1967VOLUME 1 NUMBER

KOREA10

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WON BUDDHISM

Published by:

WON KWANG COLLEGElri City Cholla Pukdo, Korea.

Vol. I No. l0 WON BUDDHISM 1967

CONTENTS

Editorial

Golden Rules

An Integral World established by bothSpiritual culture and Material Civilization

From the Supreme Scripture ol Won Buddhism,.. 3

The Ontological Research of "Eun" or Obligation.

- The Fundamental Concept of Won Buddhist Faith -Prof. Byung Deok Yoo .

The Thought of Won in the East

P. K. C.

Cultivation of Mind

S. C. H.The Way to Paradise on the Earth

EDITORIAL

During summ,er vacation of each year two important regular me.et-ings are held at the headquarters of Won Buddhism. They are thoseof the Won Buddhist Youth Association and the Students Association.The membership of the former Association is composed of collegestudents and graduates from universities, and of the latter, middle andhigh-school students. This year these meetings were more successfulthan ever, with double the preceding attendanoe. Interest in the pro-found lectures on Buddhism was so high that hottest weather hadno effect on the training schedule.

It was a great pleasure, and encouraging, to see that the youngpeople who are to be the treaders of our country in the next generationare turning their minds to the deeper probtrems of the world and oflife, seeking for mor,e valuable and responsible things for people todo, rather than seeking for mere sensual-pleasures. Judging-froh thenumber of students registered for the training course this year, andfrom the sincerity they showed in trearning the doctrines of Won Bud-dhism and other Buddhist philosophies, ther,e should not be the strongpessimistic comm,ents made about the young people that have oftenbeen made in the past. Needless to say, the future of a nation restsupon the sloulders of its young people. The healthy growth of theygung peop-le means the healthy growth of the nation. This is a pro-El.- of today's modern education. The education of its youth has adirect bearing on a country's to,morrow.

Thers are many effective ways of educating. However, it is note.asy.t-o practioe the way of education that is suitable for cultivatingtlr. ideal .personality through continuing intellectual pursuit. Also]the education suitable f9,r the progress of the social organization andfor the various professions is ?pi to produce a mechanical type ofman, rather than a well-rounded personality.

In such a situation our eyes focus on religion, and upon educationbased upol the religious spirit which intends to develoir a good per-sonality. -It is_too--much.to ,expect that the students will c6mpletelytlnderstand the Buddhist spirit and our Doctrine, or to be able to o^bserveall the Buddhist precepts, within a short period. In the beginning weshould be content to observe their apprgaching to Buddha's ipirit, evenin case they are brought-to the gate of Budd-hism by mer,e 6uriousity.

Good leaders and educators are necessary for good education. rolead these intelligent. Buddhist youths into- the -righteous path, allBuddhist leaders should give up_ the attitude of bein-g only spectators.The training of the young inteiligent Buddhists shou"ld not 6e left tothemselves. They need proper guidance.

It is also very important fol all 'senior Buddhists to reali ze that

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StephenNotes on Our First

Sasse

Bela RenovichImpression of Won Buddhism

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i

As the malerial civilization makes

spiritual civilization accordingly.

rapid progress, cultivaie the

Al[ communications

The editor, Miss Pal

Won Kwang College,

should be addressed to;-Khn Chon

Iri City Cholla Pukdo, Korea

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they should be responsible for the Buddhist training of the youngpeople.

Golden Rules

1) A man can give others hope and comfort of despair and -anxiety' with even a word or a sentence. Therefore, one is not always a

born a wicked man when he commits a sin. The ignorance oftho principle of sin and merit is the main reason for the sinunconciously committed.

2) As no false- concepts are in the mind of a true mind,ed man, hisbehaviours are all true. As a sage contains no conflict in hismind, all his activities are virtuoui. Therefore the true-mindedman always keeps the mind innocent and a sage keeps his mindser'ene with no anxieties.

3) Ordinary men cherish a grudge against even a benefactor who didgood foi him ten times but failed to glve him contentment onlyonce. On the contrary, the enlightened feel gratitude for the manwho has troubled him ten times but did him good only once. Hencethe ordinary men usually make trouble and bring destruction, andthe enlighten,ed only discover the beneficence even in the harmscommitted on him, bringing peace and merit to the world.

