Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Monastery Life


A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand.



He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up! In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.

The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son."
He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery
where the original manuscripts are held as archives in a locked
vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go
by and nobody sees the old abbot.


So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing,
"We missed the " R" ! , we missed the "R" !"

His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying
uncontrollably. The young monk asks the old abbot, "What's wrong, father?"

With A choking voice, the old abbot replies, "The word was...
CELEBRATE !!!"

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Just in Case you thought that Only we in the West have Issues

Infighting at Somang Church and Bongeun Temple
A fistfight and allegations of political interference have led both groups to call for resignations of their respective leaders
By Lim Ji-sun
“Reverend Kim Jie-chul, step down!”
This was the chant of around ten elders gathered at the chapel of the second Somang Church education building in Seoul’s Gangnam District around 9 p.m. Wednesday. Somang is a megachurch that President Lee Myung-bak also attends, and from which many of his appointments are made. That day marked the holding of the first church session since a violent incident on Jan. 2 between head Pastor Kim Jie-chul and two vice pastors. The church session, a conference in which the church’s pastors and elders gather to handle important matters, was supposed to be held on Jan. 5, but was delayed because of the incident.
Kim, who has avoided the press since the incident, said that he was “sorry to have shocked the church session members, believers, and Korean churches and society due to a violent incident that took place within the church at the beginning of the new year.”
In response, elder Gang Sam-hong stood up and delivered a statement on behalf of “all praying elders” in which he charged that “the head pastor issues improper orders to vice pastors and forces them to fall in line.”
“He must take responsibility for this situation,” he continued.
Around ten elders stood up and repeated chants demanding the head pastor’s resignation, after which they departed the meeting. The session resumed around twenty minutes later.

Kim said that day that believers had requested suspensions and bars to church access for the two vice pastors who caused the violent incident at the Korean Presbyterian Church and submitted that request for a vote. However, no vote took place due to objections from the congregation.
“Venerable Jinwha, head of Bongeun Temple and Jaseung must step down immediately!”
Members of the Laypeople’s Association, a believers’ group at Bongeun Temple in Seoul’s Gangnam District, distributed 700 copies of a statement at 1 p.m. Thursday. In it, they said that “the designation of Bongeun Temple as subject to direct management and the departure of Venerable Myeongjin are lamentable actions that sell out all believers.”
“Secretary-general of the Jogye Order Jaseung and Venerable Jinwha, who now seeks to gag believers, must step down,” the statement said.
The calls from Buddhists grew fiercer after Bongeun Temple shut down its web site on Feb. 11. The temple explained that it was a “temporary suspension of service due to reorganization work,” but believers countered that “the unilateral closure of a Buddhists’ forum for communication is an attempt to shut their eyes, ears, and mouths."
After the objections from believers grew more strenuous, the temple partially resumed service for the web site Friday morning. However, posts from prior to Thursday criticizing management of the temple by its head monk had been deleted in their entirety. Bongeun Temple announced that it would “delete writings that damage the harmony and order of Bongeun Temple” from the new bulletin board.
In response, a Laypeople’s Association member said, “Ever since Venerable Jinhwa arrived as head monk, people who were close to Venerable Myeongjin have been shut out of the temple’s operation.”
“If the biased operation of the temple continues, we will wage a campaign for the head monk’s resignation and a refusal to make offerings,” the member added.
A previous scandal unfolded around Bongeun Temple among allegations that then-GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo (now chairman) placed outside pressure on a Buddhist leader to put the Bongeun Temple under the direct management of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Bongeun Temple, located in the wealthy Gangnam District, was previously led by Venerable Myeongjin, an outspoken critic of the Lee administration. The scandal abruptly subsided with the sinking of the Cheonan.
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]

Enhanced by Zemanta

Labels: , ,

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Bodhisattva Kshitigarbha (Sanskrit)

Ji-jang Bosal (Korean)
Dizhang Pusa (Chinese)




Kshitigarbha literally means "earth store bodhisattva." One of the four Great Bodhisattvas in Asian Buddhism. He is venerated in folk belief as a savior from the torments of hell and helper of the deceased. Sometimes he is also regarded as a protector of travelers. He is the only bodhisattva portrayed as a monk, however also with an urna (one of the thirty-two marks of perfection) on the forehead. His attributes are the wish-fulfilling gem and a monk's staff with six rings, which signifies that Ji-jang Bosal stands by all beings in the six realms of existence.


Ji-jang Bosal, through his supernatural power, can take on six different forms in order to help the beings of the six modes of existence. In a special ceremony, which is generally held on the 49th day after the death of a sangha member, the sangha member invokes Ji-jang Bosal in front of an ancestor tablet erected on behalf of the deceased and supplicates him to guide the deceased to the pure land of the Buddha Amitabha. Then follows the recitation of a mantra through which the deceased is summoned back so that he/she can hear the teachings expounded. The ceremony ends with the invocation of Amitabha Buddha and Ji-jang Bosal.


Also Ji-jang Bosal is well known for his vow: "If all sentient beings in hell are not released from the cycle of existence, I would never attain enlightenment.


According to certain Buddhist lore or myth, when someone dies they go to the place of the Ten Kings, wherever such place may be. Every seven days the Ten Kings serve as judges at a court. Seven times seven, they go to court. The judges ask the newly deceased, “What kind of good action did you do when you were alive and what kind of bad action did you do?” According to your good or bad action, a certain kind of rebirth is attained or you may be sent to a certain realm.


Of course, there is an inner meaning to all of this. At this time after someone dies, during this 49 period, their mind opens up in an unusual way and all of their karma comes before them. So their energies lead them in particular ways and they gravitate according to their energy pull toward those things that they need yet to learn in a rebirth. That is the inner meaning of this ‘judgment’ of the Ten Kings.


The Ten Kings dwell only in one’s own mind. Perhaps they may be viewed as ten levels of awareness. So if someone has made good karma then they go to a place that is good. If someone has made bad karma, they go to a place that is bad. But, if someone has perceived the essential true meaning that there is no birth and not death, then they perceive the Mind of No Hindrance and then coming and going is all just this Bodhisattva path or Bodhicitta “Altruistic Intention.”


So, this 49 day period has several aspects to it. In a sense this is not so much a ceremony or a period for us as it is a time to try to help the person who has died to keep a clear mind during this time before rebirth. We chant certain mantras and names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to call on the mystic powers of those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to help the dead person wake up and get enlightenment. There are certain Dharma speeches given during this time to remind the person to keep clear mind and perceive the essential true meaning of no life, no death. Also, besides offering the service to the person who has just died, we also make compassionate offerings toward all suffering beings in tall realms who are still wondering somewhere. We transfer the merit of any good karma that comes from this to our dearly departed love ones.

Labels: , ,