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Full Table of Contents
Introduction
About the Author
Other books by Seon Master Daehaeng
Copyright
By the same author
Wake Up and Laugh
No River to Cross
A Thousand Hands of Compassion
Moonlight in a Thousand Rivers
(Forthcoming 2014)
Visit us at www.hanmaumbooks.com for more information about these and other titles.
Introduction
The stories collected here were told by Seon1 Master Daehaeng over the course of forty years of Dharma talks. To everyone listening, most of these tales and their themes would have been familiar. But even when telling a well-known or funny old story, she would explain much deeper elements that most people wouldn’t have noticed in previous hearings.
Through the foibles of a rich man, she explains the working of the karmic echoes that our actions and thoughts have created. In the misadventures of a monk who went to China to find a teacher, she shows us how to take everything that comes up in our lives as our spiritual practice. And in the story of a poor widow, she explains the infinite power of the fundamental Buddha nature that we all share.
This idea of a foundation we all share, our Buddha nature, is a frequent theme in Seon Master Daehaeng’s stories. This foundation is the basis of our connection to all other beings, and the source from which everything arises. And yet this idea is not always easy to understand or accept.
So, in these stories, Seon Master Daehaeng explains one aspect or nuance after another, until at last we begin to have a sense of what she is talking about. This is the point where things get interesting, for the essence of all spiritual practice lies not in the understanding, but in the application.
Even if you understand only one thing, she urges her students, do your best to consistently put it into practice. Then, that aspect will grow, and as it does, related aspects will naturally become clear to you. As you continue to do this, wisdom and energy will begin to flow forth like cool spring water.
It is our hope that everyone will discover this for themselves!
With palms together,
Hanmaum International Culture Institute
August, 2012
1
The Four Wives
Once upon a time there was a rich man who had four wives. He lacked for nothing, and over the years he had become very comfortable with his life.
However, a day came when the doctors told him he had only a few months to live. He went here and there looking for cures, but they were all useless. It finally began to sink in that he was truly about to die, and the thought terrified him.
Unable to stand the thought of being alone, he sent for his fourth wife, the youngest and prettiest.
“You’re the one I love above all the others. You’re who I think of first when I’m coming home, and you’re who I work so hard for. I worry so much about you when you're ill, and when you get up at night, I can’t fall asleep until you’ve returned. When I die, will you come with me?”
His fourth wife said, “I’ll go with you, but only up to the edge of your grave.”
Disappointed by this, the man called for his third wife. “Sweetie, in order to make you my wife, I suffered through so many hardships and tears. If you think about how much I love you, won’t you agree to come with me?”
But his third wife replied, “It was you who chased me; I never chased after you, and I’m not going to start now. Once your coffin goes through the front gate, we’re done.”
Shaken by his third wife’s answer, he looked for some comfort from his second wife. “Honey, during all the years we’ve been together, I’ve taken good care of you, haven’t I? I gave you nice clothes for each season, and whatever you wanted to eat I provided. Didn’t I always try to ensure that you were comfortable? Now, I don’t have much time left and I’m scared. When I die, will you come with me and keep me company?”
Before he even finished, his second wife was shaking her head from side to side. “Are you kidding me? There’s no way I’m going with you.”
Finally, he asked for his first wife, and spoke to her with a heavy, sad voice. “I’m so sorry that I never paid much attention to you. But we spent many years together, living side by side. Will you go with me to the next world?”
To his astonishment, his first wife said, “Of course I will. I don’t care whether you were a good husband or not. Considering all the years we’ve spent together, how could I not accompany you?”
∴
In this story, the fourth wife represents family members, such as your children and spouse. You love them so much that you will go without sleep and endure hunger to ensure that they are comfortable and have enough to eat; yet they can go with you only as far your grave.
The third wife stands for money and power. People expend so much effort and go through so many hardships in order to obtain wealth and position. Many will even sacrifice their health and their families for these, yet when death comes, all of their power is useless and they can’t take even a single penny with them.
The second wife represents our body. We pour so much effort into taking care of it. We feed it when it’s hungry, keep it warm when the weather’s cold, and cool it off when it’s too hot. But no matter how hard we work at taking care of our body, it won’t follow us when we die.
The first wife represents karmic consciousnesses. Even after we take leave of our bodies, these will follow us. As we go through life, each action and state of mind, both good and bad, is recorded within us one by one. Because these have been recorded within you, they follow you like your shadow and come out again later, with a different shape. But when they arise through your own consciousness, it’s very easy to mistake those thoughts and feelings for “me.”