4) True freedom comes from restraining self-indulgence. A bigprofit comes from giving up selfishness. Therefore, he who seeksafter the true freedom follows the precepts and he who wishesto get big profit, first of all foster the public-spirited mind.

5) He who searches for big truth, Tao, practices both meditation andwisdom, obtaining the true wisdom frorn meditation. He who en-gages in a big business holds both virtue and talent which rootedin the Virtue.

Cotinued from News Corner;-12) On the 14th and l5th of October, there was held at the Headquarters

of Won Buddhism a conference of six religions prevailing in Korea (Bud-dhism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Chon-Do Yyo Religionand Won Buddhism. Forty representatives from the six religions declaredthat all religions should fulfill the original aims of them, understandingand cooperating one another to deliver the world. Among other colorfulfunctions Rev. Kil Chin Park (Litt. D.) , the president of Won KwangUniversity delivered a lecture on the doctrine of Won Buddhism to the

audiance of nearly 1,000 laymen including the representatives.13 ) Mr. Hubert Durt, a Belgian scholar, visited the Headquarters of Won

Buddhism and Won Kwang University on October 13, who is studyingBuddhism and compiling a French dictionary of Buddhism in Japan.

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An Integral World Established by both Spiritual

Culture and Material Civilization

The late Ven. Sotesan once said to his disciples at monastry asfollows:

As all sorts of knowledge and technology have been improved byvirtue of the development of material civilization, all facilitie-s of dailylife have been made splendid, enchanting to the human eyes and minilwith brilliant materials, while the human mind using the material objectshas become extremely weak to be the slave of it. Such phenomenacauses the world to be worried.

No matter how nice the material objects may be, they may beabused if human mind is evil, and however profound and- extensivethis knowledge may be, it can be harmful to human soci,ety if the mindis evil. Even the best environment sometimes helps one commit sinsa.nd crimes.

.Although the superficial civilization has its flowery improvement,it is by.means of gsilg our own mind that we of pure and good mindcan utilize material objects to build a utopia; whilei the floweiy materi-al civilization will be, if given to the evil mind, like a sword givento a thief.

. .Ary?k-. yourselves anew and be diligent to learn how to use themind which is the q-r.aster of all principtei and be a pilot of such mindso that you may-utilize all thingi altruistically in all iituations good orbad. An integral world will be established both moral discipiine im-proved by spiritual culture and material civilization deveioped bysclence.

If we are inclined toward material civilization neglecting moralculture, we are il. ru9! danger as that.which happens "*heo "we givea sword to a child without sense. We can not be sure of when indwhere to meet with a calamity. Such a world can be .o-pur.d to aninsa-ne person whose body is healthy, while a world withdut materialcivilization, to that of a deformed peison with sound.mind.

Peaceful and comfortable world will be realized only when boththe material and spiritual civilization are coordinated harrironiousty.

Yoylg. wo_n Buddhists Association has begun to publish the. young wonBuddhists Journal, which is a monthly newspaper covering irticles 6n"tt,"ideas and movements of younger geneiation in'won nuaafism.

--

on october l-9,, 1966._the.Inaugrlral ceremony of *oung won BuddhistsAssociation of seoul District w-as held in the' main auaitorium of-S;;lI:,j:l"l Urriversitv; spee_ches gn the ideals or won B;adhis-

-*.i" ;il;

9y tne professors from Won Kwang University.Rev. Kong Ju- Rhee, the chief of tfre s-upervisory section, leaves for HongKong as an observation trip on Decemb6r Zg,tieO.--

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The Ontological Research of "Eun" or "Obligation"

-The Fundamental Concept of Won Buddhist Faith-

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as follows: "To Understand most clearly what our obligation to Heavenand Earth is, we must first reflect and consider if we could exist with-out "Heaven and Earth" and thereupon no matter how foolish andidiotic we might be, we will have to admit that we cannot live without"Heaven and Earth". Where could we find a greater obligation than theone without which we cannot live? (Pages 26-8, Won Buddhist Canon).

