1983VOLUME III NT'MBER 10

IRI, KOBEA

7t2

WON BUDDHISM

Published bY:

The Research Institute forOverseas Missions

Won Kwang UniversitYIri City, Chonbu\ Province, Korea

News Comer . 47

CONTENTS

Sitting Mediationhy P. K.C.

'l'he Basic Moral Principle in Won Buddhismby Dr. Bong-kil, Chung

'l'he Basic Tenets of Won Buddhismby Dr. Chong-man, Han

'[he Brief History of Won Buddhism until 1943by Dr. Byung4uk, Yoo

I.'or the Reform of Traditional Korean Buddhism

from the Collection of Won Buddhist Publications (Vol. IV)

"Silhak" Thoughts Represented in Won Buddhist Slogansby Dr. Chon<un, Song

7t3

1

23

31

42

11

15

The Great Master said, "An ordinary man, if he has worries and anx'leties, tries to ged rid of them. Once free from them, however, he

CauSeS himself to worry again, and the cycle never cease."

From "Short Sayings" in the CanonicalTextbook of Won Buddhism

AII communications strould be address toMiss Pal Khn ChonD irecto r, Ouerseas Missio ns

of Won BuddhbmWon Kwang UniuersitYKorea

WON BUDDHISM T

VOL. III NO. 10 WON BUDDHISM 1983

EDITORIAL

Bidding Farewell to 1983

On the threshold of bidding farewell to 1983, it is impossible forKorean people to escape from reminders of a series of the dreadful and

shocking nightmares. At that time, we, Korean people who had tosuffer from these unprecedented misfortunes, were still in the midstof the emotional confusions caused by the family reunion who had tobe separated from each other for almost thirty or forty years between

Southern and Northern Korea; a Korean Air Line fuU of innocentpassengers who might have been in a peaceful dream, thinking of theapproaching destination, was exploded into flames in the air by theUrutat attack of a inhumane red government. In addition, at an intenral

of less than two months, the extremely evil deed of infernal terroristgplotted to assassinate a chief of state, taking away twenty-two precious

lives.These days, we know, it is not only Koreans who are suffering from

various human misfortunes and tragedies, accidental or schiemed.

Uneasy events take place at every comer of the world; the lossened

ties between Egst and West, the conflicts in the Middle East and central

America, Prevalence of international'terrorism, the threat of nuclear

war. Besi{es these, to make us mone miserable, the unprecedentedstrange weather condition, as if to punish our human'wdywardnessagainst the Ultimate Law, brings froth unexpected misfortunes.

How long and why should human beings be under such heavy

tragic oppressions? What is the ultimate goal of all human beings?

It is peace, peaceful life in which no one suffers from any threat of war,frorn poverty, and ignorance, discrimination of human rights, mutualconflicts, distmst, robbery.

Could the ultimate goal of human beings, peace, and happiness be

obtainable with those glittering material things or through highly skilledhandd of politicians? Through scientific knowledges could the worldin which no wil, no robbery, no terrorist, no conflict, no povertyetr. be rsxtiz,ed in the future? Even in the midst of modern culture of

7t6

2 WON DWDHISM

material civilization like these days, it is not exaggeration to say that wesometimes feel. that we are in the jungle of spiritual morality. We haveseen too often that human beings transform so easily into fierce animalssuch as a tiger, a serpent, a lion, a leopard in order to satisfy their ownunlimited greediness or desires. And also we can not deny that themore the material civilization develops, the mor€ the human greedinessis evok{d. And also, unfortunately, we see that too many temples orchurches which are supposed to perform their missions only producepublic poison of religion. Originally rve expect from religions salvation,help, faith, devotion, love, compassion, self-sacrifice etc. How manyreligious denominations are doing their best to realize the basic task ofreligion?

One of the larnentable situation in the modern society is that thereare too many unthoughtful people who regard religion as a means ofliving. Besides religions and religionist, there have been so rnanyscholars, politicians, economists, educators etc. who tried to submittheir doctrines to, stabilize a society. But from our experiences, werealize that the t"jt t"yrrote of the establishment of world peace existsin our mind. The peaca of mind is the basic element of world peaceand the peace of mind has to be acquired by moral training.

Ven. Sotaesan, the founder of Won Buddhism proclaimed that thereal peace and boundless garden of happiness can be established onlythrough faith in religion based on Truth and through actual moraltraining.

To bring forth peace and happiness to our world, first of all weneed to train the mind of all people with morality. If a man is to bequalified as a leader of a group, a nation or a society, we must requiredhim the mind of moral training. It is obvious that a dominator or antler without moral training of his mind will cause tragic consequancesupon him or other people. One of its evidence is the tragedy of KoreanAir Line or the tragedy of Rangoon.

As Ven. Sotaesan predicted seventy years I Bo, the future worldfilled with those people who practice mind training sincerely andconsistently will become the land of happiness as follows: ".........whereas contemporary people struggle to take from other people andto defeat and hurt others, people in the coming world will be eagerto share, and will be anxious to make concessions to others and to helpothers; whereas con'iemporary people are anxious to make profit forthemselves, to gain power and fame, people in the coming world, on

7t7

WON BUDDHISM g

the other hand, will be arxious to work tbr the public's welfare andwill not be disturbed if they miss opportunities for gaining fame andpower, but instead have leisure time to meditate. Whereas contem-porary people are liable to commit crimes, with so many jails, in-dividuals, homes, societies, &d nations all greatly exerting themselveeto defeat each other by building walls and fences between themselves,the people in the coming world will hate to commit crimes, and in-dividuals, homes, societies, and nations will come out of their shellsand will have harmonized muhral relationships. Whereas the contem-porary world is being dominated by materialism, in the coming worlda superior morality will pervail, cultivating the human spirit and do.minating materialistic civilization. The materialistic civilization willbecome rather useful for elevating morality. In the near future, theperfect civilized world will be realized, where no theif is in the moun-tains and no man picks up things on the road for his own sake."

orhthehy=ch+ho\lqihoqc%t%+q+hthchghahlhth{ho%{*tht}ra.t^ahtl^thththohahtblait

One of the disciples asked, "As the way of not worshippinga Buddha image is one of our great innovations, should we thennever erect a memorial statue to'our Great Master and thesucceeding Dharma masters?" The Great Master replied,"To remember their contributions you may erect statues,but they should not be the object of worship."

7tE

4 WON BWDHISM

Sitting Meditation

by P. K. C.

1. The Esseniial Meaning

We are living in the midst of a highly developed world civilization.The rapid growth of this civilization has, of course, provided us withmany benefits. But we now see signs of chaos all about us. We inten-tionally discard out traditions and customs in order to receive Westemadvances. It is said that the words "Know thyself" were cawed cen-turies ago on a pillar of 'the temple for Apollo built at Delphi. But wecannot arrive at self-knowledge by thinking about ourselves logicallywith only our own minds.

At the moment of enlightenment of the Buddha he spontaneouslycried out: "Wonder of wonders! Intrinsically all living beings areBuddhas, endowed with wisdom and virtue, but because men's mindshave become inverted through delusive thinking they fail to perceivethis." Qn the twenty-eighth of April in the first'year of Won Buddhism,the Great Master, the Venerable Sotaesan, upon the attainment of hisgfeat Enlightenment, said, "All beings are of one Reality and all thingsand principles originate from one source, where the Truth of No Birthand No peath and the Principle of Cause and Effect operate as perfectorgans on an interrelated basis. " These first declarations of Shakya-muni Buddha and Ven. Sotaesan are also ultimate conclusion ofBuddhism and Won Buddhism. Yet man, restless and anxious, lives ahalf-crazed existence because his mind, heavily encrusted with de-clusion, is tumed topsy-turvy. We need therefore to return to our,original perfection, to see through the false image of ourselves asincomplete and sinful, and to wake up to our inherent purity andwholeness.

To pursue the metaphor, rve can say that the mind of a Buddha islike water that is calm, deep, and crystall clear, and upon which the"moon of truth" reflects fully and perfeetly. The mind of the ordinaryman, on the other hand, is like murky water, constantly being chumedby the gales of delusive thought and no longer able to neglect the moonof truth.

So long as the winds of thought continue to disturb the water ofour Self-Nature, we cannot distinguish truth from untruth. It is im-

7t9

WON BUDDHISM 5

Perative, th erefore, that these winds be stilred. once they abate, thewaves subside, the muddiness cleeus, and we perceive direcgy that themoon of truth has never eeased shining. Thtmoment of such realiza-tign is enlightenment, the apprehensiJn of the true substance of ourself-Nature. To put it in u.roihu, way: one does not practice ch,an tobecome a Buddha; one practices it blcause one is a Buddha from theheginning-and this "original realization" is the starting point of the(lh'an life."Enlightenment," or wu, is the heart of ch,an; bui what is this wuexperience, and is it one, or many?

I'he plain answer is given in the following tentative definition of Wu:wu is the direct experience of beholding, unfording, or realizing theMind-essence in its fullness. In "rr"rr"J it is illuminating yet void,serene yet dynamic, transcending yet immanent, free yet all-embracing.wu experience ere one and also many---one becaur" ihuy are identicalin essence; many because they differ in depth, crearriess, and pro-ficiency' Enlightenment is nothing than the so-called .,vertical

Wis-dom" of Buddha, which is a penetrating insight--uccessively piercingthrough all the different levels and realms of existence to touch thevery depths of Being itserf. It is a wisdom of profundity, a wisdomthat goes beyond the realms of common sense, science, philosophy,' "hd religion; a wisdom that probes into the uttermost depths ofDharma-the indescribable and unthinkable,,suchness.,, This is"Vertical Wisdom.,'ven. sotaesan said, "Generally speaking, this form of meditationis a way of study for eliminating delusions and for restoring the trueNature in mind.. Physically, it is also a way to send down the FlamingEnergy within the body and to gend "p

trrl watery Energy. when alldelusions are gone, the watery Energy will rise, and vice versa. Thenthe mind and the body will exist in perfect harmony and the spirit andenergy will be equally refreshed..-....sitting-type Meaitation, therefore,is practiced to eradicate all delusions, to istore the original Nature ofReality and to send downward the i'laming Energy while bring forththe refreshing Water Energy.,,

2. The Method of praetice

The method of practicing this form of meditation is so simple andeasy that anyone can practice it.

720

6 WON BWDHISM

1) A place to sit on

One advantage of Sitting Ch'an is that it doesn't require much space

to practice; one square yard per person is adequate. Quiet places are

better. Wind or smoke should not intrude. Average illumination is

best and the temperahrre should be comfortable.

2l A Cushion for Sitting Ch'an

A cushion is needed for Sitting Ch'an. But cushion is not alwaysnecessary to practice Sitting Ch'an. Yqu cari use any adequate foldedblanket, a rolled bed spread, or a fairly hard ordinary cushion can be

used. In western style houses, the floor is usually harder, so the use ofa thin mattress ora thick carpet is recommended.

3) Posture

The main point of the particular type of sitting posture is that byestablishing a wide, solid base, with the crossed legs and with bothknees touching the mat, you achieve absolute stability. With the bodythus immobile, thoughts are not stirred into activity by physical move-

ments and the mind more easily becomes tranquil. Traditionally it is

generally thought for a number of reasons it is best to sit in the full-lotus posture. To sit full-lotus you place the foot of the right leg overthe thigh of the left and the foot of the left leg over the thigh of theright. But gleat pains accompanies novices in this type of sitting.So sitting half-lotus, which is done by putting the foot of the left leg

over the thigh of the right, is also used without any difference of theeffect of sitting ch'an.

The next step is how to rest your hands. Usually we place theright hand in the lap, palm upward,. and place the left hand, palm

upward, on the top of right palm. Lightly touch the tips of the thumbsto each other so that a flattened circle is formed by the palms and

thumbs. But in Won Buddhism only a little importance is placed onthe posture of hands. Just rest the hands on each lap, respecitvely.Some people turn their left hand upward to represent Yin.

The head should be straight; if looked at from the side, your ears

should be in line with your shoulders and the tip of your nose in linewith your navel. The body from the waist up should be weightless,free from pressure or strain. Keep the eyes half-opened and the mouthclosed. The tip of the tongue should lightly touch the back of the

721

WON BUDDHISM 7

upper teeth. If you close your eyes you will fall into a dull and dreamystate. The gaze should be lowered without focusing on anything inparticular.

