A Dharma Talk by Ven. Mu Shim Sunim

But we do have a lot of interest in Korea in different kinds of Buddhist teachings, for example Vipassana teaching. We also have a lot of interest in different schools of Buddhism. And many Korean monks like to travel and go around the world and learn about different kinds of practicing. And that is very wonderful. It means that Korean Buddhism is growing up. Because if the children only stay at home, when they grow up, they don’t really grow up. When they get older, they need to go out and look and travel widely and learn in different places, and then they can come back to the family. But it is also important not to forget your roots and not forgetting your obligation to your original teacher and those people who brought the truth to you. So ou

I had a friend, Mur Young Sunim. He’s in America. Some of you might know about him, or have met him, or have read about him. When he was in Korea, he felt like the Buddhists he met were too dependent on each other. And they didn’t do things themselves, they always needed to do things together. And he didn’t like this together action. He met a monk who said that the best kind of practice was to do things by yourself – not things like chanting, but walking. So, this monk did this kind of Kido. He walked all around Korea for the sake of Korean unification. He walked all around, from Seoul to Kyungju, and to Pusan. Everywhere. And he refused to ever get in a car or bus or plane or train or boat. The only thing he took was one boat, to Cheju Island. This was his practice. He insisted on walking. And he walked very fast, very strong. Some of you might know this monk – Won Bong Sunim. He walked all over Korea. He’s still walking, I think. He said he is going to keep walking until he can walk to North Korea. But it hasn’t happened yet. He insisted on doing things under his own propulsion. And my friend also wants to do things himself. If he needs to do something…he’s building a temple now in California…he doesn’t call a contractor right away. He tries to do it himself first. He bought an old backhoe, and he learned how to drive it, and he got his own tractor�

Some topics in this essay:
North Korea, Zen Buddhism, Zen Master, Korean Buddhism, China Taiwan, Korea Buddhists, Seoul Pusan, Theravada Buddhism, Cheju Island, Buddhism Korean, course laid, walked korea, don’t check, rough ride, propulsion friend, own propulsion friend, strong effort, own propulsion,