"Obligation to Parents" is described therein as follows: 'oTo un-derstand m--ost clearly what we owe our parents, we should first reflecton the thought: "Could we come into this world without par'ents, orcould our birth be fostered by o,urselves without parents?". No normalbeing could deny the impossibility of coming into existence withoutparents, and therefore where else ca,n we find a greater obligation. (Pa-ges 3-7 Won Buddhist Canon)

And concerning the "Obligation to Brethren" it is said: "To under-stand most easily what we own to our brethren, we should first reflecton the concept of living alone in a universe without people, animalsor plants. Then no one can deny the impossibility of living withoutthe help, support and assistance of brethren, so where else could we finda greater obligation than this". (Pages 34-ll. Won Buddhist Canon)

And concerning "Obligation to Dharma" it is stated: "To under-stand most easily what we owe to Dharma, at first we should reflecton the thought of the possibility of living in a society in peaco andorder, without the rules of moral training for individuals, the rules ofa household, the. rules governing domestic life, and the laws for keep-ing order in society and for governing the country. Then no one canfail to admit the impossibility of peace and order without rules andlaws, i.e. Dharma. So where else could we find a greater obligation thanthis? (Pages 38-10 of Won Buddhist Canon)..^. -.At times people have-such an ordinary conoept of the meaning of"Obligation" as: "Not to forget others frorn a fee-ling of pity, or nToslgIFI.:ympa!!V on_oth.ers uqfl thgy appear pleased'-'. Such a conceptof "Obligation"-or "Eun" ( ,8. ) is cauied by the thought that ,,Eun,,is a necessjty for keeping society in order. To pursue the essentialmeaning of "Eun" however, we should not. be contented with such acommon concept.

. Jh. conoept. of "Fun" is fully treated in the Chapter on Faith inthe Doctrine Section of the Won Buddhist Canon. From the universal

category of."Eun" are derived its origination and the ontological foun-dation of "Eun". Philosophically speaking, Eun is the fou-ndation orall existence in the universe, the veiy principle of creation and life inthe_universe, a remarkable discovery indeed. Rare is it in the historyof Human culture. thal 1u9.h. a greai and new a thought has been pre-sented to the World of Religion- and philosophy.

I shall now briefly-.in some words explain the meaning of the ,,Fourobligations" i.e. "obligation to Heaven and Earth, bbligation to

Prof . Byung Duk Yoo cause or reason which will enable them to achieveNeedless to say it envolves the investigation of the natur,e of "Eun"

or "Obligation". Day after day we are almost entirely absorbed in the

by Prot. Yoo Byung Deuk

Human beings generally desirous of a life ofwelfare, search foi worldly happiness and are eager

for good luck. Very few, however, try to investigatethe tause or the reison in order to attain that whichis the object of their search. Indeed there shouldbe some due cause or reason for one to have goodfortune and happy life to the extent that he attractsthe praise and

-envy of o'thers. In o'ther words, hemusi have some power within himself that directshim in this manner.

This is not true only of individuals, but of com-muniti,es and nations as welI. If they pre to exist inpeaceful harmony, then there should be some due

Or "Ubllgatlon". ljay alter Oay We are almos[ e,ntrrely aosorosu l-Il utcpursuit of comfortable living, but we ought onoe_ to pause and h-alt ourihoushts in our mind which are dashins forward with a botto,mless at--thoughts in our mind which- are dashing forward with a botto,mless at-tachment to our wordly life, in order to give our mind an opportunityto reflect uDon the ouestion: "What is that without which we cannotto reflect upon the question: "What is ithout which we cannotlive?" Herewith we begin to examine "that reliable other power" (iWJ).There is such self-confidence as for example: So long as it is "I", "I canlive" or "at least I can live by myself well alone" or further such as:"at least I can exist by myself without reliance upon others". Is thereanyone who can assure himself of such self-confidenoe when confrontedby others? We must have an opportunity to examine and reflect onthese points.

The reality that I exist by myself appears probable but neveroccurs. Deeply penetrating into the root of our existence, we finallycome to realize tho amazing fact that the verv root of our existenceis that principle without which we cannot live, and that we as a resultfind it outside our own selves. That very principle is called "Eun"(in Korean) i.e. "Obligation" or "Grace".

In the chapter on the "Four Forms of Obligation" in the WonBuddhist Canon, the essential points of that "reliable other power" aredescribed clearly. The relatiron between the Ego and "the indispensibleprincinle of one's existence" is well encompassed in the four categories"Heaven and Earth", "Parents", "Brethren" and "Dharma".

