Jul 17, 2025 – Meetings with Social Leaders, Farewell Ceremony for Sri Lankan Religious Leaders
Hello. Today, Sunim held consecutive meetings with social leaders who visited the Peace Foundation throughout the day, followed by a farewell ceremony with Sri Lankan religious leaders who will depart tomorrow.
After completing morning practice and meditation, Sunim headed to the Peace Foundation. Starting at 11:30 AM, social leaders including Kim Yong-tae, former Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, visited the Peace Foundation. After sharing lunch together, the social leaders sought Sunim’s advice on the direction Korean society should take and engaged in extensive discussions on various topics.
At 2 PM, Kim Ga-young, a volunteer working at JTS Philippines, returned to Korea and came to greet Sunim.
“Sunim, I’ve come to Korea briefly for the summer retreat. I wanted to pay my respects.”
“Welcome back. How is the school construction project going in Mindanao?”
“We are currently building 7 indigenous schools in San Fernando, Talakag, Kitaotao, Quezon, Don Carlos, and Libona municipalities, and 5 special schools for the disabled in Lantapan, Kadingilan, Dangcagan, Manolo Fortich, and Libona municipalities. So we’re building a total of 12 schools this year. We’re working hard to complete them for the dedication ceremony in December.”
“Good. Have a good retreat while you’re in Korea.”
Next, two volunteers working at JTS India, Kim Yeon-hee and Jo Eun-seo, returned to Korea and came to greet Sunim. After they offered three bows, Sunim inquired about their well-being and offered encouragement.
“Is everyone doing well? It must be very hot in India right now.”
Jo Eun-seo replied that she was handling India’s heat well.
“Yes, I’m doing well. I actually prefer life in India to Korea. The temperature in India is about 42 degrees Celsius. It’s gotten a bit cooler since the rainy season started. The heat seems to agree with me, so I’m doing fine.”
“Were you a descendant of Princess Ayuda? I was worried you might struggle, but I’m glad to hear you’re doing well. Have a good retreat while you’re here.”
The volunteers expressed their gratitude for Sunim’s thoughtful consideration before departing.
At 2:30 PM, a social leader visited Sunim for a conversation. They discussed many current political issues.
From 4 PM, Sunim held an online meeting with Dr. Tashi Zangmo from the Bhutan Nuns Foundation. Following Sunim’s recent visit to Bhutan, this meeting was arranged at Tashi’s request to continue more specific discussions about the possibility of establishing facilities for bhikkhuni education and social participation in Bhutan.
Tashi hoped to collaborate with Sunim in establishing women-centered social welfare and education facilities in the new city of Gelephu. Sunim showed positive interest and suggested various forms of cooperation. However, he emphasized that clear planning must precede land acquisition and project implementation.
“To secure land, we ultimately need a clear business plan. While we’re at the stage of sharing ideas now, it would be good to continue specific discussions after the year-end ordination ceremony.”
After the meeting concluded, the Sri Lankan religious leaders who had spent the entire day touring Korean cultural heritage sites arrived at the Peace Foundation.
From 5 PM, Sunim held a farewell gathering with the Sri Lankan religious leaders who would depart tomorrow. The Sri Lankan religious leaders also had time to visit Insadong to purchase gifts for their families and relatives. Sunim asked with a smile.
“Did you enjoy shopping? What did you buy?”
The Sri Lankan religious leaders had purchased various items.
“Of all the foods I tried in Korea, black rice was the most delicious. So I bought some black rice.”
“I bought cookies, chocolates, and school supplies for my grandchildren.”
“I bought cheese and nuts for my mother.”
Sunim presented gifts to the Sri Lankan religious leaders.
“When I go out to give lectures, people try to give me speaking fees, but as a disciple of the Buddha, I don’t accept money. The precepts forbid receiving compensation. So sometimes people offer gifts instead of speaking fees. I’d like to give these to you as presents.”
“Thank you.”
Sunim gave gifts to Venerable Assaji, Reverend Anura, Hindu priest Darshaka, and Muslim leader Firdous.
Sunim then spoke about the work he hoped to collaborate on with the Sri Lankan religious group in the future.
“I hope we can continue to exchange and cooperate like this visit. Currently, JTS continues to support activities helping those in need in Sri Lanka. During the tsunami, we built destroyed kindergartens, and recently, due to the national bankruptcy situation, many people have become impoverished, so we’re mainly providing daily necessities. If Dharmashakti takes action to help those in need when disasters occur in the future, JTS can provide food and daily necessities.
When Disaster Strikes, If You Take Action, JTS Will Support You!
However, JTS is operated 100% by volunteers only. There isn’t a single person who receives a salary. So we cannot provide support for labor costs. All activities must be done through volunteer work. For example, when natural disasters like floods occur, if you go directly to the site to help those in need, JTS can support the necessary supplies for such times.”
Reverend Anura suggested that he would work on creating connections with organizations in Sri Lanka that had exchanges with North Korea.