The spinal column must be erect at all times. This admonition isimportant. When the body slumps, not only is undue pressure placedon the internal organs, interfering with their free functioning, but thevertebrae by impinging upon nerves may cause strains of one kindof another.

Be careful to hold the head erect; if it inclines forward or back-ward or sideways remaining there for an appreciable length of time,a crick in'the neck may result.

4l Breath

In breathing, breathe evenly and inhale for a little longer andstronger period than when you exhale. When you have established acorrect posture, take a deep breath, hold it momentarily, then exhaleslowly and quietly. Repeat this two or three times, always breeathingthrough the nose.

The easiest for beginner is counting incoming and outgoing breaths.The value of this particular exercise lies in the fact that all reasoningis excluded and the discriminative mind is put at rest. Thus the wavesof thought are stilled and a gradual one-pointendness of mind achieved.To start with, count both inhalations and exhalations. When you in-hale, concentrate on "one"; when you exhale, on ,,two,,; and so on,up to ten. Then you return to "one" and once more count up to ten,continuing as before, It is as simple as that.

5) Thoughts

Beginners usually suffer from the intrusion of delusion. If delusionsintrude, be aware of them, but never take them as annoyances nor bedsappointed by their appearance. Atl delusions will then dissolvenaturally. To recapitulate: let random thoughts arise and vanish asthey will, do not dally with them and do not try to expel them.

6) Sound

Y,o, will probably find that natural sounds, like those of insectsor birds or running water, will not disturb you, neither will the rhyth-mic ticking of a clock nor the purring of a motor. The most objection-able sounds are those of human voices, either heard directly or over

722

8 WON BUDDHISM

the radio or television. When you start sitting ch'an, therefore, find aroom which is distant from such sounds. when your sitting has ri-

pened, however, no noises will disturb you'

7l Lieht

The room ought not to be too light or too dark. You can put up

a dark curtain it it is too light, or you can use a small electric bulb ifit is night. The effect of a dark room is the same as closing your eyes.

The best condition is a sort of twilight. Keeping your eyes open

prevents you from falling asleep. But, when you feel refreshed and

confident that you are not likely to doze, try to practice meditationwith your eyes closed.

8) TemPerature

A room that is neither too hot in summer nor too cold in winteris ideal. Punishing the body is not the purpose of sitting ch'an, so itis unnecessary to struggle with extremes of heat or cold. Experience

has shown, ho*"r"r, -ihut one can do better bh'an when the feels

slightly cool; too hot a room tends to male one sleepy.

9) Time

For the eager and determined any time of day and all seasons ofthe year equally good. But for those who have jobs or professions the

best time is either morning or evening, or better still, both. Try to sit

every moming, preferably before breakfast, and just before going toUed at night.

-Furttrermore, because in the morning you are rested and

somewhat tr,r.rgry, You are in good condition for Ch'an, whereas in the

evening, when you are tired and have had your meal, you are likely.to be duller.

How long should you do sitting ch'an at one sitting? There is no

general rule, for it varies according to the degree of one's eagerness

as wel as the maturity of one's practice. For novices a shorter time

is better. The pain in your legs may well become unbearable before

you acquire a .uint mind. Thus you will quickly be tire of sitting ch'an,

ieeling it to be a waste of time. For these reasons it is recommended

that beginners sit for shorter periods of time.tn spite of your being able to sit for an hour or more with a feeling

of exquisite serlnity, it is wise to limit your sitting to periods of about

thirty or fortY minutes each.

723

WON BUDDHISM 9

10) Other Precautions to Observe in Sitting Ch'an

Make the lower abdomen the center of control of bodily energywithout thinking, and always be sure that the center for moderatingbodily energy is located there. When your mind becomes distractedand your power of concentration weakened, then do not forget totry to control your energy again.

At the start of meditation, the body or the face may occasionallyget itchy, as if an ant were crawling over it. This is due to the circula-tion of the blood. Never scratch nor touch when this happens.

When practicing this form of meditation, never hope for a miracleor a mysterious appearance. If you should experience some of these,regard them as wicked things and do not pay attention to them.

.3. The Merits of Sitting Ch'an

We can list the merits of this form of meditation as follows;1) Rash and thoughtless actions will be gradually eliminated.2\ The operation of the Six Roots (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body,

sense) will become orderly.3) Illness will become less and less frequent, and one's face will

shine.4) Memory will become stronger.5) One will become more perservering.6) One's attachment to things will lessen.7) Wicked minds will be changed into righteous ones.8) The light of wisdom of one's Nature will be illuminated.9) One will enjoy Absolute Bliss.

10) One will be liberated from the cycle of birth and death.'lo be summarized, the aims of sitting ch'an are three: 1) developmentof the concentration, 2) Tao-awakening, and 3) actualization of theSupreme Way in our daily lives.

4. The Necessity of TanJunJoo, Concentrating the Mind on theLower Abdomen (one inch below the navel)

There are many varities of sitting ch'an in Buddhism. Unless youIearn to distinguish between them you likely to err on decisive points.Ileginrlers need to bear in mind that in the substance and purpose oft,he various types there are distinct differences.

721

10

725

11WON BUDDHISM

In Won Buddhism, Tan-jun-Joo is the main and popular method.Originally sitting ch'an is designed to concentrate the mind on a certainpoint and to eliminate all other thoughts. By the way, if one concen-

trates the mind on the head or on things outside the body, the mindwill easily become movable and one's energy will rise, making it diffi-cult to stabilize the mind. But by concentrating the mind on the lowerabdomen, the mind will easily become stable and on-e's energy willflow smoothly downward.

Furthermore, Tan-jun-joo meditation is not only necessary to prac'

tice Sitting Ch'an, but it is indispensible for promoting good physicalhygiene. Wn-en one concentrates the mind on the lower part of theabdomen and swallows the salive ,which comes from under the tongue(tongue's position should be placed behind the upper teeth) and formsin the mouth the Watery Energy and the Flaming Energy within thebody will be properly balan""d and the incidence of illness will de-

crease. Tan-Jun-Hoo meditation is the best way both to practice medi-tation and to promote better physical health. At any rate, sitting ch'an

does not aim at rendering the mind inactive but at quieting andunifying it in the midst of activity. The longer sitting ch'an continues,more time should be spent in walking sitting ch'an. You must keepyour mind in a state of clear awarness during such manual labor and notallow it to become la>r or dull. If it is otherwise, it is not sitting ch'an,i.e., seeing into your essential nature and realizing the Way in yourdaily life.

WON BUDDHISM

The Basic Moral Principle in Won Buddhism

by Bong-Kil, Chung

Nowhere in the Kyo Chon (Won Buddhist Textbook) is the funda-mental moral principle explicitly designated as one, but it can be for-mulated from the chapter on the Four Graces together with otherstatements in the same text. We ask for the fundamental moral princi-ple of a moral system in order to find out what its foundation is. Theutilitarian rrloral foundation, for instance, lies in maximizing happiness;

and Kantiin moral foundation, in the universalizability of a maximfrom which one acts. In this article we are concemed with formulatingand examining the moral foundation of Won Buddhisrn.

The fundamental moral principle of Won Buddhism is determinedby the founding motive of Won Buddhism. The raison d'etre of a moralsystem is, in Ven. Sot'aesan's view, to help ameliorate the humanpredicament, or more strongly, to help deliver all sentient beings fromthe "tormenting seas of life" and realize an earthly paradise.

Realizing an earthly paradise does not mean maximizing happiness;in an earthly paradise people may be happy, but happiness is notessential, it is only incidental. I say this in order to make it clear thatWon Buddhism is not concerned with maximizing pleasure or hap-piness. As Karl Popper correctly points out, a morality has to beconcerned with minimizing unnecessary pain, but not with maximizingpleasure of those who are doing well anyway. The Won Buddhistmorality aims mainly at minimizing sufferings caused by those whotry unfairly to increase their own happiness. One may wonder whetherthe term "paradise" does not imply a place fully of pleasure. Actually,the Chinese word for "paradise" consists of two characterc lo-yuen( *H ) where lo means "happy," "pleased" and 'Ioy";and yuen means"garden." However, Ven. Sot'aesan's moral system has no aim ofmaximizing or increasing happiness.

From a medical doctor's point of view, whether his patients in-crease or maximize pleasure is not matter of medical concern. Afterhe cures his patients of certain illness, he leaves it up to his patientswhether they would increase their happiness or not as long as whatthey to does not harm their health. Being in good health is a necessarycondition for happiness; however, being in good health does not meanmaximizing happiness. I think there is a strong analogy between the

The Great Master, when enlightened, expressed his feelingin verse, as follows:

When the moon rises in a tresh breeze,Everything becomes bright of itself.

ot)+

I+

It+t

l

I

$t

t

IlII

I

il

726

L2 WON,BUDDHISM

goal of medicine and that of the moral system of Won Buddhism. OnVen. Sot'aesan's view, the main cause of individual, familial, societal,national and international problems and disharmony lies in whathe calls spirtual illness. Once the spiritual illness is cured, the causeof moral problems is removed.

According to Ven. Sot'aesan, the main spiritual illness lies inpeople leading the life of ingratitude toward the source of their ownlife. When people are ungrateful, they become resentful to one an-other, creating the "suffering seas of life." Ven. Sot'aesan's paradisemeans a world where the cause of individual, familial, societal, nationaland international problems and troubles is removed. The basic moralprinciple of the ethics of Won Buddhism must show how that goal

'can be achieved.What is the basic moral principle, then, that is consistent with the

founding motive of Won Buddhism? An answer is-the principle whichcan cure the spiritual illness mentioned above. This basic moral prin-ciple can be discerned in the second of the four platforms of WonBuddhism, which requires one to be aware of the Graces and requitethem. Spirituall illness lies in the ingratitude of people tb the sourceof gtace on which they depend for their living. As will be seen shortly,Ven. Sot'aesan does not need any real proof for the claim that one'slife is impossible without the favor or grace of Heaven and Earth,Parents, Brethren and Law. What the platform requires us to do isto know that one owes one's life to the Four Graces and requite them.

Ven. Sot'aesan says, "Oridinary humans make an object of resent-ment out of a person who has done them a great favor ten times, butfails once; while an enlightened sage makes an object of gratitude out ofa person who has done him harm ten times, if he does him a favorthereafter. Thus, ordinary humans find harm in grace, inviting destruc-tive quarrels and war; while the enlightened sages find grace even inharm, and thus bring about peace and comfort." We can see here thatVen. Sot'aesan finds the cause of resentment in ingratitude.

The basic moral principle in the Ethics of Won Buddhism can bestated as: (MP) Act in such a. way as to be aware of graces and torequite them. This basic moral principle is incorporated into a mottowhich contains a revolutionary idea for Buddhism as well as a supremereligious principle of Won Buddhism. It says: (RP) Since Buddha-images are every-where, do all things as offerings to the Buddha.

On Ven. Sot'aesan's view, "all things in the universe ar6 embodied

727

WON BUDDHISM 13

I)humakaya Buddhas, hence one can find Buddhas wherever one goes.One ought to do things as offerings to the Buddha. . ."

In the traditional Buddhism, the image of the Buddha sculpturedof brass or wood, enshrined in or out of a temple building, has beenworshipped. The Buddha image was believed to have the power tobk'ss, or to respond to the prayer of the worshippers. Ven. Sot'aesangrointed out that it is hard to prove the evidence of biessing or punish-rnent by the Buddha-image. He said it is not difficult, however, toI)rove that Heaven and Earth, Parents, Brethren and Law bless orpunish us. We can see here that the idea of blessing or punishmentwhich comes from traditional Buddhism is preserved, but the attitudeof worship toward the Buddhaimage is changed to the attitude ofgratitude to the Four Sources of Grace.

The above motto, thus, expresses the fundamental religious princi-ple of Won Buddhism, and transforms the basic moral principle into a

ltractical one. To use Toulmin's words, "Ethics provides the reasonsI'or choosing the right course: religion helps us to put our hearts intoit." combining the moral principle (MP) and the religious principle(RP) above, we can see"that one ought to be aware of the Four Sourcesof Grace as the incarnated Dharntakaya Buddhas, and requite theFour Graces as a way of offering a Buddhist mass.