The principle of "Obligation to Heaven and Earth" is described

this goal orbasic objecttikewise.Thereforewhat shouldthe nature 0this basiccause orreason be?

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Parents, Obligation to Brethren and Obtigation to Dhafma", which are

.*pt"i..O in ihe Doctrine Section 9-f lht }{"q Buddhist Canon' It can

be said that til "Four Obligations" i.e. "Sa Eun" in Korean, are the

piir.ipto of creation and a.-power which can coordinate the relation-itrip Uetween all cr,eative activities in the universe. In a narrower sense,

"Eiln" can be expr,essed as a concept which is concerned with our lifewithout which we cannot live.

Therefor,e one who is at all times aware of the conoept or prin-ciple whithout which we cannot live, is a man of such sincerity as

ndt to be hurt no matter where he might go or with whom he may

meet but who is to be trusted and praised by others. "Eun" therefo'remay be called the power ttrat creat-es the being as exisJent:.it as the

very root of all exisience. In this sense it may be said that "Eun" is a

"P6wer of Harmonization" which allows the whotre universe to live on

indefinitely so as to be co-existent and harmonious.The ':View of Fodr Obligations" of the Patriarch of Won Buddhism

should be valued as a great- discovery which revealed a gt-eat powerof life omnipresent in tlie universe. "The Four -Obligations" therefore,should be r^egarded as the creative power of the universe. If a mandoes not limit his own life but seeks to harmonize with the great po-wer of the life in the universe, then such a man can already be calleda sage. It is because such a man has not only grasped the essenoe of"Eui" in every day life, but has comprehended the fundamental princi-ple of creation in'the Universe and-can become one with all i.e. allbxistent beings and the existence as a who'le. Therefore, "Eun" maybe called the "Soul of Sages"

I am confident that the Rev. Sotesan is amongst those great sages

or knowers of Truth who have revealed this "Eun" to be omnipresentin the universe. Besides he symbolised "Eun", the great power of lifein the universe anew by "O" namely: "Won" or Il Won Sang", theCircle. This "O" is the ontological symbol of "Eun". In front of "O"symbol in our Buddhist life of discipline we can directly reahze that'tll Won Sang" or "Won" "Sa Eun" i.e. the whole of creation.

Peopl,e sliould not live with thoughts of grudge but should fill themind with gratitude in coming into

-contact with all people and alithings.-This will become possible only when everyone can comprehend theexistence of "Eun" and further when the spirit of "Eun" will activelypervade the whole of creation. The important practice in working withihe spirit of "Eun" is to let people feel "ELtn" 'even though they beignorant of the fact that their own existence depends on "Eun", toinstruct people to realize the existence of "Eun" without effectingdaily life, and to instruct them to practice with faith firm in, the "Eun"concept.

As -the

number of people who can establish the principle of prac-

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tical morality on the concept of "Eun" increases, the ideal prosperous

.n<l harmonious rorl.iy *iti U. constructecl. We should be thoroughly

ii*ur. rhat "Eun';l;-i;'reality a power without bounds, in th9 universe,

an<l that it is a prir.ipl; of't ut-ony amongst myriads of individuals

or communities.The Ven. Sotesan, having become self-enlightened by meals of

this boundless and limitless power of life, founded the new rellglous

order of Won guddhism. Thii means that he bestowed upon the human

race hereafter a new concept of human moralitv' The Concept. of"Eun" of Won guddtritrn rniy Ut .*p*tt.J ut foliows: "The rel^ation

U.t*een the Ego and other eiistence -is

concerned with Truth". At any

;;;; ii .;,r-uu?.r"ribed as a concept which requires one to kno_w the

order of existen.u u..ututely and 1s, practic. t!,+ conoept or principle'nguin the concept of iE-rlt' can_ be

-expressed in the intensive motto

oiWon guddhiJm: "Cultivate the sens^e of gratitude and do not failto requite it".

The Thought of Won in the East

hy P. K. C.

ln the universe there exists a Truth which exists through out the

East and the West, from the ancient to the present, ceaselessly .crea-tins and developine something from moment to moment. It is the Truthbeyond our intelligence and expressibl,e terms. Ch'an Mast4lrs in the

Eurt, tirerefore, tuid thut this very Truth .oYld not be.exftained.Uyterms but had been experiencecf anci understood by_themselves. Besides,

it is said that as the Truth is omnipresent in the universe, equally

distributecl amongst people, that the whole creation has this truth and

ihat all beings arE rootei in the same source and are all equally exi-stent beings.