Let’s take a deeper look at these. Even though you make up your mind to do something good or to behave well, it often happens that you wind up doing the exact opposite, doesn’t it? That happens because of the functioning of karmic consciousnesses—they prevent you from thinking and perceiving wisely.
Because you are the one who has input these karmic records, you are also the one who decides what to do when they come back out: will you erase them or will you re-create them?
The first step is not to blame others for what you experience, or to wish hardships or trouble upon them. Next, when these consciousnesses arise, let go of them and entrust what you’re experiencing to your foundation. This is the way to dissolve these karmic records, instead of allowing them to multiply.
Think about what kind of thoughts you are giving rise to. If, while alive, you often give rise to thoughts that are like those of an animal or a demon, then after death that is the level existence you will feel the most affinity towards, and that is the level you will be drawn towards. Thus, it will be hard to avoid being reborn at that level.
On the other hand, if you cultivate sincere and kind thoughts, you’ll be naturally drawn toward heavenly realms.
2
Dog Meat and the Seon Master
Long ago a renowned seon master settled in the deep mountains with several disciples.
As news of his presence spread through the region, many hundreds of sunims2 began to gather, wanting to practice under such a famous master.
One day, in front of the assembled monks, he called out in a powerful voice: “Everyone’s looking rundown and tired. Go and catch several dogs and make dog soup for everyone.”
The sunims sat in shocked silence. After the seon master left, the assembly er
upted.
“What’s he talking about? Sunims killing and eating a dog?”
“What kind of monk can’t keep even the five basic precepts? Who would call him a teacher?”
“He’s nothing like his reputation!”
They complained on and on, and soon began leaving in small groups.
After a while, only the original sunims and a few newcomers were left. The seon master looked around and chuckled, “The leaves that drop with the first breeze are gone now.”
“In truth, there’s no fundamental difference between Buddhas and unenlightened beings. It’s just that people have such huge differences in spiritual development and their ability to understand. So sometimes a sieve has to be used to find those who are ready.
“Now, let’s look at how to practice….”
∴
Good, bad, high, low, attractive, repulsive—these are all discriminations that originate from our fixed ideas.
When seen from the perspective of our foundation, everything is one interconnected whole. Every thing and life in the universe is connected to each of us through this foundation.
Remind yourself that every single thing originates from your foundation; entrust it with everything that confronts you and move forward. If you do this, all fixed ideas will naturally fade away, along with the habit of making discriminations. Then, you won’t be misled by views, such as seeing some sunim as either a great practitioner or a fraud. You won’t be caught by fixed ideas such as eating meat or not eating meat, nor will you criticize other people, claiming that they are hindering your practice.
If you want to awaken to the great meaning, never forget the fact that your inherent Buddha-nature is luminous, pure, and endowed with the infinite energy of the universe. Rely upon this Buddha-nature of yours in all things, and never let yourself be shaken, neither by events of the world around you, nor by thoughts and emotions arising from within.
Look at a great tree; it isn’t shaken when some leaves fall away, nor does it tremble if a branch is broken. Although there are people in every generation who say that the Buddha-dharma is about to die out, you should know this: because mind exists, life will come into creation.
And wherever there is life, even if it is only a single being, the Buddha-dharma will be alive and vibrant.
3
A Greedy Daughter-in-law
Deep in the mountains of Korea, there lived a young man and his elderly mother. They were very poor, and the son was always working at some job or another in order to take care of his mother.
One day, as the village elders sat around chatting, the conversation turned to the young man. They all admired how hard he worked to take care of his mother, and as they talked, they realized that the young man had no other family to arrange a marriage for him. Then and there, the village elders decided that they would find him a wife.
They searched throughout the district, looking for a woman of good character willing to marry a poor farmer. At last they found a woman who seemed like a good match for the young man. She appeared gentle and caring, and like him was from a poor family. The elders made the arrangements, and the two of them were soon married.
Not long after the wedding, the young man began to realize that his new wife wasn’t quite as kind and selfless as everyone had thought.
She was never satisfied with the money he earned, and to make matters worse, when he was out working in the fields, she treated his mother harshly and often wouldn’t prepare proper meals for her. With each passing week, his mother was becoming thinner and weaker.
As the young man thought about his wife’s behavior and struggled with his anger, he tried to think about the situation from his wife’s perspective.
“Well, it can’t be easy being the wife of a poor farmer, trying to make do when there’s never enough. At the temple they say that our basic nature is inherently good and compassionate, so if I treat her with compassion and caring, maybe I can draw forth those things from within her. Then, perhaps she’ll behave better towards my mother.”