The moral reason to requite the Four Graces is that we are "inde-bted" to the Four Graces. The reason for treating the Four Sourcesof Grace as Buddhas, howeve,r, lies in the fact that, on Ven. Sot'aesan'sview,. they can bless as well as punish us. We can see that Ven. Sot'ae-san gives what Kant would call a "prudential reason" for treatingother humans as Buddhas. If humans were wise enough and benevolentenough, like the Buddha, to help and render favors to one another, nomoral problems will arise. As things are, humans are, as Kant wouldput it, in between the world of beasts and that of angels. This factforces man to be prudent in treating other people. If humans had onlythe power to help and render favors, man may not have to be prudent.However, humans are not like angels.

Ven. Sot'aesan advised an old couple to treat their daughter-in-lawlike a Buddha instead of trying to offer a Buddhist mass to the Buddhastatue in order to thereby change her character. They followed Sot'ae-san's advice and treated her as if she were a Buddha. She turned outto be a woman of great filial piety. We can see here the old couplewere responsible, at least partly, for her want of filial piety. Thus, she

72t

14 WON BUDDHISM

had the power to punish as well as to bless them'

Although ven. Sot,aesan i, "orr."med with the effectiveness of a

Buddhist mass' i, t[i, anecdote, one can see how he has modified the

concept of a Buddhist mass. For this reason' of cou:se' some tradi-

tional Buddhists call won Buddhism a pseudo-Buddhism' In ven'

Sot,aesan,s view, however, fi;;;"t "9*d for us to forsake the tradi'

tional method of Buddrrist mal *nitn includes the offering of food

and other "nlot rr,"nts to tne nuaana. There is nothing that if not a

manifestation of the Dnarmitciya p,uadha' Hence all sentient beings

are boin with Buddha nature, and they are potentjal Buddhas' The

daugfrter-fuc-law in the above anecdot. fo* a potential Buddha so that

she had the ;";; t" punish as well as to bless the parents of her

husband. Here .we can see that Ven. Sot'aesan has renovated the

;ffi;;'ot a-cuadha and that he has added the notion of punishment

thereto.We,ashumanbeings,mustdependdirectlyandindirectlyonone

anotherformingafamily,asociety,anationandaworld.Inhisview, tt " *t

oi"' ;";id i; iif." " hd" family and humans can survive

only if they frafp one another dfictly and indirectly' Once one

is born into this world, one owes one's life to the favor of many things'

which, on Sot,aesan,s view, are ot four kinds. He calls them the Four

Graces. Here the word "grace" does not have the sense of being divine'

when one,s religious feeling reaches its peak, one may feel the Four

Graces as being divine; but this fact doe' "oi make the four kinds of

favors divine. -It

is hard for a detuded man to rearize the "grace" to

which he owes tir tit". when he does not realize the grace' he can

never feel grateful to the.very-r.;; of his life, like the help of other

fellow human beings. He *uy feel resentful to others when things ard

not done as he *irt". This is the beginning of familial, societal, na-

tional and intemational airl"*".v *a "ot'flittt' What the basic

moral princip'IJ-;i"tt "[ it to help 9ne.

to. realize one's "indebtedness"

and develop the feeling of gratiiude by'acting to requite the graces'

729

WON BUDDHISM 15

The Basic TeneB of Won Buddhism

by Dr. Chong-man, Han

The Great Master Sotaesan, the founder of Won Buddhism, hadbeen enlightened to the Great Way of the Universe through his ownpainstaking efforts and quest for Truth from his early age. Havingattained the Way without any master's help, Ven. Sotaesan made outhis thoughts somewhat different from the traditional religions orphilosophies, shaping his original pecularities. He had integrated allthe doctrined and unified the teaching of Sam-Hak, meaning the Three-fold Learnings-Samadhi, Prajna, and Silla. And he also made it clearthat a religion which does not teach about the Nature is not a perfectreligiorr because the Nature is the origin of all Laws and the basis ofall Principles. Here I intend to sumarize the basic tenets or essentialfeatures of Won Buddhist Thoughts to find their significance in thecontext of other thoughts.

I

First, Ven. Sotaesan established the views of the Ultimate Truthleading to the One Round Circle. On the twenty-eighth of April,Ven. Sotaesan, upon the attainment of his great Englishtenment, said,"Al1 beings are of one Nature and all things and principles originatefrom one source, where the Truth of No Birth and No Death and thePrinciple of Cause and Effect operate as perfect organs on an interre-lated basis." In a short saying, the source of all things in theuniverseis same despite their various and different appearances.

Just as the linguistic expressions and teachings about the Truthdiffer in every religion, the same is true of symbols. -All the symbols,however, are eventually united into One Circle, which is eternal inspace and time. Ven. Sotaesan made it clear to be absolutely perfectand strictly impartial.

The Truth of Il-Won is epitomized by Voidness, and Righteousness.In Fostering the Natttre, Voidness is practiced by contemplating thestate b.eyond Being and Non-Being: Roudness means to keep a state ofmind in which thoughts neither come nor go; Righteousness means animpartial state of mind. In Enlightenment to the Nature, Voidnessmeans to be aware of the absolute state of the Truth of ll-Won where

730

16 WON BUDDHISM

any thought has ceased to be; Roudness is the immeasurable depth of

wisaom *fri.f, enables man to look through all Truth; Righteousness

.is the right understanding which can pierce through everything and

judge correcUy. In the Utilization of the Nature, Voidness is the

state of one,s mind where no pride abides when one does good forothers. To do everything without attachment is Roundness; and

Righteousness means to keep the middle way in doing all things.

Il-Won is the origin of all beings in the universe, the mind-seal ofall Buddhas and saints. As Il-Won is the original Nature of all beings

and the very best mind of all antecedent Buddhas, it can be the objectof faith and the standard of moral training, providing for the basic on

which'a variety of ascetic training can be bdtsed. For these reasons,

we establish the principles of faith and moral training with the FourGraces: the Grace of Heaven and Earth, the Grace of Parents, the Grace

of Brethern, and the Grace of Law, and with the Threefold Tlainings;the Cultivation of Spiritual Stability, the Study of Facts and Principles,

and the Selection of Right Conducts. With the essential points ofthese, we attempt to integrate and utilize the teachings of all otherreligions so as to be believers of the inclusive and perfect religion.

A view on unifying and making the best of the doctrines of otherreligions is well demonstrated in the following sayings: All the foun-deri of religions have from ancient times made their appearances at

different times, teaching people the ways of life. The essentials oftheir teachings, however, have been different, due to differences in the

times and locations in which they lived. This can be. compared tomedical doctors working in their own specialized fields. Thus, in

Buddhism, through the principle of the formlessness of all things

in tire universe, emphasis is put on the Truth of No Birth and No Death

and the Principle of Cause and Effect in explaining how to become

enlightened from a state of delusion. In Confucianism, the stress is

on beings in the universe having form, thereby essentially explainingthe way of Self-Descipline, Domesticity, Statemanship, and of Esta-

blishing World Harmony through teaching people the Three Principles

and the Five Moral Rules in human relations, and Benevolence, Right-eousness, Propriety, and Wisdom. In Taoism, on the basis of the

natural law of the universe, they explain the original state of purity,serenity, and unartificiality, teaching us how to foster one's own

Nature. These three ways, although their doctrinal principles are

different, aim at the same goal of leading the world into a righteous

73t

WON BUDDHISM 17

way and of bringing its benefits to all beings. In the past, these threercligions put stress only on their own principles of teaching. In thefttture, however, it will not be possible to achieve universal deliver-:lrrce of the world with only partial teachings. Hence, we have integra-l;r'd all these doctrines, unifying the teachings of the Cultivation ofSPiritual Stability, into Won. We have also established courses of studystrr:h as the Perfect Integration of the Seoul and Body, and the paral-k'lism of Principles and Facts. Anybody who practices these methodsol' study will not only become versed in the fundamental teachingsof all religibns and alt laws in the world, attaining enlightnment to thegrcat Truth which reaches everywhere.

II

Second, Sotaesan clarified the principle of graces or blessings inwhich the world can live peacefully. In the traditional meaning ofHril(:e, it is just doing a favor or conferring benefits on a person, bearingl,lrc characteristics of. ethics.

Ven. Sotaesan used the terminology of Eun ( ,8, Grace) to designatel,ht' relation which exists between two things one of which depends foril,s existdnce on the other, making the conclusion that humans are"itrdebted" to the Four Graces without which our life is impossible.

Ven. Sotaesan asked the disciples to think, in order to know in-rlclrtedness to the Four Graces, whether we could preserve our exis-l,r'rt(:e without them. He said that even an idiot would understand theirnJrossibility of life without them. Ven. Sotaesan recognized all theplrcnomena relating to each other originally as Eun (Four Graces).Vcn. Sotaesan encompassed Dharmakaya, Heaven, the Great Absolute,'l'iro or Nature, and God from Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and( lhristianity, respectively by making an obvious point of Eun.

So to speak, Ven. Sotaesan's unique intention lies in the expressionol' t,he Four Graces, which are another rendering of Ultimate Truth, and11ivc concrete expression to the abstract idea of Ohe Truth. And thel'ipltrre four in the four Graces is not representative of all things in thettttiverse but glossly classified concept centering around the human;rosition.

1) It is a general truth that there are ways and virtues in Heaven;rrrtl Earth; the automatic motion of the great organ of the universe isllrc way of Heaven and Eearth, and the results of the operations of

732

18 WON BUDDHISM

the ways are virtues of Heaven and Earth. Ven. Sotaesan's metaphysi-

cal view of Heaven and Earth is that the two grand'frameworks of

Tao (ways, Principle) and Te (Virtue, Achievements) closely corre-

r"l"a'j;;; r1r." the two sides of one coin. Heaven and Earth is full of

Iife, joy, and bliss. The existence of Heaven and Earth as such is bliss-

fut. The way of Heaven and Earth is, according to sotaesan, 1) ex-

tremely bright, 2) extremely sincere, 3) extremely fair, 4\ natural,

5) vast and limitless, 6) eternal, ?) without good or bad luck, 8) with-

out any idea or notion in offering benefit to others.

The eight ways of Heave., ^nd

Earth are nothing than the operation

of II-Won Truth. One of the most important Buddhist moral virtues

is not to abide in any idea or notion when offering benefits or favors

to others. One mpY te disappointed at the ingratitude of someone to

whom he rendered- favors. One of the disciples asked, "What is the

difference in merit between offering benefit with a specific notion

and offering benefit without ally notion?" Ven' Sotaesan replied'.,offering benefit may be compared to fertilizing soil for trees' offer-

ing benefit with a specifi. .,olion is just like fertilizer which is only

spiead on the grorpd, while offering benefit without any notion is

like the fertilizer which is spread and covered' The value of the fer-^,il*.;';;i"h

ir uncovered will readily be lost, while the value of the

covered fertilizer will remain for a long time' The difference in merit

between offering benefit with a specific notion and offering benefit

without any ,lotion is like the difference in the effectiveness of the

fertilizer. "2) If one wants easily to know how much one is indebted to the

Grace of Parents, one should try to imagine whether birth is possible

without parents and whelher one could manage one's own helpleSs

infancy; one will reco gnrze that one cannot. one may say that the

birth and death of man is the principle of nature and the infinite

capacity of Heaven and Earth; uut it is by indebtedness to the Grace

of Parents that helpless life is nurtured and learns the way of life'

The moral duty of filial piety, which is the foundation of virtues

and the root of civilization in terms of traditional meaning' is well

advocated by Chong-san, the second prime master of Won Buddhism'

According to him, it is the basic moral principle and the origin of

morality. The one who does not recognize one's indebtedness to

parents cannot understand indebtedness to the Four Graces.

However misserable one's environment may be, his visual conditions

733

WON BUDDHISM 19

do not matter at all viewed from the Absolute Good of Parental Grace.But there are serious problems in the Confucian filial notion that holdsan oppressive weight on the descendents even after the parents haspassed away. The three-year-mouming is a good example of improperpractices in Confucianism. Ven. Sotaesan has abolished and remediedthe improper ones of the past filial practices. The central principleof the requital of the Grace of Parents is: Model yourself after the wayof being indebted to the Grace of Parents when you were helpless,and protect the helpless as much as you can.