Whefr realizing that truth we can say that we succeeded in "Seeing

true Nature" and itl the Buddhist training is practiced for the pur-pose of understanding thll Truth.' The Nature of i-his Truth can be regarded as to be limitless, tohave no beginning and no end, no recurrence of life and death, no

tratreo and ilo lov"e in it, being perfect in itself with nothing wanting,noti,ing superfluous. If it is to be expressed in terms, we may call itas Wa! (Tao), Law, Reason, Life, Pbwer, etc., ?nq--tq-gxpress it insome fot*, we can only take the form of a circle (ll Won Sang, inKorean) to symbolize it.

There are a lot of examples, therefore, of Ch'an Masters, beingasked what is Truth, and answering to their questions by drawing a

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circl,e or sometimes by erasing a circl'e. The thought of won existsin both East and the West. In the ancient, in India, they had Il Wonlurg frym the period of A ( [r] ) leuer View Thought. A ( [r] )Letter View means to view the beginning of the whole creations forthe mental concentra_tion by the method of view that they write A( FI )Letter in a Circl,e (Il Won Sang) and look into it.

. ,Nagarjuna sa.id th_at the phase of t[e fullmoon is a symbol of allBuddha images. Aryadeva said that the mind-state in pralticing com-pl,ete meditation may be compared to the phase of full moon an? that,the term, "Buddha-Nature" implies limitless void and brightness. Alihis sayings mean that the Truih is complete and bright iike the fullmoon.

In chinathe_tLgugh!_of won was made much more progress. TheThird Patriarch of chan Tsung, Seng ts'an said that the woi of Truthis perfect, nothing wanting, ndthing iuperfluous. Jagak, one of ch,anmasters said that even before the blrth of the ancient-Buddhas Won ofTruth sererrely existed. when sakya Muni Buddha dared not to ex-pres-q the Truth, then how Kasyapa.julq represent it?,, This phraseimplies that it is diltricult to exprbss Truth in terms but it ii possibleto express it in a circle (I1 Won Sgng) -.... )

The man described Il won sang actually in foNr was the mostVen. Hui Cheng who was a noted disciple under the Six patriarch HuiNeyg,_He-is the man who asserted the^Teaching of tr,.-,tn;un schooland "Teachin-g School". He drew- ninety-seven"circles (Ii won Sang)and handed them down to Ch'an Mastei Tan won, und-Tun-won toYang Shan. Finally Il Won Sang came to be most favoured method ofrepresenting Buddha Nature in-the Kuei-yang branch or ir,. ch,anSchool.

In Korea, during the- Koryo.dynasty, the chief ch,an Master Ryoo of Seo-woon Sa-lemple in-okwansin mountain, ,.tu.nea with IrYol s?Tg. handed down^ from yan-Shan during rris' stay in tang fo,his Buddhist stu_dy, and became the Patria..t oi r<uei-Vine School in!il!.-9vl_.stv, Korea. Besides, there are counti;r;-il.htd", ;i Il wonsang'- g1ve1 by past patriarchs and ch'an Masters in chini.

^"^_l^:hXll qive here some illustrarions. In the ,.Life of Tao Heum,,,Chapter four, p jun-Teung_Lok (the earliest Ch,an hisffi extani;,it is recorded that one duv- tvtu Tsu drew

-; .,if- w;;^"s;;t,, in hi,letter to Tao Heum, and iri return Tao Heum added a stroke on thedrawing.In the "Life of Hui chung", chapter five of the book, we readthe story that a certain monk came to see Hui chung, *rr"ri he dre*

?.JI Yoq Sa_ng with his hand and in addition wiote in it a letter . '(the sun)- Seeing t^hg Il yon sqng, tt.,,ort did nor utter a word.In the "life of Ma Tsu" of ihe same-uoot another ii".v goes;A monk came to see the ch'an tvtast.., a.;irg;'ii^w";"shng on

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the ground before the Master he made a deep bow. stand-igg on theIl Won Sang. Master asked "Do you want to attain Buddhahood?""Yes" the monk answered, "I did my best, but I am still far awayfrom it". The master said "I am inferior to you". The monk gaveno answer.