“Currently, various organizations in Sri Lanka that had exchanges with North Korea are unable to operate smoothly. When we return, we will work to revitalize such activities. While we may not be able to accomplish much through these organizations, I think we can at least start exchanges and create connections.”
Sunim expressed his gratitude for Reverend Anura’s suggestion.
“In any case, since North Korea has built high barriers now, it’s good for individuals or organizations to establish as many relationships with North Korea as possible. So I would be grateful if you could do this work. If you ever provide humanitarian aid to North Korea, JTS can always provide material support.
And if you invite North Korean people to your country for interfaith dialogue or any kind of meeting, since North Korea is economically struggling, you would need to support the participants’ airfare. If possible, they need to come abroad often to broaden their horizons, but the North Korean government doesn’t send many people overseas. So it’s necessary for you to keep arranging meetings to show North Koreans the outside world. Venerable Assaji, when you hold Buddhist events in Sri Lanka, please contact North Korea and invite people from their Buddhist community. Then we will donate some of the meeting expenses.”
“Yes, I will do that. Also, when Korean relief workers come to Sri Lanka, we can provide accommodation and various facilities. Please be sure to contact us before coming to Sri Lanka.”
Venerable Assaji said that he thought South and North Korea didn’t want unification, but his thinking changed after this visit to Korea.
Do South and North Korea Truly Want Unification?
“From the perspective of Sri Lanka and other countries looking at South and North Korea, it seemed they preferred to remain divided rather than seeking integration. I personally thought that the South and North didn’t want peace and unification, but this visit has changed my thinking. Now there seems to be some possibility for intervention.”
Sunim responded.
“It’s not that they don’t want integration. They want integration, but because it’s so difficult, they’re now in a state of almost giving up. While a minority doesn’t want unification, the majority still wants it. However, this issue cannot be resolved by the will of South and North Korea alone; it requires alignment with U.S. interests as well. While President Trump has many problems, he has a more positive stance on dialogue with North Korea, so I have some expectations in that regard. Currently, a new government in South Korea is ready to engage in dialogue with North Korea, but so far North Korea hasn’t responded to dialogue at all.”
“If the two countries unite, it will become a very powerful nation.”
“Unification won’t be easy in the short term. This is because there are four of the world’s largest powers around the Korean Peninsula. Given the conflicting interests of the United States, China, Japan, and Russia, it’s difficult to achieve unification through the will of South and North Korea alone.”
Venerable Assaji said he would like to select Venerable Pomnyun Sunim as someone who has dedicated himself to world peace.
“Our order has a major event called Amarapura Day, and at this event, we plan to select five individuals who have dedicated themselves to world peace. I would like to invite Venerable Pomnyun Sunim as one of them.”
“Thank you.”
Hindu priest Darshaka is Tamil. Sunim mentioned that the Tamil region and Korea have historical connections.
“Regarding Princess Ayuda, there are two theories: one that she came from Ayodhya in central India, and another that she came from Tamil Nadu in southern India.”
Hindu priest Darshaka shared that the Tamil people believe Princess Ayuda was from the Tamil region.
“In our ethnic history, we believe Princess Ayuda came from the Tamil region. Not just Princess Ayuda, but six princesses went to different countries – to Japan, Korea, and Thailand respectively. So we believe we are all their descendants. Archaeological evidence remains, and there is much evidence in terms of culture and language that all originated from the Tamil region. We can even identify the village where the princess lived. There are also stories that she was very beautiful.”
“Tamil and Korean have many words in common.”
“Words like mother, father, and older sister are exactly the same in Tamil and Korean.”
The fact that Tamil and Korean have many similarities was very interesting. Though they wanted to continue the conversation, it was time to part.
The four Sri Lankan religious leaders each offered blessing prayers for Sunim in their own religious traditions. First, Venerable Assaji prayed in the Theravada Buddhist style, followed by priest Darshaka in the Hindu style, then Firdous in the Islamic style, and finally Reverend Anura in the Christian style.
Sunim expressed his gratitude.
“I have received your blessing prayers well. I hope you will always be healthy and peaceful when you return to Sri Lanka. I ask that you continue to work together for peace in the future.”
Venerable Asaji presented Sunim with a fan used by the head of the Amarapura Nikaya.
“Thank you. If I have this fan, does that mean I become the head of the Amarapura Nikaya?” (Laughter)
Everyone burst into laughter at Sunim’s joke and took a final commemorative photo together.
As the sun set, the Sri Lankan religious leaders moved to their accommodations to pack their belongings in preparation for departure, while Sunim worked at the Peace Foundation office before concluding the day’s activities.
Tomorrow morning, at the invitation of Goyang City Hall, Sunim will give a Dharma Q&A at the Goyang Aram Nuri Theater, followed by tea with the Mayor of Goyang. In the afternoon, he will have consecutive meetings with social leaders visiting the Peace Foundation, and in the evening, he will give a Friday Dharma Q&A at the main auditorium of the Jungto Social and Cultural Center.
