A TASTE OF ENLIGHTENMENT: Stories from Seon Buddhism
About this ebook
Live happily here and now!
Young man,
when a person sits on a ridge between rice paddies
and keeps one's mind pure,
that person is a practitioner.
And the place where that person sits is a temple.
That is Buddhism.
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Contents
PREFACE
Your Awakening Beyond the Awakening of Seon Masters
Part 01
Where Are You Right Now?
Someone Said So
Where Did You Come From and Where Are You Going?
Can You Attain Enlightenment Through Sitting Meditation?
“Chang-Cheong Chang-Cheong”
There Are No Blessings to Be Attained
Bring Forth Your Uneasy Mind
Grave Sin
What Is This Thing That Came?
How to Change Your Fate
Part 02
Do You Know Yourself?
How Can There Be Relics from a Wooden Buddha?
Who Made God?
Making Rice with Sand
Is Cow Dung Sacred or Dirty?
When Caught Up in Our Own Thoughts
How a Teacher and a Disciple Became Sworn Enemies
Holding the Bucket Upside Down
Saying “Yes” When You Really Don’t Want To
Part 03
Reflect Upon Yourself
The Story of Lady Bodeok
In the End, It’s Your Decision
Husband Buddha, Wife Buddha
Go to Another Temple
Awakening in Everyday Life
You’ve Been Deceived but You Don’t Even Know It
Part 04
Develop Strength Through Practice
You Don’t Have to Believe It
Does a Dog Have Buddha-Nature?
What Is This?
A Question That Comes Like a Bolt Out of the Blue
Beyond This World
Do You Know That You Don’t Know?
Part 05
Practice in Your Daily Life
Realizing That Dirtiness and Cleanliness Are Not Two Different Things
Turning Away from Sentient Beings
Who Are the Sentient Beings?
A Life Not Obstructed by Anything
Awakening Can Happen the Moment the Mind Arises
A Golden Opportunity
The Moment Love Turns into Hate
Part 06
Be Awake to the Here and Now
Be a Pine Tree in Front of the Pagoda
Holding onto Myself
Are You Awake?
United We Fall, Divided We Stand
Start by Accepting Reality
No Reason to Blame Others
Part 07
Turn Things That Have Already Happened into
Something Useful in Your Life
The Pain of Death and Abstaining from Killing
True Understanding
The World as It Is
The Present Is the Sum of Past Causes and Conditions
Choice and Responsibility
The Principle of Acceptance
The Path to Loving Yourself as Well as Others
EPILOGUE
How to Live Happily and Freely
About the author
About the Author
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim is a peace activist who delivers messages of peace and reconciliation, a humanitarian activist who provides various forms of aid to developing countries, a thinker who is paving the way toward a new alternative civilization, and an awakened practitioner. In 1988, he founded the Jungto Society, a community of practitioners who vowed to free themselves from suffering and devote themselves to serving others and the world by leading the life of a bodhisattva.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim’s Dharma talks are clear and straightforward. He has an exceptional ability to explain the Buddha’s teachings in simple, contemporary language. As a result, his spoken and written messages go straight to the heart of the matter and enable people to redirect their eyes inward and self-reflect. Furthermore, the esoteric content of Buddhist sutras come to life through his wisdom, intuition, and insight.
As of April 2022, YouTube videos of Sumin’s Dharma talks have had more than 1.7 billion views. He shares his wisdom with the general public on how to free themselves from suffering and how to become happy through his Dharma Q&As and the Happiness School program. To date, he has delivered more than 12,000 Dharma Q&As in South Korea and about 300 Dharma Q&As in other countries around the world, including the 115 talks he gave during his global tour in 2014. Also, since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim has been interacting with hundreds of thousands of people through his weekly online Dharma Q&As in Korean, and bi-weekly talks in English. (See his website: https://pomnyun.com/)
Among the more than 50 books Ven. Pomnyun Sunim has published in Korean so far, the most notable are Things Are Good as They Are Now, Buddha, and Commentary on the Diamond Sutra. His books encompass a wide range of subjects. His books, Words of Wisdom for Newlyweds, Becoming Happier, and I Am a Decent Person, provide insightful advice to young people. Lessons for Life is a guidebook for people living in modern society. Prayer: Letting Go is a manual for lay practitioners. Practice Guidebook for Teachers imparts wisdom for teachers. The River of Life Flows discusses an alternative solution to the environmental problem. And Why Is Unification Necessary? offers a vision for peace and unification on the Korean peninsula.
Some of these books have been translated into other languages, such as English, French, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese. Eight books have been translated into English, including Awakening, True Freedom, Prayer, and Monk’s Reply to Everyday Problems to list a few. Six books have been translated into Chinese, 3 books into Thai, 2 books into Japanese, 2 books into Vietnamese, and 1 book into French. Among the few books that were translated into multiple languages is My Happy Way to Work, which was translated into Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Another is Becoming Happier, which has English, Vietnamese, and Japanese versions.
Based on the idea that practice at the individual level goes hand in hand with social engagement, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim has engaged in extensive peace initiatives for various causes including a peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula, refugee support, international relief efforts, and interfaith reconciliation and cooperation. Throughout the years, he has received numerous awards in recognition for his efforts. In 2002, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding, and he was presented the 37th Niwano Peace Prize in 2021.