The foyr Articles of Requital, derived from "being indebted toone's parents" are as follows: 1) Follow the way of moral discipline,2) Support your parents faithfully as much as possible when they lackthe ability to help themselves, and help them have spiritual comfort.3) In accordance with your ability, protect the helpless parents ofothers as your own, during or after the life time of your parents. 4)After your parents are deceased, ensh.rine their pictures and bio-graphical records and remember them.

3) We have an immediate and organic relationship with aII themankinds including birds and beasts, and even trees and grass helpfulto us. It is impossible to live at a place where there are no humanbeings, no birds and beasts, no trees and grass.

Generally there are in the world four categories of occupationsamong the living, i.e., scholars and officials, farmers, artisans, andmerchants. These people are helped by, or are indebted to one an-other by the principle of mutual interest when they exchange all ofthir goods and skills, while they remain in their respective categories,No matter what kind of an occupation one holds, the principles offairness and mutual benefit will be the moral principle to be applied.

It follows as a natural consequence that we must simultaneouslyrecognrze other people, identifying myself. The superficial phenomenaof doing harms to others are not problems in essnce here. The exis-tence of Brethem itself is grace, for we cannot exist without others.Sotaesan spells out the way of requiting the graces received from them.The general principle is: Model yourself after the way of "mutualbenefit" by the principle of which you are indebted to Brethern, andconduct the exchange among people of the four occupations on thebasis of the principle of mutual benefit.

Ven. Sotaesan lists five imperatives for the requital of the Gracesof Brethern: 1) Scholars and officials are to cultivate the people and

731

20 WON BUDDHISM

carry out the duties assigned by governmental offices' on the basis of

the principle of mutual-benefit. 2') Farmers are to supply the ma-

terials for .toirr", ura food -irirty,

o., the basis of the principle of

mutual benefit. 3) Artisar,, u* lo ,uppty the pubtic with with shelter

and facilities fairly, on the basis of ii" principle of mutual benefit'

4) Merchants are io distribute many things faiily' on the basis of the

principle of mrtual benefit. 5) Wilhout sufficient reason' one ought

not to destroy grass and trees, birds and beasts'

4\ It is impossible to 1iy" i;

-peace and order without the law of

moral training ior the individual, tire law of.household affairs' the law

with which to govern a ,o.ffi and a nation, and international law

with which to govern the world. ven' sotaesan derives a general rule

for requiting th"e Grace of Law and then formulates five specific moral

duties. The basic moral principle to requite the grace is: If one is

indebted to the prohibitions of certain things by !q" law' one ought

not to do the things so prohiUiiua; uld if one is indebted to the things

encouraged by the iaws, ihtrr one ought to do them'

The basic idea of this rule is to iealize the righteous and eliminate

the unrighteous. This idea is well demonstrated in the following prin-

ciple of continual meditation in Buddhism: when the six Roots are free

fromwork,excludeworldlythoughtsfromyourminda.rdcultivatethe mind's ability to concentrate; ;d when the Six Roots are at work'

exclude what is unrighteous and cultivate what is righteous'

TheThreefoldLearningsprovidesthemethodofmoralcultivationfor individuals as shown in the following phrase in the articles on

Indebtedness to the Grace of Law: sages come to the world at the right

times, and by means of religions and morality they teach human being.s

to follow the right paths. Here we should not fail to notice that the

Grace of Law i"nclude the ways suggested by the ancient or present

sages' r ^J--^^*inn n Sotaesan's view, the fol-The moral education must include' ol

lowing five articles as the way of requiting the grace -of

what he calls

,.Law.,, 1) Leam, as an individual, ih. way of tnoral cultivation' z)

Learn and practice, as a member of a family, the way .of regulating

thefamity.S)Learnandpractice,aSamemberofsociety,thewayofharmonizingthesociety.4)Learnandpractice,asamemberofa state, the way of governign the state. . 5) Learn and practice, as a

memberoftheworra,-thewayofputtingtheworldatpeace.

735

WON BUDDHISM 2I

III

Sotaesan spells out the integrating method of practices. Integra-l,ion, no separation is the basic form of Won Buddhist practice.

1) Ven. Sotaesan suggests the way in which we can keep the'l'hrgefold Learnings integrated to accomplish the Enlightenmentlrroperly and naturally. It is necessary that each 'believer practice:rll the courses of study; but it happened that some of them becamel.oo attached to only one or two of the courses in the past Buddhisttririning. Holding to the partial ways, people divided inio differentgr()ups, which became a hindrance to the true Buddhists in believingrrrrrl in practicing their moral training. Hence, we have decided to in-t,r,grate all the Buddhist training courses.

By practicing the courses for the Cultivation of Spiritual Stability,w(, will attain the Buddha's power of Spiritual Stability which is un-rlist,urbed from external circumstances. Through training in the coursesol' Selecting Right Conduct, we will acquire the power of distinguishinglrr,l,ween right and wrong, and we will learn to practice doing righteoustlrings. !\/hen we use these three great powers as the power sourcer.rrallling us to attain our wishes or to show us the necessary waylor the practice. Offering worship to Buddha in our everyday life,tlrur all doctrines will become united, and the methods of moralIririning of the followers will become harmonized.

2\ In the pffit, men who lived mundane lives were not regarded:rs rnen of moral training. As a result, evil habits of empty living with-orrl jobs prevailed among the men of moral traning which cas evilrrrl'lrrences upon many individuals, families, societies and even uponrrirl,ion. In the future, however, the old world will be transformed into;r n(,w world where religion will become a living religion in whichrrronrl training witl be completely integrated with the normal activitiesrl'rlaily life.

lrr ltrief, we recognize spirit and body not as contradictory notionlrrrl irs c:omplementary one. Spirit and body is a single being as a wholelrrior bering separated into two contrasting substances. Viewed from thell Won Truth, it is extremely natural that spirit and body should existlr;rrrrrrjniously in the everyday life of human beings.

ll) Ven. Sotaesan said, "The perfect world, in which the spiritual;rrrrl lrhysical life are well-integrated, will be constructed when inwardly,rrror:rl study develops through the progress of spiritual civilization,

736

22 WON BUDDHISM

and when, outwardly, the phiJosphy of scjence develops through the

progress of materiai civilization." Ven. Sotaesan compared the ma-

terialism lacking in spiritual cultivation to a careless child playing

with a sharp-e{ged knife, and the spiritual civilization deficient in

sound materialism to a cripple whose ipirituar condition is perfect but

who has an ailing body. A one-sided world putting -extremely' mels

importance to eiiher materialism or spiritual civilization.ls not perfect

and cannot bring forth perfect peace and tranquility in this world'

As well implicated in the Foundation Slogan of "As material civiliza'

tion develops, cultivate spiritual civilization accordingly'" We take

*"t"ri"fri*^ in a favorable sen$e of solely making use of it, giving

etitiiv+:ili'i;".", suggested the principres by which the in.ferigr

and the si:perior can progfess altogether. GenerallY, he who wins in

anything is called the superior, while he who is defeated is called the

inferior. The superior may achieve his purpose by making use of

the inferior, but [h. it f"tior can always acquire superiority from the

superior. Therefore, they rely upon each other and can become fri-endly or antagonistic. The superior person can always continue to be

superior, by elevating the inferior to a superior position through the

*.tt od of mutual interests. The inferior may become a superior by

overcoming the difficulties and hardships, regarding the superior as

his leader until he himself is elevated to superior position. If the

superior only takes advantage of the inferior without being concerned

as to how to remain a superior, and to how the superior degenerates

into the inferior, even. thl superior will finally degenerate into the

inferior. On the other hand, if the inferior person onlV resists the .

superior person without realizing that he cari elevate himself and

tnat tfre superior can degenerate into the inferior, the inferior person

will then remain inferior forever.

737

WON BUDDHISM 23

The Brief History of Won Budrlhism Until 1943

by Dr. Byungduk, Yoo

During the latter part of the 19th century there were the ensuingsocial upheavals featuring numerous ap;rarian revolts, which culti-minated in the downfall of the prevailing system of government.Also in this period, it was widely felt that Korea should come toterms with foreign ideas in general and European commerical enterprisein particular. The spiritual influence exerted by foreign religions onKoreans was profound. In a word, Korea was in a extreme cnfusion,with the intrusion of other powerful countries such as Russia, China,Japan, and so on. The main religions influencing upon people through500 years during Chosun Dynasty could not touch the people's hearts.With such a background as this, in 1891, Sotaesan was born in theremote villiage of Younchon, Kilyong-ri, Paeksoo-myon, Youngkwang-kun County, Chonnam Province, Korea.

He was the third cif four sons of Park Sung-Sam, his father, andYoo Jung-chon, his mother. His original name is Park Joong-bin,meaning "shining again." Park is his family name. His Dhanna nameis Sotaesan, ild his disciples call him the Great Master now. Hispaternal line came from Park Hyuk-keose, the originator of his ances-tors and the first king of the Silla Kingdom of ancient Korea. Hisancestors lived for generations in Yang-joo County, Kyungki Province,and seven years before he was bom, his family moved down to Yung-kwang district, his birth place.

His father, a farmer, was bom sagacious and intelligent, and waslooked up to by his neighbors. His mother was noted for her virtousand generous character. Especially his father made very efforts ma-tcrially and spiritually for his son's enlightenment until his death whenSotaesan was 19 years old.

The son of a typical Korean farmer, Sotaesan, from his childhood,was very attentive to all the phenomena he saw. His persistence neverallowed him to give up things that he once decided to achieve, and didhis best especially to keep his promises with adult people. He alsoasked some embarrassing questions to aduits for his age.

It was when he reached seven years that a unusal question arosein his mind. While he was sitting on a board floor in the back of hishouse, a cloud was floating through the clear, blue sky: "Why is the

738

24 WON BUDDHISM

sky so blue and how was that cloud could be formed?" His questionsabout natural phenomena went further into particulars such as dew,rain, wind, and mist, one after another. As years passed, his questionsextended even tn human affairs: "What is the relationship betweenmy father and mother?" and "Why are some people rich and otherspoor?" All the matters he observed were mysterious to him. Hismind was always full of doubts-"what" and "why". But the couldnever get a satisfactory answer from anyone.

When he was eleven, he heard about the mountain god, which theysaid was omnipotent and had superhuman powers. Delighting at thestory, he confirmed himself that the mountain god would give him asolution to his long cherished doubts. Without his father's permission,he gave up the village school at once where Chinese classics in old timeswere taught by a village schoolmaster. For this reason, he could notcomplete the regular course at that time. From the following dayhe began to climb Mt. Koo-soo and started praying to have a chanceto meet the mountain god at Sambatt Pass. This prayer continued forfour years with the same sincerity as the first time when he started it,neglecting bad weather condition and many dangers such as wildbeasts.

His parents, finally moved by their son's consistency, helped himto offer up food to the god. The mountain god, however, neitherappeared nor showed any miracle. Finally, he came to lose his faith inthe mountain god and abandoned any expectation from the god..

At the age of fifteen, he got married with a daughter from thefamily of Mr. and Mrs. Yang. At the next New Year's Day by lunarcalendar, he called at his wife's home to greet his wife's parents. Therehe heard a group of villagers reading old stories such as "Choung-chon'Biography" and "Park Taeboo-chon Biography." In these stories heheard another kind of superman, "Tao-sa."

Sotaesan encouraged himself again, transferring his hopes formeeting the invisible mountain god into looking for a existing super-man. He expected that all his questions would be solved immediatelyon finding the superrnan. However, not a self-styled superman whocalled on him couid give a sufficient answer at all. His seriousnessbecame deeper everyday.

Without any possibility to finish his life-and-death struggle andhis innermost problems, years elapsed to reach the age ,of twenty.Many adversities happened around him. The most sorrowful mis-

fortune was his father,s death.more serious economic troubles,pr()ccss to get enlightened.

