as seen in

93t

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WON BUDDHISM

Cheng-Hsi-Tu). But the Hung-Chou School centered around Ma-Tsu spread the movement of Patriarchal Ch'an (fflffifffi), which was contrary

to Tsung-Mi'stheory. Meanwhile, Ma-Tsu had been placing emphasis on Self-consciousof Mind-Ground, by means of being based on Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground as transmitted by the Patriarch Dharma. It is known that as Hui-Neng's disciple began delivering his Dharma verse with the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground, Huai-Jang (8ffi) answered, "MindGround contains all sorts of seeds, and makes it possible for every living being to sprout by dint of Dharmic rain and dew. The flower of Samadhi is no forms and no ideas, wherein there is no formation and no collapse." Instructing Ma-Tsu to learn the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground, Huai-Jang answered his disciple's question, "How do I use my mind?" Ma-Tsu, accentuating the truth that the mind itself is Buddha and the state of the normal mind is Tao, listened to Huai-Jang's Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground, delivering the following verse: "Mind-Ground can be preached suitably whenever one wants to. So can Bodhi. As phenomena are related to truth, so birth is non-birth." With an eye to realizing Mind-Ground through enlightening it, the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground emphasized normal mind using mind and mind-Buddha, as well as no mind and no Buddha. This emphasis resulted in Shen-Hui's proposal that normal mind was attained through the thoughtful practice of the great foundation, and by overcoming the limit of the thoughtless practice of the northern Ch'an School which overthrew all such minds as solidifying and abiding mind. Appreciation of that proposal requires sensible discrimination between delusion and enlightenment, apparently. Ma-Tsu said, "Delusion is a consequence of forgetting one's own original mind. On the other hand, enlightenment arises from recovering one's own original mind. It is evident that once one is awakened, enlightenment is permanent, in the absence of delusion. To use a metaphor, darkness disappears when the sun rises, and carnal desires also vanish when wisdom arises." Ma-Tsu's view, assuming a critical attitude toward Ho-Tse Shen-Hui's view of Sudden Awakening and gradual cultivation, emphasized sudden awakening and sudden cultivation as the way to achieve the state of permanent enlightenment which is the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground. Ma-Tsu thought that informal action without a formal way of ness

WON BUDDHISM 29

cultivation was indeed pure Tathagatha Ch'an Kuei Feng Tsung Mi, "Even though worldly anxieties not be eliminated, the bodhi can be attained," from the Vimalakirti Sutra (fiff.B*E). After d[, Sudden Awakening is headed for the bright world, groping for the truth of an original enlightenment. It is possible to ignore gradual cultivation as meaningless. Did Ma-Tsu think gradual cultivation was of no use? He suggested the way of taming a cow, with the cow representing one's nature. He described the steps of practice to discipline oneself and see one's Nature. When he heard his disciples saying, "He pulls up the reins when the cow strays from the pasture," he made much of it. He recognized that, if it were true, he could not reject completely the way of gradual cultivation. He saw the necessity of gradual cultivation before being completely awakened to the Nature. Here Mind-Ground, in the Dharma teaching of the Mind-Ground, does not imply the complete state of mind. Just as the seed grows into flower and flower into fruit, the Mind-Ground finally achieves the great, round enlightenment. Huang-Po, following Ma-Tsu and Pai-Chang showed in his book Ch'uan Hsjn Fa Yao (ffi'L'EE), "The fundamental principles called here the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground implies that all Dharma and existence springs from the mind. By the wEy, this mind exists only in contact with outside phenomena. We cannot explain even a trace of mind without mind. The so-called Samadhi and Prajna can be expressed as Chi Chi Hsing Hsing (ffiffitE'lE), or Chao Yung ti ti(ffiHffiffi.). However, this style of recognition is the terminology of middle and low level seekers who interpret the world only in the context df external phenomena. The high level seekers can achieve the state in which being and external phenomena cease to be separate." As is well shown by the above passage, the Dharma teaching of Mind-Ground encompasses lower and middle as well as higher level seekers, from the novice to the enlightened one. In my opinion, the thought of sudden awakening and sudden cultivation concentrated on only the final state of the highest level.seeker, was the mainstream of Ch'an masters in the later years of the Sung Dynasty. Perhaps a shortcut to the solution of the problem is to attempt to cause the benevolent rain of Dharma to fall on the Mind-Ground of all sentient beings.

