Today, Sunim held a meeting with the Jungto Daejun (정토대전: Jungto collection of Buddhist scriptures) Committee and another meeting with Jungto Dharma Teachers, and then participated in the meeting of the Gyeolsa Practitioners association (결사행자회의) online in the evening.
The moon rises in the dawn sky of Mungyeong Retreat Center, illuminating the path to Daeungjeon Hall.
The sun has already started to rise when we came out after the morning ceremony and the 1000-Day Practice. Now, in Mungyeong Retreat Center, radiant flowers and cherry blossoms are popping up one by one.
At 8:30 a.m., Jungto Daejun team meeting started.
Today, presentations about five-aggregates (오온) and three marks of existence (Anica, Dukkha, Anatta) were given. First, Jungto Dharma Teacher, Hyang-Gwang-Myeong, talked about the results of her studies of what five-aggregates means.
Then, another Jungto Dharma Teacher, Yeo-Kwang, presented the results of studies into the meaning of the three marks of existence.
Discussions about five-aggregates were followed.
Toward the end of the discussion, Sunim emphasized that meaning of five-aggregates needs to be investigated by observing our status of our minds happening to us now.
Following Sunim’s explanation, questions followed.
After meeting for hours, it was almost lunch time. At Sunim’s suggestion, we worked for 30 minutes before eating lunch.
“It would be nice to do some yard work at the Apricot Valley. I did some work yesterday, but I haven’t finished it yet. Please help me.” Sunim Said.
They changed into work clothes and gathered in the valley. There was a lot of woodwork, but it was getting sorted out little by little. We sorted the shrubs by size and put them neatly in one place.
Like a swarm of ants, we took each branch and continued walking in a row. All of a sudden, tree branches were piled up on one side.
“Thanks for your work. For the rest, I’ll have to do tomorrow.” Sunim Said.
The meeting started again at 1:30 PM. In the afternoon, the Sociology Chapter Committee gave talks. Hyang-Hoon, who is dispatched to Mindanao, Philippines, was connected online and gave a presentation on the theme of ‘Racial Discrimination and the Solution of Buddhism’.
Presentations were made on the causes of racism, its history, Buddhist equality, and the words of the Buddha in the scriptures denying discrimination. Finally, the meeting ended at 3:30 PM after Sunim added comments on this.
From 4 PM, another meeting began with Jungto Practice Community Dharma Teachers. Ahead of the National Delegates Meeting this Sunday, they discussed for two hours about how to reorganize and deploy personnel in line with the online transition. They participated in meetings online from Seoul, India, and the Philippines.
“Let’s report the discussions here to the meeting of the associations this evening and collect opinions.” Sunim said.
After the sun went down, at 7:30 in the evening, the Gyeolsa Practitioners association meeting was held. After 60 or so people joined the video conferencing room, they began the meeting by reading Vows to the Threefold Refuge and Words for Practice.
First of all, ahead of the temporary national delegates meeting, all the documents to be reported by the Emergency Preparedness Committee were checked together. A total of 10 agendas were announced, and voted for and against each of them.
“Are you in favor of bringing this agenda to the National Council of Representatives? If you agree, please press the Raise Hand button.”
People with objections asked questions, and in the middle, Sunim asked questions and explained. Only the stack of documents that came up on the agenda was stacked over 10cm high. As such, a lot of preparation was required to transform into an online organization.
It was decided to present all the agendas prepared as a result of the three-hour meeting to the national delegates meeting. When online elections take place on April 10th, the temporary operation period of the Online Jungto Society will begin until September. We are now ready to go online, leaving only the national delegates meeting. We ended the association meeting with a big applause.
“Thanks for your efforts. Thank you” said Sunim.
Tomorrow, after meeting with the Jungto Daejeon scripture team all day, we will move to the Dubuk Retreat Center to broadcast the Friday Regular Dharma Meeting live in the evening.