739

WON BUDDHISM 25

Naturally his family suffered frombut he couldn,t stop the unsolved

His anxiety grew more and more serious. He was reft with the,nly thought: "How shourd I solve th;r" questions?,, He becameunconscious even of eating, sreeping, anJ moving around. From thethatched roof of his cotta-ge, rain leak"d i;,-;"-U;i.'ioo- aII wet.Despite this, he sat on his .oorn silently not disturbecl by environmentaltroubles' His body was all covered *itr, boils. Even neighbors avoidedapproaching hi.s house, cailing it a haunted house.Eventually he came to the stage oi iu*udhi, not meditation. Theword 'meditation' is widery current in the world today as equivarentto samadhi' zen, and other general term covering all kinds of mentalyoga. But 'meditation, is an unsatisfactory term, for in everydaylanguage it means 'thinking about ,o*uihing,, whicir is exacry whatthc true meditator must iot do, since the aim is to transcend con_ceptual thought and pacification ,i tn."ehi.After attaining the enlightenment, v;;. sotaesan recaled the pastscarching process; "Before t rrua u.q,rirJ awakened thought, I some-times gave prayers, chanted extemporaneous incantations which unex-lrcctedlv sprang out of mv head, ^oL i;r-;;-;;;;;;iu,o.,, uncon-sciously. However, since an idea-trru u*J."rgd thought___arise in me,:r^d the gate of the soul was opened, my mind darken?J or rightened.'l''is occurred sometimes at night,' ,o*"ti-u, during the day, andsometimes for a period of a month. In the cou^e of these changes,when wisdom became brighter, everything seeme, to be clear to me andI t>ecamse self-confideni in my uuitity io know ura ao anything int'he world. on the other hand, when tiru *iroom became darker, I wasirt' a loss what to do with myself and was ,.,rt".irrg with anxiety aboutr,y future rife- Fventuaily, irowever, ar these changes ceased, and theawakening thought remained unchangeable.,,'At day break, April 2g,,Lgl6,"tfru-1"u, of Byung-jin, Ven. So_.rre'san got enlightened at least. He was il; comprete uulrr*_empty.'l'hat night there was no desire, no goal, nowhere to go, and no one togo to anywhere-all effort ceased. duddenly he became aware oflrimself, suddenly he became aware of the reality as it is. sotaesan('xl)ressed his present state of mind: "when the moon rises in a freshIrceze, everything becomes bright of itself.,,IIis enlightenment suddenly transfonned himself, both internal

710

26 WON BUDDHISM

and external. He washed his body and face, cut his nails. Everyone

around him i""i"ai"g even his wife was astonished to see his rapid

.h"rrg". He finished his travel from the deep structure again to the

surface world. Great joy sprang up from his fears after a long tunnel

of total frustration.Later he suffrjred from coughing every winter and the coughing

a*"vr-1"t"*"pt"d his preaching. HL said often to his disciples, "My

ui*trptu.", Kilyongni, as you know, is noted for the unusal poverty

and ignorance of itr p.opl". Fortunately, however, according to my

habit from former lives, I made a deoision to study the Law in the

early part of mY life.But although I sought the way with sincerity, I had to think by my-

self and had t6 iuffer from various difficulties and hard ascetic disci-

plines because I had no teacher to inform me about the way to become

enlightened to the Law. sometimes I went to the mountains, staying

there overnight, or sat up on a road or in a room until daw' I took

baths with ice water, abstiined from food, and made my room icy cold.

My ascetic discipline was so severe that I became unconscious. Finally

all doubts were solved, but a disease had deeply rooted itself in my

U"aV and it is growing serious according to my declining physical

.or,ditiorr. I had no choice at that time for I did not know how to

study. You are greatly blessed people because from my past experi-

"rr"", you have b-een taught the perfect way of Mahayana moral prac-

tice, without suffering from a difficult and hard ascetic discipline.

Generally, the practice of constant Ch'an and omnipresent Ch'an is

the shortcut in Mahayana moral practice. If people practice in this

way, they will achi.r" t*i"e as much with half the effort. - Also, no.

dislase will affect them. I beseech you not to practice the wrong

way and hurt your body, but remember the useless sufferings that I

had when I could not find the right way of study'"After his enlightenment, .r"tt those who ridiculed him before

became his follo*.rr. Eventually, his followers, including his relatives

older than he, followed him. He chose nine devout initiative men

among about forty followers. And he held up the following slogan

in the first place: ,.As material civilizations, cultivate spiritual civiliza'

tion accordingly." Here 'material' and 'spiritual' is not opposite to

each other, but'complementary. The words of 'develop'and 'cultivate'

here are understood as meaning that an unprecedented civilized world

would be well harmonized by spiritualism and materialism. He said,

71t

WON BADDTIISTI 27

"To establish such a world, we must prepare doctrines which incor-porate the following teachings: moral study and philosophy of scienceshould be compatible, which might bring real civilization to the world;Meditation in Moving should be harmonized with with Meditation inBeing Quiet in order that the search for Buddhist Dharma might parallelour practical works. "

Ven. Sotaesan never took a negative attitude toward real and ma-terial life, but rather was confident that if scientific civilization couldgo along with inner spiritual civilization in mutual harmony, as idealsociety cou'ld be established in the world. His teaching was well fittedinto the then current society.

He started teaching not from a religious theory or mysticism,but from a new way of life. He recognized that the most urgent ne-cessity is to teach the improved way of life to peoplen who, underthe Japanese occupation, were living abandoned lives.

As his first step, Ven. Sotaesan organized a saving union with hisnine disciples in 1917. He told them to restrain from smoking anddrinking, to wear modest clothes, and to live in a simple manner. Hetried to awaken the people by motivating their lazy spirit and bodythrough cooperative work. He even bumed charcoal'to increase thefinance of the Saving Union.

One year later, the union- members succeeded to have some amountof money. Ven. Sotaesan made up his mind to build a dam to reclaimthe deserted land of Kilyong-ri, his birthplace. The neighboring peopleabused and ridiculed Ven. Sotaesan and his diciples for their recklesb-ness, for in the past many people tried to reclaim the salted land butfailed every time. However, the diciples finally succeeded in the con-struction of the dam in a yed, upsetting other people's expectation.

When members of the group were still building the dam, one ofthe wealthy neighbors, seeing them at work, immediately submittedan application to the authorities. As this caused some trouble overthe question of ownership of the beach, the members became veryconcemed about it and deeply hated the neighbor. Ven. Sotaesan,however, said, "This trouble in the course of constructing the damseems to be a trial from Heaven. Don't worry about this and neitherhate nor bear a grude against our neighbor. Right will win in the longrun. Even if this beach which we are reclaiming should happen to beowned by our neighbor through unfortunate circumstances, rightwill stand on our side. Moreover, as our original purpose in life is to

712

28 WON BUDDHISM

sen/e the public, it will not be entirely meaningless to serve him except

that we would regret that the beach would not help more people,

as we intended. Anyway, the poor residents along the beach will be

able to use a consideiable part of this land for farms. From this point

of view, our labor will not have failed to serve the public welfare'

During ihi, triul, do your best if only for the benefit of the public'

and transcend ttre concept of yourself and the other' Then, naturally'

everything will be settled fairlY-"After finishing the construction, he assigned the members of the

group speeific locations and dates, and bade them start offering ptayer.

th. -pruy".,

at the time is as followers: "At present, materialism is

having increasing influence in the world today, while the mind of

human beings ur. b".oming weak. In these circumstances' individuals,

homes, societies, and natiols are not able to maintain equilibrium, and

must remain in endless suft'bring. .Can we who have r$ade up our minds

to help other people neglect this situation? Wc know of saints and

sages *ho, with their utmost sincerity' gave prayers for all living beings

and received a response from Heaven. Now we hold that this is the

time for us to pray incessantly to Heaven and Earth until Heaven res-

pond to our piuyltt. Then people can be the masters of material

ihirrg., instead of being tempted by tem. Our mind is equivalent to the

mind of Heaven; our uirt,,rri will meet with the virtue of Heaven and

Earth when the last bit of self-centered desire has left your mind.

Everything witl then turn out successfull, as we desired. we should'be

.orrriiors of the fact that we possess the ability to impress the willof Heaven and at the same timl should always be aware of your own

responsibility to save all sentient beings."on the sixth day of october, 1919 (the fourth year after the

foundation), ven. sotaesan proclamined that he had decided to choose

the Buddhist Dharma as the key principle of his association, changing

the name of the Union into the Buddhist Sesearch Association. Atthat time, he said, ',What wi: now need toknow and teach is Buddha's

morality. Study the essential meaning of Buddha Dharma and strive

for enlightenment to its Truth. It has been a long time since I was

enlightened to Buddha Dharma and since then I have been putting

emphasis on inspiring religious faith into the minds of people only

by means of a11 unorganized teaching system, according to their in-

telligence. I have done this because I observed that your understanding

of tle Truth is still far from complete.... If you are to be enlightened

713

WON BUDDHISM 29

to the genuine Truth and seek after the goal of the true discipline,leading all sentient beings into the path of wisdom and blessedness,Buddha Dharma should be the main principle in your teachings."

Buddhism, however, had been ill-treated in Korea for several hund-red years, and consequently the people lack reverence for it, so hefeared that ignorant people might be very indifferent to his Buddhistteachings. According to him, true Buddhism will become one of themajor religions practiced in the world. In the future, however, Bud-hism should not be the same system as that of the old Buddhism, butshould be practiced by scholars and officials, farmers, artisans, andmerchants. ' It should not be a Buddhism only for monks, but for alllaymen. In Won Buddhism, since then, as for the way of worshippingthe Buddha, we do not regard a Buddha image as a real Buddha, but wedo know that all things in the universe are Buddhas, and everythingwe a.re doing is the practice of Buddha Dharma. As to the way ofoffering worship to Buddha, in its original sense, there is no particularDharma Hall or Buddha image for offering worship to the Buddha.F)very place is to be our Dharma Hall and everything is to be ourBuddha image for offering worship to Bufldha.

In the April of 1920, Ven. Sotaesari announced the essential doc-trines of Won Buddhism (The Association was again named WonBuddhism as the established name in t947.) in Mt. Bongraesan, Chon-ltuk Province. He stayed there four years, constructing a little cottagenamed Bongraechungsa. And Bongraesan Mountain is the historiclrlace for Won Buddhism, since Won Buddhist original doctrines werernade here.

Residing in Mt. Bongraesan, he also started searching for a placet,o be the center of his new religious order. The present sites of theWon Buddhist Headquarters and Won Kwang University were chosenlry him rn 7924.

In 1927, he epitomized his general teachings and published them inthe book called The Code of the Research Association for Buddhal)harma. Later The Essential Views on Spiritual Cultivation and Study,'l'he Six Great Essentials,'The Three Great Essentials, The Revolutionol Korean Buddhism were also issued. In 1943, just before his Nirvana,lrc hastened to publish The Canon of llon Buddhism, which is the basicsutra of Won Buddhism nowadays. Furthermore, in 1926, he revolu-tionized the formal and unpractical Buddhist proprietles by publishing'l'he Code of New Proprieties which was appropriate for the times and

711

30 WON BUDDHISM

modern life. In order to promote the idea of The Code of New Proprie-ties,he revised the book completely and republished it in 1935. It hasbeen popularized and is still in effect today. On the other hand, hecontinued his journalistic and literary works.

The Monthly Correspondence of Won Buddhism was first issuedin 1928, and was continued for a few years until it was checked andforced out of circulation in 1932 by the Japanese occupational govern-ment. Also he published sixty-fivc issues of The Research GroupReport from 1938 to 1943, when it was again forced to stop publica-tion owing to the same reason.

Here the explanations about Won Buddhist history until 1943was not given in details. In a word, he was born and lived in the midstof many difficulties for his people as a great thinker as well as hiddensocial innovator. He susgesed bright visions to our people, and openedthe new possibility for a new religion to come into being in Koreanhistory.