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933 WON BUDDHISM

WON BUDDHISM 3I

to word choice and readability of the second English edition. The title of the book was changed to The Scripture of Won Buddhism from the original title, The Canonical Textbook of Won given

News Corner

1. !p.:i4 Planning committee for the 3rd Generation of Buddhism Organized

won

Buddhism.

Special Planning Committee for the Srd Generation of Won Buddhism was organized Mg. 19, Igsg to,rgg.J;ew develop9n mental ideas and establish policies for the r.*i"g;"tion after years of won Buddhism. Ninetv expert members were ,.i;;r; ;;; all levels of the Won BuddhisrnOrder.

7. Wonkwang

Temple of JUon Buddhism Opened in Japan Temple of Won Buddhism opened and, Il-Won-Sang was enshrined on Mar. 28, I9BT , in Kanajawa, yokohama, Japan.

Cross-country Cycling Tour to Help the Children with Hearr Disease Four c?llggians of Department of won Buddhism, wKU, finished their 2,300km trip by cycles across the countrf'to raise subscriptions to the fund for the children suffering from heart disease. The tour lasted from Jul. l0 to Aug. g, LggT.

4. The 4th Revision

of llon Buddhist Code The General Meeting of Won Buddhism was held from Nov. I I to 18, l98T . The Meeting revised the won Buddhist code, composed of I chapters and 9I Articles, in which the term of the Prime Master is fixed for 6 years and the Prime Master can be

reelected only once.

5. The 7th Presentation

of won Buddhist Thoughts The 7th presentation me9ling of won Buddhist thoughts was held at the Dharma HalI of wKU-for two days on Jan. so-si, I9gg.

Revised English Edition of theScripture

of llonBuddhismpublished The second English edition of the Soipture of Won Buddhism was published by the Commemorating e ommission for Sacred Achievements of the Great Master of fron Buddhism on Jun. s0, 1988. In the revised work, considerable added attention has been

University (WKU) Museum Opened The 6,052 sq.m WKU Museum was newly opened in June, L987. The Museum, first of its kind is scale in the nation, possesses materials of Korean shamanism in the largest amount among the Korean museums. In addition, it holds stone tools, earthenware, celadon, porcelain, bronze farming tools, folk paintings, calligrraphic pieces, old dresses and Buddha images of ancient times in Korea.

The Great Master said, "According to the principle of the rotation of the four seasons in the universe, all beings pass through birth, old age, illness and death. According to the Principle of the alternation of Negative and Positive Forces in the Universe, Yin and Yang, human beings are rewarded for their deeds, either good or bad, according to the Principle of Cause and Effect. Though winter is the time when the Negative Force appears to be grreater, the Positive Force is still contained in it, and as the force gradually gains in strength, spring and summer come. And, though summer is the time when the Positive Force appears to be grreater, the Negative Force is contained in it, and as the force gradually gains in strength, autumn and winter come at last. Likewise, human beings are either strong or weak, and are interrelated with each other. According to their good or evil deeds, they will be progressing or retrognessing, and will either be in mutual accord or in conflict as a rsesult. This is the hinciple of Cause and Effect.

Ftom "On Cause and Effect" of the Scripture of Won Buddhism

The View of Wonkwang University Museum newly opend on June 5, 1988

Won Buddhist delegation participating in the l5th WFB, 1986, posed for camera a bath before she gave birth to Prince Siddhartha, Nqpal.

at the pond where Queen Maya had taken

The members of the Specid Planning Committee fot the Srd Generation of Won Buddhisrn are holding pmying cerâ&#x201A;Źmony in Everlasting Memorial Shrine, Center of $Ion Buddhism, on Mar. 19, 1988.

Dr. Chon Pal Khn, Vice President of Wonkwang University (fou*h from the left) met with Professor J.M. Ward, Vice-Chancellor, University of Sidney on Jun. 24, 1988. Dr. Chon participated in Korean-Austrialian Partnership in Scholarship in the Emergent Pacific-Rim Age, Ausualia.