The Most Precious Thing in This World Is Yourself

About 100 young volunteers started their day at 4:30 AM with practice and meditation.

After meditation, they scattered around the Mungyeong Seonyudong Retreat Center to do group work. They pulled weeds in the yard, tidied up flower beds, and picked up broken twigs and pine cones around the walking paths.

After doing some light work for exercise, they washed their gloves and hung them on rocks to dry, completing their group work.

After breakfast, they began a dialogue session with Sunim at 8 AM. As the Youth Camp entered its third day, the content of the conversations deepened. This time, based on the discussions of the past two days, they talked about the “Future of Youth.”

Before starting the dialogue, Sunim showed a video of JTS activities that he hadn’t been able to show yesterday when introducing “International Volunteer Work.”

After watching various JTS activities in South Asia and West Asia, including Bhutan, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Syria, Sunim explained in detail the principles of JTS activities and what roles young people can play in them.

Then, young people who wanted to ask questions but hadn’t had the chance freely raised their hands and asked Sunim questions on any topic.

“This time, only those who haven’t asked a question yet will have the opportunity. Anyone can raise their hand.”

Several people raised their hands and waited for their turn. After two hours of dialogue, the session came to an end, albeit reluctantly.

Sunim headed to the broadcasting room at the Mungyeong Retreat Center to livestream the Baekjung closing ceremony, while the young people had a dialogue session with Venerable Yusu. Through one-minute speeches, the youth freely shared what activities they would like the Special Youth Division to do, and then through a group vote, they decided on one project that everyone should focus on. They unanimously agreed to work towards peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula, discussed future plans, and concluded the dialogue session.

After leaving the Seonyudong Retreat Center and arriving at the broadcasting room of the Mungyeong Retreat Center, Sunim began the live broadcast of the Baekjung closing ceremony at 10 AM sharp.

For the past 7 weeks, Jungto Society has been conducting Baekjung prayers online every Wednesday. Today is the closing day of the Baekjung prayers.

Sunim talked about the religious and practical significance of performing Baekjung prayers.

“After today’s ceremony ends, we will finally perform the Cheondo ceremony. Since it’s Sunday, it would be good if both the morning and evening groups could participate together. The Cheondo ceremony is, first, a day to guide the spirits of ancestors directly related to us. It would be good to take time to think about our ancestors from previous generations, such as parents or grandparents, who brought us into existence. Second, socially, it’s a day to honor the patriotic martyrs, national heroes, industrial workers, and democracy activists who have supported South Korea to come this far. We should express gratitude to them and guide their spirits as well. Third, it’s a day to console the spirits of many people who died unjustly throughout history. We should sincerely perform this ceremony for them. Rather than just wishing for our own benefits, it would be good to make a vow and pray that the merit from performing this ceremony will help establish peace without war on the Korean Peninsula. I thank you all once again for attending in such large numbers today, even though it’s not a regular Dharma meeting day. Above all, I would be grateful if you could understand the true meaning of Baekjung and approach the prayer with that understanding.”

Then, the live broadcast was reconnected to the Jijang Hall at the Seoul Jungto Social and Cultural Center, where the final Cheondo ceremony of Baekjung was performed under the officiation of Dharma Teacher Mubyeonsim.

After concluding the Baekjung Prayer Ceremony, Sunim returned to the Seonyudong Jungto Retreat Center to participate in the Youth Camp.

The young participants, having completed their three-day program, took time to write their reflections. They composed their thoughts on their phones and then gathered in groups to read and share their reflections with each other.

The entire group then reassembled, and one representative from each group came forward to present their reflections. The presentation by the senior group who had helped with meal preparation was met with particularly enthusiastic applause from everyone.

The young participants had experienced a great deal over the three days. Sunim listened attentively to their reflections and shared in their joy.

After the reflections were presented, Sunim offered some concluding remarks. He then opened the floor for any additional questions before wrapping up the final discussion session.

Sunim immediately departed by car for the Mungyeong Retreat Center to conduct a live broadcast of the Jungto Dharma School graduation ceremony. The ceremony began at 2 PM sharp, with about 2,000 students who had enrolled in the online Jungto Dharma School in March and completed the five-month curriculum connected to the live broadcast.

First, they watched a video of the graduation celebration performance prepared by the facilitators, co-facilitators, and organizers who conducted the classes with love and dedication for 6 months.

They also watched a video showcasing the graduates’ journey over the past five months.

Then, Sunim conferred the diplomas online.

“I present you with your diploma. Here, please accept it.”

“I have received it well.”

Next, awards for perfect attendance and diligence were presented. Those who received perfect attendance awards had the special opportunity to enter the video conference room and communicate directly with Sunim.

The graduates experienced many changes in their lives while attending Jungto Dharma School. Two representatives of the graduates presented their reflections on how their lives had changed.