\o q o 5 a ho h+ \ O q O r- q h O \ o S o \ + \ o h I \ t h g \ 9 \ I h g !r9 \ g 5 o 5 g h 9 qr + qr o \ + \ g h.r' S+

The Great Master said, "All great Truths are closelyintereelated and nothing can come between them. Humanbeings, however, not knowing this truth, place barriers betweenthemselves. Whoever is enlightened to the principle of how tobrighten up the mind by seeing into all things and principleswill be able to attain great, perfect, and right Enlightenment. "

715

WON BUDDHISM 31

For the Reform of Traditional Korean Buddhism

The book, published in L929 (the Fifth Year of Won Buddhism),is not a theologlcal exposition of the Buddhist truths from a scholaryviewpoint, but a proposition of practical methods for improvementof the state of Buddhism in Korea. Nevertheless, because of that verypractical intent, this essay not only grasped the conditions of KoreanIluddhism of the day accurately, but also accurately comprehendedl,he truths of Buddhism itself. In it, all Ven. Sotaesan's (the finiter ofl,his essay) education, thoughts and observations are manifest in theform of criticism on the state of Korean Buddhism. Also clearlyoutlined in it are all his later developments as the founder of a religion.l,hinker, and activist.

In this essay consistingopinions on the problems:rnd solve. - Ed.

of nine chapters are set forth his concreteKorean Buddhism of the day had to face

from the Collection of Won BuddhistPubl,ications ( Vol. IV)

( )ontents

l. Introduction2. A View on the Traditional Buddhism of Korea;1. The Real State of Monks of Korea,1. Buddha's Wisdom and Abilityl-r. Towards the Buddhism Suitable for Korea from Foreign Buddhism(;. Towards the Buddhism not for Minority but for Majority7 . The Integrity of the Separated Subjects on Inner Cultivationll. The Replacement of the Buddha Image with the Il-Won-Sang Sym-

bolThe Practical Ways for Worshipping the Il-Won-Sang, Buddha-nature

lntroduction

I, being not fully aware of every kinds of world Buddhism, cannotJudge them in brief words. But there have been no doubt many impro-Per practices in Buddhism of Korea for a long time. If we are to speakrrbout the practical methods for the renovation of the Chosun Bud-

1).

l.

716

32 WON BUDDHISM

dhism, the ways can be summed up roughly in three ideas: reform the

foreign, old-fashioned, and monk-centered Buddhism to be in accord-

ance with the chosun society, current times, and the masses' respec-

tively.Not changing the basic tenets Buddha preached, w€ should suggest

the new ways o? practical life to fit in the present times and people'

and should revise the systems and doctrines to lead the changing and

modern societies. It is necessary and proper to supplement what

deserves supplement, and to renovate the things to stand in the way

of development.Moreover, it is about 2,000 years since Buddhism was introduced

by way of phina. Naturally, Buddhism has come to the state of 3uf-

fering iro-'rejection and giving corrupt customs despite of its achieve-

ments in the chosun society. Therefore, I believe that there should

beign to remedy the trifle doctrines and systems out of date withoutdisturbing the basic tenets of Buddhism.

2. A View on the Traditional Buddhism of Korea

Buddhism has had a close relationship with Korean society, and

several hundred years ago was prosperous; recently, however, it has

been ill-treated. It has been forced to hide in the mountains due to

changes in the ruling power and the prevailing influences of con-

fucianism, Buddhist monks, therefore, have carried out a transcen-

dental and meaningless life. This is why Buddhist teachings have not

been widely recognized by the general populace. Some people who

think they know about Buddhism say that in some scenic places in the

mountains there are Buddhist temples with monks and Buddh? images,

and that the'ordinary people go to these temples to gives offerings

before the Buddha images for the purpose of being blessed or excused

from being punished. It is also said that the monks are disciples of the

Buddha,s images, remaining unmarried, with shaved heads, in ragged

robes and with beads in hand, calling the name of Buddha and reading

sutras, going around with a sack on their back begging alms from donor,

paying their respects even to the lowest and poorest persons alnong

btaitt*y people, refraining from smoking and eating meat or fish,

and refraining from killing things. It is also said that it is not the

people of the higher class, the rich and the blessed, but those who

717

WON BUDDHISM 33

nre born with an unfortunate situation who axe supposed to becomemonks.

Furthermore, afirong the monks who are versed in the Buddhistl,ruth there are supposedly those that can tell a place for the besthome site or burial ground. They are also said to be able to bringwinds and rains, move mountains, and walk across water. However,it is also said that such a man would rarely be seen even among thou-sunds of men, and that therefore Buddhism is an unrealistic religion notsrritable for ordinary people, with temples which are surrounded bylrcautiful scenery, but which are just nice places to visit for relaxatioh.I t, is also said that if a member of a family is a temple-goer or a monk,l,lrc family vi,ilI experience bad fortune and their descendents willn(,vcr be prosperous because Buddhists practice crearnation. Thus, tol,lrc general people, the Buddhist monks have been regarded as unusualIrrrman beings.

In these situation enumerated here, hou' can we expect Buddhisml,r> be prosperous and draw a favorable impression from the poeple?

3. The Real State of Monks of Korea

I, being a member of the Chosun society and ignorant of Buddhism,by some chance got to know the, profound truth of Buddhism andlrclieve in it, so that I have come to say the real state of monks of( )hosun to a certain degree.

Acutally, the monks have carried out their lives worshipping magni-l'it:ient Buddha images in splendid temples constructed at scenic placesrcmote from everyday society. They have cut off all wordly relation-ships while enjoying the rustling of the wind and the loveliness of themoon, listening to the music of nature such as birds singing and waterflowing. Without a \ryorry, they have eaten meals and worn clotheswhich were offered by donors.

They have had only to read suttras, practice Calling the Name ofBuddha, Sitting-type Meditation, and sometimes stroll in the woods.Not all of the monks have had a life'of leisure, of cleanliness, and oftaste. Old Buddhism was based upon monk-oriented doctrines andsystems, it was not suitable for secular life. However rich and powerfula man may be in a secular society, he cannot enjoy as much a free,r:lean, and tasteful like as even a poor monk does. Viewing from themiserable conditions of our country people, monks are little short of

718

34 WON BUDDHISM

supernatural hermits. But our peasank engaging in farming land make

bare livings on coarse food such as barley water, soybean paste' soy

sauce, und ,o on, suffering from the midsummer heat in the hot that-

ched houses ur',d getting bitten by fleas, mosquittos, and bedbugs.

Moreover, immediately on cropping the harvest of the year through

painful hardships, they are deprived of their farming products by their

creditors. Naturally they cannot have their own vision or hopes only

to draw a deep breath reproaching each other even among their families

and relatives. After knowing the real state of the opposite lives of

monks, how daren't the common people want to be a monk?

4. Buddha's Wisdom and AbilitY

The height, depth, and width of the Buddha's superior way are

immeasurable; his wisdom and ability cannot be expressed through

words, written or spoken. Generally speaking, however, ordinary

men know only that there exists a birth and a death, and are ignorant

of the eternal life; but Buddha was enlightened to the principle that

there is no birth and no death, but rather eternal life. We are also

ignorant of the principle of even our own self, but the Buddha

tlroughty knows the principle of all things in the universe' We are not

able to differentiate between the way of good and evil, and usually

follow the evil way. But the Buddha has the ability to deliver himself

and to save all beings in the universe' leading them from the way 9fevil to the way of goodness. we do not know why happiness and

suffering come our w&Y, but the Buddha knows about the happiness

and suffering which natually happen or are created by our own selves'

when we fall from blessedness -and

happiness we can do nbthing foiourselves, but the Buddha is able to restore his blessendness and hap-

piness. We care little about our wisdom, whether it is getting bright

tr dull, but the Buddha brightens wisdom when it loses its brightness,

and keep it continuously bright. We are apt to commit many wrongs'

from being affected by covetousness, anger, and foolishness; the Bud-

dha, however, sees Non-Being through Beings or forms, and Being

through Non-Being. we are ignorant about the six Paths: the path of

Heave-n, of human beings, oi sutra, of animals, of hungry ghosts, and

of hell; and we are ignorant of the Four Forms of Birth: viviparous,

ovoviviparous, water-borned, and metamorphic, while the Buddha

knows even it'," Reason of the transformation of the Six Paths and

719

WON BUDDHISM g5

the Four Forms of Birth.We never care whether we hurt others for the sake of ourselves,

but the Buddha does things in the spirit of mutual interests, and whenhe finds it necessary to give up all his own interests, he gives them upncven his own,life, for other people, as though it were his own blessed-ness and happiness to do so.

We are in possession of only a limited number of things such asour own individual homes and our blood relatives. The Buddha"however, said that all things in the universe are the Buddha's homeand all sentient beings are his family.

Those who lack in understanding Buddhism take my remutrks forlryperbole. But every word of them' would be taken as'golden sayingsand sagacious ma:rimum by men of profound knowledge in Buddhism.'l'he wisdom and abilities of Buddha is really beyond description.Broadly speaking, the doctrines about attaining Buddhahood andsalvation is high, profound, and numerous.like Mt. Sumisan (the highestrnountain in the world imagined by the Chinese Buddhist: translator'snote), the Hangha River, md the Sands of Hwang Hwa River, includingall the universe. Wifh this wisdom and ability of the Buddha, we areto devote ounselves to delivering all living beings.

5. Towards Buddhism Suitable for Korea from Foreign Buddhism

Since Buddhism was founded in India and introduced,into Koreal,y way of China, most of names of persons and places, nouns andl,crms about Buddhist doctrines are composed of Chinese or Indianlanguages, so that Korean people find difficulty to learn Buddhismwithout distinctionof age and sex and knowledge.

Therefore, it is not necessary for the Korean people to be weddedl,o the old customs of Chinese, Indian, and old Chosun Buddhism.Iteturning to the primitive and original purports of Buddhism stressingt,he supreme ways of Enlightenment and delivering all sentient beings,we should issue the easy Buddhist textbooks in Korean language,at:cepting the old scriptures as only good guides to the study of Bud-<lhism.

Those who search for the principle of Buddhism are to give carefulnttention to the reformative articles of old Buddhism to attain enligh-l,cnment in a comparatively short time. It is most unlikely that we getcnlightened through the difficult old Sutras needing a Iong time to leam

750

36 WON BUDDHISM

at one's own choice. our Korean people occupied with busy- and

bustling affairs oi -society

,nJ1 make the nest use of their spare mo-

ments in arriving at the "rr.rr* or Buddhism with great delight to make

the destin"tio., Jt Buddhahood at a proper speed'

6. Towards the Buddhism not for Minority but for Majority

Because old Buddhism was based upon-.1on|-ce"':'-:d doctrines

and systems, ii *", not suitable for secular life' As a result' ordinary

Iaymen-w"r" o.rt iaers to trre guadhist religion' and were rarely even

listed a-i Buddha,s immedirt; ;;;ipl"t'oI i *""ttors of a Buddhist

order, urrles, th"y -

achieved- pu'ti"*t"' distinction through Buddhist

works or studY.Religionhasmeaningwhenitteachespeople.Monks,however,

established temples in the remote mountains' Ho*' then' could busy

people find ti*" to go to the temples to be taught? The Buddhist

scriptures,also,wereCo.mposedofph,*,..andcharacterswhichweretoo difficult to be taught ano understood by ordinary pe.ople, intelli-

gent or ignor""t, *"tt't' female' old or yo"g' As to their way of

living, the monks, without a,,y occupations as such, lived on the alms

and offerirrg, oi-donors, wtrictr is an inadequate and impossible way

of life for the majority. Marriage was also strictly prohibited for

*tlfiln regard to propriety, monks were instructed only in the for-

malities of grrdalrirt *"*riip *a not the proprieties which are. ne-

cessary fo, ,*ri"r life. Ho-*,-1fren, 9ot1l-d [nui' lives encoinpass the

totality of existence? tr.r.ror., in ihis New order, we will not make

anydistinctionbetweenmonksandlaymenintheirbasicrightsa^smembers of the Order, but the degrees of their Buddhist study and

activites will be the standard of distinction' Also' we will make no

distinction between monks and laymen as to their succession to the

tu*i.*rres for moral training will be established where the be'evers

areliving,andscriptureswillbecomposedoftheessentialsoftheteachings, using easy *o'a', 'o

t!1t the majority may use and under-

stand them. T-he rnont<s wiit be allowed to iruu. suitable occupations'

and maniage for monks *iiiU" optional' We will not observe the all-

toocomplicated proprieties of formal worship to Buddha' but will

leam more about the most approprieties of ordinary tife by emphasiz-

751

WON BUDDHISM 37

ing the way of offering worship to Buddha everywhere and in every-thing.