In China Confucianism has also Won Thought. The chart of TaiGeuk (

^ffi ) drawn by Chu Ryum Ke who was regarded as the

founder of Neo confucian Philosophy in Sung Dynasty of China, wasexpressed in Il Won Sang. This chart symbolizes that, the all thingsin the universe are created by Five Elements ( fr:fr ) and that allthese creations growing have Won Truth. It also denotes that the allcreations have Tai Geuk Truth. They used I1 Won Sang in describingTai Geuk Because nothing could symbolize it as well except Il Won Sang.

CULTIVATION OF MINI)

by S. C. E.

A great matter is to r,ealize one's own nature.That life will be blind and fales if one doesNot see the original truth of the universe.No evil will be committed if you seeAll beings are included in Buddha nature.

There is a tale told of a famous sculptor's work;-At the time of Renaissance, Michelangelo Buonarroit, (1475-1574),

sculptur,ed a shapeless mossy stone into. a godd,ess, which was sobeautiful that everyone seeing it was struck with admiration. Eventhough the others were formerly indifferent to the mossy stone, Michel-angelo was sure of its being marvel and sculptured it to such a beauti-ful goddess.

Evereything as well as human beings is endowed with the virtue ofBuddha nature; poor souls are blind because the Buddha nature isenclouded with worldly desires. The most important matter of one'slife is to see this very original Buddha nature inwardly; the life mightas well be called that of a blind man if the true nature is not realized.

The r'eason we ar,e suffering in the present tormenting sea ofinjustice, struggle, rage, averice and hatred is that we do nbt knoweveryone comes from the oneness of Buddha-Nature oneness. If weshall really come to know all of us are Brethren endowed with Buddha-nature, the hatr,ed, and egoistic averice will thaw, turning this worldto a peaoeful and ideal one.

We human beings might seem to be foui, but we shall becomeBoddhissattvas if we practice to recover our own Buddha natur,e; andthe world with such persons will become the paradise.

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The purpose of our religious life of -taking re.fuge in.Buddha, is

to do gooi urd to avoid doi-ng_ evil. A formal religious life can notU. u-pioper belief if we do noibecome enlightened to the truth or our

innate Buddha nature.-- ieaching the truth of Won which shows the original principle of

the universe and the original nature of human beings, in Won Buddhism,we teach ourselves to become enlightened to the original nature ofguddha, and to behave in accordance with the Buddha natur'e' Asthe laymen are required to be p_roficient in believin-g i, Yg.n, practisingW;; ild putting ^the truth of

^Won into use in their *ily lives they

will get eniighteied to the truth of Won if they Takg effort.it. C5mmitt,ee of Dharma Degree Investigation shows us that

there are a great number of laymen wtio are practising the Won doctrineinto daily lives quite successfully'

Facing the 55th anniversary, Favour-Requital-ceremony, not onlythe devoteJs but general laymen are required to endeavor to promot-e

a moral,e of disciflining; and we should -establish a grand order whichwill produce numberless Buddha-sattvas.

The WaY to Paradise on The Earth

by Stephen Bela Renovich

The realization of "Paradise on Earth" implies the realization ofthe "True Nature" of alt things in this world and in the whoie universewhich is symbolized by "WOII". It further might imply the.attainmentof that Supra-Mental Knowledge which is commonplace.with .all those

who have'become Buddhas. Fowever, we should consider the inter-dependent origination of all existence, and then it will beco'me moreobvious that tiuly "Paradise:' is not the property and concern of- onlyirdiriduul "truth'-re alization", but the property and concern of all exi-stent beings in the universe! Therefore, tllg "Wuy. t9 Pgadise" cannotbe found 6y he who seeks only "truth-realizationl' for his own self.

In the"Avatanshaka Sutra, there is an extensive collection of ser-mons given by Sakyamnui Buddha on this matter. After explaining theinterdependent origination of all existence, the Bu{{ft^a goe-s o^n.fo ex-plain the "Ideal of a Bodhisattva". The methods of life to be followedby Bodhisattvas of the future are give therein, and are the Ways toParadise on Earth." First, of all, we should never have the desire tobecome a Buddha, until all existing beings have beco'me ,enlightened.

Secondly, we should strive to use our Supra-Mental Knowledge, to theextent ihat we might have attained some, to guide others in theirquest for enlightenment.