Their reflections were moving accounts of how they overcame difficulties by listening to Sunim’s teachings. Then the graduates requested a commemorative Dharma talk from Sunim. Sunim conveyed his congratulations to the graduates.

“To the Jungto Dharma School students of the Spring 2024 semester, I sincerely congratulate you on your graduation. It seems like just yesterday that you enrolled, but five months have already passed, and now you’re graduating.

When you started, graduation seemed so far away, but now that you’ve reached this point, looking back to when you enrolled feels like it was just yesterday. Similarly, anything may seem difficult when you’re in the midst of it, but in retrospect, it’s not such a big deal. The wisdom gained from living a long life is knowing that even the difficult and anxious events happening now will seem insignificant when looking back after time has passed. If you can realize this fact now, rather than after the fact, you can maintain peace of mind without anxiety or impatience while going through these experiences.

The Miracle Brought About by Buddha’s Teachings

Listening to the two graduates’ reflections, I could see that there have been many changes in just five months. Not just these two, but all of you must have experienced changes, big or small. Looking at your faces connected via Zoom, you all look much better than when you enrolled. I mean you look more beautiful. You didn’t all get plastic surgery over these six months, did you? Your faces have changed because your minds have changed.

This is how the Buddha’s teachings change our destiny. In Buddha’s time, people were concerned with questions like, “What is my destiny?”, “What did I do in my past life?”, “What does my fortune say?” They tried to discover their fate and follow it. However, Buddha taught that there is no fixed destiny, and that it is all conditioned. Because it is conditioned, destiny can change. So Buddha’s teaching was that anyone can change their own destiny. Because you have learned these teachings of the Buddha, you have now achieved changes in yourselves, big or small. That’s why you’ve become more beautiful than if you had spent money on makeup or plastic surgery. This is the miracle brought about by the Buddha’s teachings.

Once again, congratulations on your graduation. I also sincerely thank all those who guided you to this point – the facilitators, co-facilitators, group leaders, and Dharma teachers. “

Sunim then provided detailed information about which Jungto Society programs graduates could participate in to continue their lives of practice, giving, and service after graduating from the Jungto Dharma School.

Finally, there was time to hear impressions from those attending today’s graduation ceremony. Anyone could express their current feelings by using the raise hand button.

With warm hearts after hearing the impressions, we concluded the Jungto Dharma School graduation ceremony with the Four Great Vows.

After the Jungto Dharma School graduation ceremony, Sunim returned to the Seonyudong Jungto Retreat Center and attended the closing ceremony of the Youth Camp from 4 PM. In the meantime, the young people had a cleaning time and restored the spaces they used to their original state before gathering in the main hall.

After reciting the Threefold Refuge and the Heart Sutra , everyone bowed three times to Sunim, who had given many teachings over the past 2 days and 3 nights, and requested a Dharma talk. Sunim first urged them to know how to value themselves.

“Young volunteers, you have completed the 2-night, 3-day retreat well. Now you will return to your homes, companies, and Jungto Society youth branch activities – back to the field. What attitude should we have as we live our lives when we return to the field?

The Most Precious Thing in This World Is Yourself

> First, I hope you will value yourselves. If you don’t know how to value yourself, how can you value others? You may think ‘I’m sacrificing myself for others,’ but how can someone who treats themselves carelessly value others? That’s impossible.

Second, even if you want to be loved by others, who will value you if you don’t value yourself? Even if you value yourself, others often don’t value you much. So if you don’t value yourself, who will value you? Therefore, we need to respect, cherish and love ourselves in order to know how to value others and to be respected by others.

But you consider yourselves worthless for all sorts of reasons – because you fell behind others in running, because you’re not as good at throwing a ball, because you didn’t do well on an English test, because you earn less money, because your social status is lower. If you consider yourself worthless because someone dislikes you after forming a relationship, or because the stock you bought fell a little, how can that be considered loving yourself? This attitude is not loving yourself. It’s loving status and money.

So you need to know how to value yourself. I don’t mean you should show off saying ‘I’m great.’ I mean don’t mistreat yourself. Before saying ‘Don’t abuse children’ or ‘Don’t abuse your husband or wife,’ don’t abuse yourself.

Take a serious look at yourself now. It would be good to examine whether you are valuing yourself or abusing yourself. The Buddha said about this, ‘You are the most precious being. Nothing in this world can compare.’ Yet we are so foolish that we don’t know how to value ourselves. So we don’t know how to value others, and we don’t know how to be valued by others. We don’t know how to love ourselves, we don’t know how to love others, and we don’t know how to be loved by others.