As for the lives of monks, it is desirable, except on special occa-sions, for us to engage in scholarly works during our youth,. and inour middle age to learn moral philosophy while carrying out mis-sionary works.

In our old age passing sixty we will find a scenic and quite placeadequate for a secluded life, away from worldly attachments anddesires, and there we may study th€ problem of birth and death.In autumn and spring, we rl&y, in tum, visit the temples in townsand cities, giving our best in missionary work. In winter and summer,we will resume our moral training, thus leading our everyday lifeinto the perfect Way.

Regardless of monks or laymen, all the doctrines and systemsshould be popularized in accordance with the current times and people.It is also not desirable to put much emphasis only to the Enlightenmentto the Nature and Fostering the Nature exclusive of Utilizing theNature in actual life. Well harmonizing the Three Essential Learnings,we should devote ourselves to establishing the essential ways of humanlife and the essential ways of training not to be deficient in fittingitto the current age and public trend.

7. The Integrity of the Separted Subjects on Inner Cultivation

Old Buddhism taught the scriptures, methods of practicing media-tion by pondering on Kung-an, the abstruce questions, methods ofCalling the Name of Buddha, how to chant incantations, and methodsof Offering Worship to the Buddha. In teaching all scriptures, itorginatly intended to introduce the Buddhist doctrines, systems, andhistory. By letting the Buddhists practice meditation on Kung-an,it aimed to elighten them to the profound Truth which is otherwisedifficult to teach through sciptures or verbal explantation.

The method of Calling the Name of Buddha and other incantationswere taught for beginners of Buddhist study whose minds were toostrongly occupied with worldly desires.and attachments to permit theconcgntration required to get into the right Way. The methods of Of-fering Worship to the Buddha were taught to help the believers in thesuccessful achievement of ttieir wishes and to help them in doingBuddha-work.

7s2

38 WON BUDDHISM

Itwasnecessary,therefore,th+eachbelieverpracticeallthesecourcesofstudy;butithappenedthatSomeofthembecametoatta.ched to only ;;; ;, two of these courses. Holding to the practical

way, they divided-into different groups, which became a hindrance

to the trr. g.rdat iJ, in believing "anO in practicing their mora) train-

ing. Hence, *. t "r" decideJ t; integrate a,, th; Buddhist training

courses.Inordertocultivateourwisdomindoingthesethingsandin

understanding these principle,, *. have trained in the many kung.an

ofthemeditationsectS,studiedscripture'ottheteachingsects,andhave selected the most essential kung-an and scriptures from those

complicated aott'i""t and il;-"" d be the "o"tt"t of the Study

of Facts and Principles. ttr.'p-t-ittices of Calling the- Name of Buddha'

of meditation, and of incantaiion have been selected as the courses of

CultivatingSpirtualstabilityinolder.to,integxatethemind.Thepractice in pI;;"p" and tnl tiaining in the Pr;nciple of cause and

Effect and i* trre Fou, GruJ", are trrl study courses for the selection

ofRightConduct,whicharethemostadequateforsecularlife.Accor-dingly, we require the believer to practice these three great practice

"t'ti::T;n"fr'. continuar nra-3tice 'r 1l:^"::::'-1::,i1" studv or

Facts and principles, *. *itiuituin power to gain an insight into Facts

and principtes without trirai"r,"., u, t1" guddha achieved' By practi-

cing the ,orrl", ilr tr,e c"riir"tiJn of spiritual stability, we will attain

theBuddha,spowerofSpiritualstability,wewiltattaintheBuddha,spower of Spirituat Stabifit, wtrich is undisturbed from external circum-

t'"";ii;ough training in the courses of r:f:,r* Right coirduct, we will

acquire the power of distingUishing between iighf and wrong' and we

use these three gxeat po*.r, "s

the power .o,,,Ju enabling us to attain

our wish., oilo- rhow us the necessary way.for the practice of offering

worship to Buddha in or, "iffiav ilt9, then all doctrines will become

united, urra irru ,nethods oi*o*r iraining of the followers will become

harmonized.

S.TheReplacementoftheBuddhalmagewiththell.WonSangSYmbol

occasionally,ithadbeenusefultoworshiptheBuddhaimageasa

753

39WON BUDDHISM

method of teaching Buddhism, but it has gone now as far as to impedethe sound development of Buddhism, setting aside its necessity. Tot,ake an evidence, farmers place puppet scarescrow in the center of ricefields to prevent birds from pecking out grain. At first, the birds arex:ared only by catching a glimpse of the puppgt clothed in human<'lothes. But after many trials of getting near it, they come to know the;rrrppet's real appearance at last. Later they develop into the stage ofl,aking a rest and excreting on it. If a bird is clever enough to dis-r:r'rn true fronr false, how much more so should we human being be!

LJsualiy monks misuse dignified Buddha images to make a living ofl,hcir o\Mn on the pretext of worshipping Buddha. Buddhist followersrnuke food offerings when observing Buddhist service. This practice;rlso injure the prestige Buddhist temples. In this sort, Buddhist templeslre degxaded into business sites. In our society, people simply take inl,he worshipping Buddha image to be true Buhhist way. But in realcase they do not know the basic principles of Buddhism. WorshippingIluddha image has also many problems in laymen's homes for its diffi-r:ulty in making and placing it for its large size. The monks worship-lring Buddha images in their temples take pride in doing it and thinkof themselves as direct descendents of Buddha, while the generall:rymen feeling alienated sense cannot seek consolatidn from religionfor not having Buddha images in their homes.

According to Buddha's rryords, all things in the universe contain thetluddha-Nature within themselves. To put Truth in a word, it is theIluddha-Nature. And its shape is Il-Won-Sang composed o-f all thingsin the universe. For this reason we can well account for the cause andeffect in details of our punishments and blessedness. For all beings int,he universe are incarnations of Dharma-kaya Buddha, and everywhereone looks one sees incarnations of Tluth-Buddhq while everythingone does can be considered an offering of worship to Buddha. Thea<:tual and successful method of offering worships to Buddha is to bepracticed by wroshipping Heaven and Earth when we are being blessedor punished by Heaven and Earth, by worshipping our parents whenwe are being blessed or punished by them, by worshipping our brethernwhep we are being blessed or punished by them, and by worshippingl;rw when we are being blessed or punished by it.

Since the mentality of all mankind is in a state gf development,therb are those who may recognize the existence of a principle ofblessedness and punishment whenever they face some happiness or

751

40 WON BUDDHISM

suffering. when they come to recognize the existence of the principle'

they will try io ,"*.r, for the so"i"t of blessedness and punishment'

the meaning of its principr" *ili u*o*" clear to them' when they

come to understand the principte ct"arty, they will believe in it' Any'

one,intelligentorignorant,*hodiscoversanobjectofworshipwhichcan reasonably be believed, will be rewarded with peace of mind'

we should not expect some'otrr.. people to practice offering wor-

shiptoBuddhato,tt,"sakeofourselevsaswasdoneintheolddays,but must practice it for ourselves. Believers are supposed to know

t o* to practice Offering Worship to Buddha'

Without constant and steaai pt"ttice of Buddha worship adequate

for each situation, we can not expect to tealtze successful results from

it. Therefore, whether we tur" " bl"""d or faulty relationship with

otherpeople,orifwebecomewealthyandnobleorpoorandlow,all depend upon good o, uuJ itu"ii"" of ott"ting Worship to Buddha

through or, *ur! torlnur lives. A man who is blessed with fortunes

and wisdom is aware of the'i,i""ipr" of Dharma-kaya Buddha Il-Won-

Sang,worshippingallthingsintheuniverseasBuddhas.Sinceheseeksthesourceofblessedn",,",dpunishme.n.tinhispracticeofofferingworship to Buddha, his *irhe.^ are fulfilled without fail' Therefore'

weworshipDharma-kayaBuddhall.Won.Sanginordertorespectnot onry the Buddha i-uel--; a Buddha uui also all things in the

universe as Buddhas'AsfortheperiodwhichtoofferworshiptoBuddha,continually

offering worship, as has !.:, done in the pasi is improper' Depending

onthekindofworshipbeingoffered,u',ai,ordertomaketheof.fering effective, some torm, Jf tffering should be practiced for several

thousands or millions of lives while oth"t' should be practiced for

severaldecadesorfor,",e,ulhundredsofyears,othersonlyduringone lifetime or for several months or year" *hit" certain offerings will

be effective if practiced for only a short time' our offerings to Buddha

wiII be realistic and will be successful when they are practiced for the

proper rengtr, - oi time, d";;;;il; "" the results that we wish the

offering to achieve. tt ur"ioi", *". worship alt beings in the universe

as Buddha instead of worshipping onry Buddha image.

g. The Practical Ways for Enshrining the ll'Won-Sang Symbol'

Buddha'Nature

755

WON BUDDHISM 4I

_ 19 figure the shape of Buddha-Nature, it can be shaped after Il-t --_l Won-Sang (One Round Circle) with its contents tf the Fourl/1 | Graces. If we are to enshrine the Il-won-sang Symbol, we canI r:./ |

ao so in multiful ways to suit our own conviniences. Forr I examples, we can canle the symbol in wood or embroider itin golden thread on silk fabrics just like the form. Painting it oncommon cloth or paper with brush will do.

'^ t % {5+.5*16*.jf,t!}<a5i}f:tlf,*1f,*}fa.9<St!f}S{.Xtg*g +J<{j,f{lf *j6tf<-+.X{5U*gg {t{{!6$t!6:*j<

One of the disciples said, "A certain man came and askedme who the Great Master's own master is. I replidd that ourGreat Master attained his own self-enlightenment, and thathe had no private teacher." The Great Master said to him,"If anybody comes and asks abqut my teacher again, answerhim this way: 'He is our teacher and at the same time we arehis teachers. " Another disciple asked, "Among Buddhas,who is the spiritual antecedent of your Law?" The GreatMaster said, "Now the world is in a transitional stage, butShakyamuni Buddha is my spiritual antecedent."

I,

t,

\

756

42 WON BUDDHISIT'I

,,silhak" Thoughts Represented in won Buddhist slogans

by Dr. Chon-eun, Song

The word of Practical Leamings has b-"9" used for a long time in

our history to mean any practically useful learning' It can be inter-

preted in a broad or narroYv sense "tit ".

Researchers on silhak in the

past tended to view silhak not a.s a historical product at a certain

period in our history but handled it in such a way that silhak came to

be confused with many other "practical learnings" that.had existed in

our history and in China that *.r" used to meanlvery kind of practical

learning.Around the end of Koryo Dynasty, a new group of Confucianists

called yehak (the study of rituali sitrat< against the corrupt Buddhism'

and Confucianists of early Yi pi""ttv cauea Neo-Confucianism Silhak

against tt e meieiv rtretorical Sajanghak. Confucianism both are derived

from Chu Hsi, *a gfeatly "orrtriLrted

to the stabilization and main-

terance of feudalistii social order. In other words, Yehak and New-

confucianism were developed but bf the realistic necessity for the

stabilization of the Yi Dynasty society'

But, in mid-Yi Dynasty, Yehak which stressed formality and Neo'

Confucianism which is highly conceptualized gradually proved of little

practical value to the society and the t<ingdom as evils of the feudalistic

society accumulated and factional disputes within the ruling 'class

intensfied. In other *ora.,-V.fr* ",'i Nto-Confucianism lost their

significance as practical learning'It was ,rpon this background that a new trend in learning arose '

fortheestablishmentofaschoolofrealisticsciencesthatmeetstherequirement of the society. since the new trend in leaming and to

establish a realistic approach the actual situation of the country' the

scholars themselves, as well as later historians, called the school the

Silhak School.Those who recognized the value and significance of the new trend

of learning first *.iu such patriotic -scholars

of the period of Korea's

enlightenment. These patriotic, enlightened scholars used the new

trend of tearning u, "

.piritual resource not only for scholarly purpose

but for their -p"iri"ti.,

potiticat, sd culturar activities. Even though

the originators of the -Silhak

School could not envisage a modern

society, as it is now today, they certainly strove to bring in a modern

757

WON BUDDHISM 49

society, seeing indications of the disintegration of the feudalisticsociety. This is evidenced by the fact that they seriously discussedways to bring in pragmatism in actual life and social organization, asin landowing system, industry and commerce, and production.