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The three ultimate steps in the Path towards "Truth-Realization"are; Dharana (Concentration), Samadhi, and Dhyana (Meditation).Dharana may be concentration of the mind on the object of worshipwhile chanting a Dharani, as practioed in Vajrayana Buddhism, or moregenerally, as in Won Buddhism, concentration of the mind on "Won",the circle, as symbol of the "True Nature of all Existence" while reci-ting the Oath to Won". Samadhi, means calming of the mind, in pre-paration for meditation, in general, and in the case of highly enlighten-ment aspirants, a certain period of "At-oneness with the "True Natureof Existence" symbolized by "WON", Dhyana, (Chinese-Chan) meansmeditation as practiced in Won Buddhism and other "Chan Schools"of Buddhism. So much for the mental processes of "Truth-Realization."It is also essential to achieve light actions to overcome the effects ofpre-existing "Karma." This can be best achieved by filial Piety, byHumbleness to the Truth of Nature, by genuine concern for our f-ello*existend beings__and by having gratitude and satisfaction and quietnessof min_d regardless what the vicissitudes of life may be!

The_ concept of "Paradise on Earth" is a majbr conoept in Bud-dhism! over 700 y,ears ago, a Buddhist Bodhisattva, in Japan, namedNichiren Shonin strove to teach his students that the "True BuddhaLand" as explaind in the Saddhanna Pundarika, is coexistent with andimminent in the universe we Iive in. The true sutra meaning of the PureLand of Amitabha Buddha is the quiet_calm state of mindobtained bythe meditations in the Sutra of Amitabha Buddha.

So the "way to Paradise on Earth" is the "way to Bodhisattva-hood." It is the yay to . r9alize the "True-Nature" symbolized by':ryoN", while not losing slgh! of our true inter-relationship with every-lhing and every existent being in the Universe! euietness <it n4inO whiiein harmony with all existence is indeed the threshold of the door to"Paradise on Earth"

Notes on Our first impression of IVon Buddhism

by Werner Sasse

NIy father-in-law, Dipl. Ing. Fritz Hohmann, who lives at Naju,Cholla Namdo, since 7 years and is a member of won Buddhism wroteoften about his belief when we were still in Germany. It was by hisletters that we got to know this new religion. But as we nevef hadthe chance to read a book about it or talk to people that wer.e members,we actually met Won Buddhism first on our hearty welcome at WonKwang university. we had entered Kor,ea only 4 weeks before, butwe had travelled around and seen several places, so we could makecomparisons of the Campus and Won Buddhist headquarters with what

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WON BUDDHISM

we had seen of the country. The flrst thing we recognized was a sortof fresh breeze of moderriity being combined with ihat certain smellof contemplation and concentration westerners do not know until theycome to meet Buddhists. Coming from a dffierent part of the worldone foels very glad about meeting Won Buddhist members, becausethey do not 6niy try to walk a spiritual way

_ of life, but do so in

their normal life.- It is a way of being very modern if one does not $oto far off plaoes to fulfil ones own way of living but lives _a lifs in thecommunity one is born in, helping others by dealing witlr education,welfare arid social works and living a spiritual life nevertheless. Andit is I am sure a big step torward in- the history of Buddhism that WonBuddhists are not

*dep6ndent on gifts by other people Put earn their

living themselves. ellihis and the-fact that there is equality of marri'edand [nmarried people very well shows the modernity of Won Buddhists.And I am sureihis modeinity to be seen in kind open faces surround-ed by carefully looked after-every-day-things is a shining skylight ofthe Korea of the future.

We don't know very much about the aims of the Won Buddhistphilosophy yet and, western educated Christians that we are, we pro-bablv ,eveh do not understand more than half of what we know. Butwe like and understand the "Won" as philosophical idea and a symbolof universal meaning because we know it through historical and religiousstudies as'a symbol that appears several times with the ancient Gr,eek,medieval phil,osophers or even back in the times of the rock scribingsall over the world. Now we got to know a new meaning of the symboland we are getting more and more familiar to it.

But even without understanding Won Buddhism on the whotre wecan state one thing. If one wants to get to know Won Buddhism oneonly should look at the way Won Buddhists live. One can guess thattheir life is highly influenced by their faith and one can clearly see

that this influencing power is an outstanding one. Good for the Koreanpeople where Won Buddhism comes from and who knows for howmany others good it would be.