He tried this approach, but instead of getting better, his wife’s behavior only seemed to worsen. Finally, he realized that he couldn’t wait for his wife to change her behavior; he would have to do something himself. He reflected deeply upon the situation for several days, until at last an idea occurred to him.
The end of the harvest season was approaching, and with it his yearly trip to the district capital to sell their grain. Normally, it took him over two weeks to make the round trip, but this time he hurried home, arriving a week earlier than expected.
He rushed into their courtyard, shouting for his wife. When she came out, he looked around to see if anyone else was listening and lowered his voice:
“You won’t believe what I saw in the city! I stumbled into a side alley off the big market, and found a street where people were buying and selling grandmothers. The plump ones were going for a thousand strings of copper coins! Let’s sell my mother there! A thousand strings of coins, as easy as snapping your fingers!”
“Do you think we could get that much for her? She's kind of scrawny….”
“Hmm, you're right. We'll have to fatten her up first. But not a word to anyone. If other people start selling their mothers, we won’t get a good price.”
A thousand strings of coins was a huge amount of money, and the wife wanted it all. Late into the night all she could think about were ways to make her mother-in-law plump and healthy-looking. As the days went by, she experimented with different foods and medicines reputed to be good for the elderly. Eventually, she became obsessed with her mother-in-law’s health.
With this kind of care, her mother-in-law began to recover. One day, as she took her grandson for a walk, she met some old friends and spoke with amazement about how well her daughter-in-law was taking care of her.
Over the next months, stories about how well the wife looked after her mother-in-law spread throughout the surrounding villages, and even reached the ears of the district governor.
Impressed, he ordered a stone monument to be erected, commemorating her behavior and holding it forth as a model of virtue for others.
The wife had started with the intention of getting rich, but as she spent day after day thinking about someone other than herself, her own greed and selfishness had begun to melt away. Seeing the stone monument was the final straw; she broke down into tears, determined to truly become the person described there.
∴
Our fundamental mind, our Buddha-nature, contains infinite wisdom. However, this isn’t something you can find without making an effort.
Like the young man, you have to diligently reflect inwardly and return your questions inwardly, while searching for a solution that will benefit everyone. If you do this, then the wisdom of your Buddha-nature can come forth.
However, no matter how great the wisdom, you won’t see any results from it without ceaseless effort and strong faith. If you want to achieve something in your life, throw away self-centeredness and greed, and then, with faith, entrust everything to your foundation.
While continuing to observe and being patient, use both your body and mind to put your understanding into practice. If you can make this kind of effort, you will certainly find the best way forward.
4
Red Bean Porridge
Once there was a famous abbess whose teaching style was quite different from other Buddhist masters. She didn’t teach sutras, nor did she emphasize the many precepts that monastics must uphold.
She left the affairs of daily life up to the sunims themselves, and when she entrusted a nun with a particular job or assignment, she gave her complete authority to take care of things however she saw fit. In fact, there was only one thing she continually emphasized:
“Spiritual practice and daily life don’t exist apart from each other. Everything that arises throughout our daily life is what we’ve previously made. It’s been recorded within our foundation and returns to us one by one with a differe
nt shape. Every single thing arises from our foundation, so it is to there that we have to return everything that confronts us.
“This is true regardless of whether something arises from inside or seems to come from outside of ourselves. You have to return every single thing to your foundation without the least attachment, and let them melt down there.
“Do this, and the difficulties and hardships you face will melt down and come back out as positive things.”
When new sunims first heard of entrusting everything to one’s foundation, they tended to think it was fairly simple and easy to practice.
The nun who was in charge of the cooking also had a similar thought. “Ah! Of course, everything arises from our foundation, so that’s where I need to return everything. Hah! What could be simpler?!”
However, actually doing this in the middle of her life proved to be more than a little difficult. Not only were there a large number of sunims, which meant a large quantity of food to prepare, but the food could never be late. All of the dishes had to be ready when the meal bell rang and the sunims gathered.
So, the nun in charge of the kitchen was always tired. Moreover, on days with special ceremonies or memorials, there was so much work that anyone would need two bodies to keep up with it all.
The cook was forever trying to take care of all the urgent tasks that kept arising, and it often seemed that for every one she resolved, two more came to take its place. Entrusting everything to her inherent foundation was turning out to be harder than the kitchen nun had expected.
On top of everything else, she was cooking for a large group, so no matter how much thought or care she put into the meals, someone was always complaining. They didn’t like the flavor, or it had no flavor, or it was too salty, or it was too spicy, and so on.
My Heart is a Golden Buddha: Buddhist Stories from Korea Page 1