Why You Should Practice for One Hour Every Day

So first you need to know that you are precious. You shouldn’t belittle or torment yourself. If a car wheel is broken, you can grind it down. If a window is broken, you can replace the window. You don’t need to throw away the whole car. But we are often so foolish that we don’t do that. That’s why I’m telling you to focus on yourself for one hour every morning when you wake up. It would be best to focus on yourself all day long, but even if you can’t do that, try to pay attention to yourself for one hour every morning as soon as you wake up. If you practice every morning, you can become aware of how much you belittle yourself. So if you’re dirty, wash yourself. If you’re tangled up, untangle yourself a bit. If you’ve been abusing yourself, embrace yourself.

When I tell you to practice every morning, you keep saying it’s difficult, saying ‘It’s hard to wake up early’ or ‘My legs hurt.’ But if I suggest going to the mountains at that time, you go without hesitation. You say you don’t have time, but when your girlfriend calls, you run out right away. All of this is evidence that you don’t value yourself but value other things.

You need to value yourself and become a free person without suffering. Don’t worry about what everyone in the world says about you. That’s just how it appears in their eyes. Think, ‘They just don’t know how to see properly. I don’t need to worry about what others say.’ However, if you think ‘Maybe I’m seeing myself wrongly,’ you should listen to what others say. You might need to check, ‘Did I show off?’ But if it’s not that, then that’s just their perspective and you don’t need to worry about what they say. If people insist that a gold nugget is silver, does that make it silver? You lack self-esteem because you don’t know how to value yourself, so you keep getting swayed by what others say. Valuing yourself means not treating yourself carelessly or tormenting yourself. But in reality, we can be foolish, so that’s why I’m telling you to spend an hour every morning checking on yourself. Start your day by making yourself whole. When you go to work and live busily, you might carelessly mistreat yourself without realizing it, so you need to take time to make yourself whole as soon as you wake up in the morning. If you’re dirty, wash yourself. If you’ve been foolish, discard that foolishness. If you’ve done something wrong, repent. Making yourself whole again is the most important thing.

Risking your life for your country when you are in a whole state is not a sacrifice, but a choice you make. You choose, thinking ‘In these conditions, dying is a better way to cherish and love myself than living.’ You don’t need to worry about whether others recognize this or not. But you keep thinking ‘Do others recognize me?’ That’s why you feel resentful. ‘I worked so hard but they don’t acknowledge my efforts,’ ‘I loved you but you don’t understand my heart,’ ‘I liked and followed Sunim so much but Sunim ignores me’ – thinking like this is the result of not valuing yourself. No matter how much you dedicate yourself, if you don’t have a self-centered core, even that dedication will bring the karmic result of resentment. Having the right perspective like this is what we call practice. Jungto Society is a community of practitioners based on practice. It’s a community of people who have no suffering, or at least aim for that. We gather to help each other’s practice, but we also want to help people in the world who can’t do that. We do relief work to help the poor and engage in peace movements, but before that, we are practitioners. We do social activism based on practice. Even if we engage in politics, it’s practitioners taking on that role as needed by the world.

So first of all, we must return to being practitioners. This is our identity. No matter how much work you’ve done for the world, that’s secondary. What’s the point of receiving awards for doing countless things if you yourself are suffering? So through practice, you should become a person who values yourself, who doesn’t torment yourself, who lacks nothing. If your leg hurts, it just hurts. If you injured your back, you just injured it. If you can’t walk, you just can’t walk. There’s no reason to suffer because of these things. If your leg hurts, you can use a cane. If you can’t walk, you can use a wheelchair. If you can’t even do that, you can just sit and meditate. People meditate without moving even with healthy legs, so what’s difficult about meditating with a hurt leg? I hope you would have this kind of clear perspective on practice.

Listening to you all, it seems like you’re trying to rationalize your suffering by saying ‘I’m suffering because of this’ or ‘I’m suffering because of that.’ So when I say ‘That’s not something to suffer over,’ you say ‘I’m suffering because of that other thing.’ When I say again ‘That’s also not something to suffer over,’ you say ‘I’m suffering because of this.’ After going back and forth like this a few times, you talk as if you must suffer. So I end up saying, ‘Okay, if you want to suffer so badly, go ahead and suffer all you want.’ (Laughter)

I hope you will live a meaningful life that is useful to the world and helpful to others, with practice as the foundation. I hope you all can do such meaningful work together. Because this kind of work is too difficult to do alone. Even I find it hard, so on what basis could I tell you to do it dedicatedly? So I’m saying just do a little bit as much as you can. Don’t donate everything, just donate a part of what you earn. Just give a little of your time. Eat a little less, wear a little less. If you adjust just a little like this, you can easily do work that helps others. Each of you individually may be insignificant, but when we combine all our efforts, we can exert great social influence. Now, who do you think should be the ones to hear this and think ‘That sounds good’? Should it be young people or older people?