The beginning of the Silhak movement came as early as late seven-teenth century, but it was in the eighteenth cenhrry that Silhak can besaid to have formed a school. The word SiLr'ak has to be used as a pro-per name with historical significance, much as the word c'Renaissance"is used as a historical proper name. In my opinion, our understandingof Won Buddhist slogans can be deepened by studying to charactersand aims of the scholars of the Silhak School, for Won Buddhismoriginates from Korea in the nearly coincident, although late, periodwith the Silhak Movement. Won Buddhist Thoughts also can be gras-ped as one of the Silhak Movements come into existence in Koreanhistory with the background of Buddhism. The following remarkswill give good accounts of the characteristics of Silhak in Won Bud-dhism.

I

' lntegration of Spirit and Body

The founding slogan is shghtly different from the thought of In-tegration of Spirit and Body for its emphasis on Spirit. But there isnothing exhaordinarily different as compared with the latter. Thefounding slogan is more comprehensive concept inclusive of the latter.(The founding slogan is "As material civilization develops, cultivatespiritual civilization aceordin gly. ")

The practical elements of Integration of Spirit and Body from theview point of Silhak thought are as follows: 1) Ven Sotaesan empha-sizes the importance of labor and work, 2) put importance on econo-mic life and industry, 3) takes a affirmative view of and admit scienceand techonology and 4) tries to accomplish not only the religiousideal but also bodily health. In these respects, I think, the same is tnreof Sil.hak Thoughts searchrng for the dual pufposes of spiritual andmaterial ideal. Here, of course, spirit is not empty and impracticaltheory sticking to ism and ics, but can senre as an accelerator topromote social welfare. If any religion impede the constructivedevelopment of present society, it drifts away from Silhak at the same

75E

44 WON BUDDHISM

759

WON BUDDHISM 45

nsl)()ct of Won Buddhism. To take a good example of "actual" doctr-rnt, Offering Worship to Buddha is the one. It purports that all beingsin the universe are incarnations of Dharma-kaya Buddha, while every-l,hing one does can be considered an offering of worship to Buddha.So the actual and successful method of offering worship to'Buddha isl,o be practiced by worshipping the very object when we are beinglrk'ssed or punished by it. As for the period during which to offerworchip to Buddha, continually offering worship, as has been done inl,ltc past, is improper. Depending on the kind of worship being offered,:rrrrl in order to make the offering effective, some forms of offeringshould be pyacticed for the proper length of time, according to thercsults that we wish the offering to achieve.

Ven. Sotaesan once said to his diciples, holding up his fan, "Peoplewant to know the Way in order to make use of it. If we are unablel,o make use of it when it is required, what good is it and what is therrsc of knowing the Way? If I do not know how to use this on a hotrlay, of what use it is to me?" As well demonstrated in just aboves;rying, "actual" or o'practical" in Won Buddhism means the integra-l,ion. of actuality and Truth. 'In a word, Won Buddhism is so doctrini-z.ed as to meet the demands of the times, to be suitable for actuallift:, and to be popularized.

3

Meditation and Buddha Dharma in the Actual Life

The word of ':Dangcho" (just the place where you are now) is welllxlrressive of Won Buddhist meditation. As fully recognized in ther;logan "Practice meidtation continually, practice meditation every-whcre," the main characteristics of Won Buddhist meditation is notl,o level the actual situation where you are now.

In the past the practice only in Being Quiet wes much emphasizedlrct:aus€ mundane work and moral practice were considered as incom-gratible. Successful study, however, is realized through successfulrnundane work, and successful mundane work leads to successful study,so that both of them can enable you to get enlightened.

Won Buddhist meditation has something in common with Silhak:rs far as the emphasis on reality is concerned. According to Ven.Sotaesan, at the earlier stage it seem to be difficult to practice medita-

'time.social development, how.ever, does not restrict only to material or

techonologcal enhancement but to metnal food to cure social ail-

ments. ven. sotaesan, the founder of won Buddhism, 8ot enligh-

tened without any help of Buddhist teachers and any relationship with

Buddhism, envisage the construction of a new world full of practical

thoughts in religion as well.At the eart] stage of the foundation, Ven. Sotaesan while supgrvi-

sing his nine dir"ipi"r building a dam to reclaim land at Kilyon*-d,

his birth place, ,uid, "You are not accustomed to such heavy work'

This hardship you are now suffering, as'intiators of the our Order'

is quite different from that of of ordinary people' However' you will

find unique pleasure in doing it. It will be more meanigful to initiate

a thing yourself through hardships and difficulties than just taking

over some other p"rror,', work. We must prepare a doctrine which

incoporates the toUowing teachings: that moral study and philosophy

of science should be compatible, *tti.r, might bring real civilization to

the world ; that meditation in Moving should be harmonized with

meditation in Being Quiet in order that the study of Buddhist Dharma

might parallel orr pt""tical works; and that possibilities for the unity

of all doctrines must be found which wilt bring the world together

in peace like a family. Thus, to accomplish our task perfecfly, a great

aeat of effort on our part is naturally required'

2

Putting Buddha Dharma into Practicat Use

ven. sotaesan stressecl the need of making the best of Buddhist

Dharma usefully in everyday life. Buddhism separated from the real

life, he thoughtl did more harm than good, rather producing a thousan-d

evils. Truth is not far away from the actuality or reality of real lives' Itgives a very meaningful suggestion that Buddhist truth is found in life;

life is Buddhist truth itself. For all that, I don't mean to deny the

the cardinal nature of transcendence in religion. Buddhism not follow-

ed by the sound living method, is nonsense itself.

ven. sotaesan frequently used the term of "practice," "reality",and "aCtuality" cOntrasting them to "falser" "vanityr" and "fUtility"'The term of ,,actually moral training" also demonstrates the silhak

760

46 WON BUDDHISM

tion, but, after mastering its method, meditation "'i' be practiced

easily while holding a hoe b{ u farmer, holding a hammer by a mechan-

ic, holding an "n"J"t

by a clerk, and doing adminidtrative business by

an official. One can piactice meditation while coming and going or

while at home. There is no reason at all that one have to look for a

place to meditate, or argue the need for being quiet in order to medi-

tate.Formerly, meditation was abstract, principle-oriented, while -Yt''

Sotaesan shifted its importance to fact itiett' By the w&Y' one problem

arises here. It,s about whether won Buddhism neglect sitting type

meditatior, ,igiiiv needing formality. Won Buddhism takes a compie-

hensive position. During regular training session, sitting-type medita-

tion is intensivelY Pragticed'Men need to have food to eat, clothes to wear, and shelter to live

in. If we lack in any of these, our lives would become imperfect' In

the same way; *" ,rula to rrave three kinds of spiritual power' that is'

the powe, of'spiritual cultivation, the power of study of Facts and

Principles, and the power of selecting Right"ousnes' when wanting

one of them, it cam hardly u" .*p"cted that things will be achieved

perfectly. ifr.r"fore, on the basis of the Principle of the Perfect

Integration of Soul and Body, Ven. So-taesan insisted on the perfect

integration oi o* physical iil", and -the three essentials concerning

the spirit-concentraiion, wisdom, &d practice-for our spiritual life'

Through the study of silhak, I feel in great want of- realistic r.e.se-

arch based on actual situatio, oi our nation today, and can examine

the influence of Won Buddhism upon Korean society thirsty for living

philosophy in modern and past times alike'

761

WON BUDDHISM 47

News Corner

I ) Won Buddhist Temple Newly Built in San Francisco

Won Buddhist Temple in San Francisco was newly constnrcted;Dharma-kaya Il-Won-Sang was enshrined, Aug. 13. A minister wasassigned to mission in the temple.

2) Sisterly'Relationship to be Established between Won BuddhistTe mples and Institution

Won Buddhist devotees working at institution other than WonIluddhist temples are to visit the temples at least one time a monthl,o animate the enlightenment activities, the chief of EnlightenmentSection said, Oct. 6. Although not residing in the temples, Won Bud-tlhist devotees at the institution will concentrate their efforts oncnlightenment achievements, having close relations with each other.

3) Convention for Cultivating Morality Held at Seoul

The First Convention for Cultivating Morality, sponsored by theWon Buddhist Laymen Youth Association, was held with the partici-pants of 1,500 members from 13 districts across the eountry at SeoulWon Buddhist Hall, Oct. 9.- The Prime Master Daesan said, "Morall,raining is nothing other than cultivating morality. Moral training isl,he foundation for home management, governing a country or world,rrltimately leading to world peace."

4 ) 4 Mins., I 2 Others in Chun's Entourage Killed in Rangoon

A powerful bomb exploded un the Burmese national cemetry inllangoon Sunday, claiming the lives of four Korean government minis-ters and twelve other ranking officials and others in the entourage ofl'resident Chun on his Asian Pacific tour covering six regional coun-t,ries. Won Buddhists pay solemn tribute to the victims of the explo-sion, and issued a statement to denounce the terroism in the name ofrevoltuion rampant in the world now, Oct. L0.

762

48 WON BUDDHISM

5) Wonrni Association to Hold Joint Exhibition

The members of Wonmi Association for the collegian artists of WonBuddhism put their eighLsix works on display in their second joint.show including six universities in Youngbin-kwan Hall, Iri, Oct. 21 to25.

The word of Wonmi means roundness and beauty. Park Kill-Chin,president of Won Kwang University, said those who engaged. in thefield of culture and art should fulfill their responsibilities to enlightenthe mass in this age of the loss of human nature

6) The Seventh International Meeting for the Study of Mahanand Paekche Culture

The Research Institute for Mahan-Paekche Culture, headed by Dr.Kim Jung-yong, the vice president of Won Kwang University, celebratedthe tenth founding anniversary in the university, through Oct, 28 to30. During the session, about 200 scholars, from the Republic ofChina, Japan, and Korea, to study the history of Paekche, one of theancient kingdom in Korea, talked over the problems about Paekchewith the title of "Comprehensive Review on the Culture of Paekche."Paekche was the main cultural source, especially in transmitting Budd-hism to Japan in about A.D. 6th century.

7) Won Buddhist Youth Association in Full Activity

Won Buddhist Youth Association is busy now preparing for thecoming big functions in memory of the twentieth founding anniversaryslated for July 7 to 9,1984. The book of "The Theory and Relaties ofWon Buddhist Youth," covering the comprehensive problems relatingto youths, was published, Dec. 15.

The undergraduates in Kyongbuk, Won Kwang, Youngnam Univer-sity, had the lecture meetings about Won Buddhist Thoughts, Oct.The Research Group for Rural Districts in Won Buddhist College helda seminar on the education of farmers, Nov. 19.

S) (Jnmaruied Won Buddhist Devotees to Take the Vow of Celi'bacy

Unmarried Won Buddhist female devotees, 64 including 2 men,

763

49WON BUDDHISM

took the vow of celibacy in the Memorial Hall, Headquarters, Iri,Nov. 6. In wol Buddhism, under the system of devoLes, even amarried man can become a devotee.

9) December I lulemorial Day

A memorial service was solmnly observed across the Won Buddhistf'arishes including the overseas temples on December 1. The numberrf enshrined soulds is increased frorn-1,?80 to 1,gQ0.

761

50 WON BUDDHISM

1. The conference for Won Buddhist Thoughts is held at the WonBuddhist TYaining Center in [ri, Dec. 22. The annual meeting,held with the title of "silhak Thoughts and Won Buddhism,"includes the training of Won Buddhist professors this year.

Forty-five old people are graduated from Won Buddhist'Iri Schoolfor the Aged, attachted organization to Won Buddhist Iri Temple.The school tums out 358 people since the foundation in 1975.

The members of Wonmiexhibit is now on show2L to 25.

Association pose before camera. The jointat the Youngbin Hall in Iri through Oct.

2.

76s

rr,rr)Al RIIDDHISM 6I