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A scene ol the FourtlrRegular General As-sentbly ol Won Bud-dhist Youth Associ-ation lteld Headquar-lers.

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Representatives lrontsix religious universi-ties to the ReligiousFestival which ryasheld under the aus-p_ices ol Won Kx,qngUniversity.M idd le of the lr<tntline: Rey kil ChinPark (Lirr. D) Lelt ror i g lt t: Cutlnlit.ism,Buddhism, Conluci-onisrrr, Won Bud-dhisnt, ChundokyoReligiott, Prote.sttin-I isnt.

A sL'ene ol tlte frcetahle-talk of r(pre-sentatiye.c, v'hich isortc ol tlte scltcdulesol tlte Religious Fes-titol. l

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A purt ol mentbers olWon Buddhist YoutlrAssociati<,trt playingvolley ball game afterthe course of WonBuddhist doctrine dur-ing tlte Regular Sum-mer Troining School

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News Corner

The 5lst Anniversary of the Founding of Won Buddhism.On April 26th, at ten A.M., in the Enlightenment Hall at Headquart-ers, thb 51st Anniversary of the Founding of Won Buddhism was solemnlyobserved, beginning with the opening announcement of the presider. Atone P.M. an athleiic game for the promotion of mutual friendships washeld on the grounds of Won Kwang University. In the evening all themembers of Headquarters enjoyed various programs performed by theBuddhist Course students of Won Kwang University.Celebration of the Birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha.On April 8th, at the Headquarters of Won Buddhism, a ceremony.washeld to commemorate the Birthday of Sakyamuni Buddha. About threehundred attendants were deeply moved by a sermon on the life of Sakya-muni Buddha, delivered by a chief Rev. of Won Buddhism.Activities of the Central Youth Association of Won Buddhism.Definite activities of the Won Buddhist Central Youth Association, whichis composed of the Buddhist Course Students of Won Kwang Universityand the Youth of Tong San Cloister of Won Buddhism, have been com-menced in preparation for the coming 55th Anniversary of the Foun-ding of Won Buddhism.Won Kwang University has invited a German professor.Mr. Sasse, son-in-law of Mr. Hohmann, who is a German Won Buddhistmenlber, has been invited as a professor of the Agriculture Course atWon Kwang University. He is expected to teach farm management,science of soil, history of agriculture, etc. His wife, Mrs. Maria Sasse,is also expected to teach German Language to students.The Grand Summer Memorial Ceremony.The 23rd Grand Memorial Ceremony for the late Ven. Sotesan, thefounder of Won Buddhism, was solemnly held on the lst of June, at tenA.M., at the Enlightenment Hall of Headquarters.The Regular Summer School of the Youth Association and the studentsAssociation.The 4th regular S'ummer School for the Youth Association was held forsix days at Headquarters, from the 26th to the 31st of Jtrly. Nearlythree hundred students from each branch temple attended. The followingsix days, from the 1st to the 5th of August, the 6th regular SummerSchool for the Students Association was held.Religious Festival of Collegians.From the 23rd to the 25th of May the historical Religious Festival ofCollegians was held at Won Kwang University and Headquarters of WonBuddhism under the auspices of Won Kwang University. Eighteen Col-legians from six religions (Buddhism, Won Buddhism, Catholicism, Pro-testantism, Confucianism, Chon-do-Kyo Religion) were invited. Of allthe programs, the symposium on "The Problems to be Solved by ReligiousYouth" was most notable.The New Hymn Book of Won Buddhism.The first volume of the new Won Buddhist Hymn Book has been com-posed. The second Volume is expected to be composed in the near future.On May 19, 1966 Mr. Hyo-sang Rhee, the Chairman of the NationalAssembly, visited the Headquarters of Won Buddhism and Won KwangUniversity, delivering a speech in the Enlightenment Hall.Mr. Kyung-soon Chang, a Vice-Chairman of the National Assembly,visiting the Headquarters and Won Kwang University, delivered a speechon the constructive .phenomena of Isreal in the Auditorium on October19, 1966The fourteenth Annual Training Course for Won Buddhist missionarieswas held at the Headquarters from September 20 to Otcober 18,1966. Over500 members from all branch temples took part in the course, beingemersed in the extasy of Dharma.

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