“Young people.”

“But these days, only older people’s hearts beat faster when they hear this kind of talk, and they actively participate in these activities. Young people’s participation is low. I guess young people don’t have hearts. Or maybe they can’t hear, so we need to buy them hearing aids. (Laughter)

Be Confident, Not Subservient

I’m not asking you to make resolutions or determinations. Even if you do, how long will they last? When things don’t go as planned, you’ll only end up being self-critical. So instead of trying to do too much, start small. Try it out, and if you like it, do a bit more. If you really enjoy this activity, you can fully join the community. Don’t feel too burdened. Will the world change overnight if one more of you participates? Will it suddenly get worse if one of you doesn’t? No. So don’t overestimate yourself. Don’t think, “They can’t do without me.” However, if you contribute even a little bit of your strength, it can help, like the saying “many a little makes a mickle.” So it would be good to participate with a light heart, thinking, “I don’t have to do it, but since it helps a little, let me give it a try.” Fifty years ago, people involved in the democratization movement had to risk their lives. They always kept their shoes by the door, ready to flee at any moment. But this is not that kind of era anymore. In this era, you just need to avoid being overly ambitious. We live with a speculative mindset, eager for promotions, wanting to work less but earn more, thinking that buying stocks or coins will suddenly multiply our money. It doesn’t matter if you’re a bit less intelligent, less skilled, have less money, or are shorter in society. It would be better if you lived more confidently. Don’t keep groveling and being subservient.

If you’re short and not particularly good-looking, but always want a tall and handsome partner, first, the chances of that person liking you are low. If you set your goals too high, the probability of failure is high even if you try. Second, you can try. People even gamble, so why not? But don’t cry if it doesn’t work out. Moreover, not only do you cry, but you also abuse yourself. “It didn’t work out because I’m short,” “It didn’t work out because I’m ugly,” “It didn’t work out because my nose is flat” – if you keep abusing yourself like this, you might end up getting plastic surgery. If you’re short, you might as well put fertilizer in your shoes. Who knows, you might grow? (Laughter)

All these behaviors are a waste of your life. I’m not telling you what to do or not to do. I’m saying don’t waste your life too much. There’s always something to learn, even when you fall. If you failed in an investment, shouldn’t you learn something from it? Even if you break up after dating, shouldn’t you learn something like, “Oh, that’s what the other person is like! I shouldn’t do this”?

I hope you don’t become too timid and live confidently like young people should. Then your appearance will change dramatically. If you compare your face now to three days ago, it’s much brighter now. If your face can brighten up this much after just three days of training, imagine how your appearance can change if you practice consistently every day.

Isn’t Bodhidharma considered the ugliest person? Yet because Bodhidharma was great, people pay hundreds of thousands of won to have his portrait in their homes. Similarly, when your mind changes, your appearance changes quickly too. Why bother with unnecessary plastic surgery when you have a perfectly fine face? Are big and pretty eyes important, or is it more important that they can see well? Eyes are for seeing, not for being pretty in shape. If your eyes are big and round, they’ll just collect more dust.

I hope you create a new culture. Why always follow others? Create a new culture that attracts people. Meet often and discuss anything. I’m not saying quit your job and work for Jungto Society. It means that if you happen to leave your job, there’s no need to be frustrated or lost. Think, “Great, I have time to volunteer now,” and come to Jungto Society to volunteer. While volunteering, you can apply to other companies, and if you get accepted, you can say, “I’m sorry, I’ll be away for a while,” and go to work. I hope you can live a bit more lightly like this. Don’t live too heavily with resolutions and determinations. I don’t mean live recklessly. Why live so heavily when life is so short?

Because you’re a special youth branch, try everything you want to do. That’s why we named it a ‘special branch’. We’ve opened the way for you to do special activities, so please engage in activities to your heart’s content. You don’t need to quit your job. Do what we can do together in our current situation. If there’s something we can do by reducing time spent on other things, design and push forward with it. I’m telling you to make the most of the meaning of ‘special’ in the special branch.”

We concluded the closing ceremony with loud applause, taking Sunim’s words to heart.

We all went out to the front yard of the training center to take a commemorative photo.

“Youth Special Division, fighting!”

After expressing their gratitude to Sunim for taking special time for them over the past two days and three nights, the young people returned to their homes.

Sunim also greeted the resident Dharma teachers at the training center and then headed to Seoul by car after 6 pm.

“Everyone worked hard.”

As the car started driving on the wide road, Sunim had dinner with a packed meal in the car.

The sun set outside the window during the journey. After driving on the highway for two hours, we arrived at the Seoul Jungto Center after 8 pm.

Tomorrow, Sunim plans to visit the hospital for a medical appointment in the morning, followed by consecutive meetings with guests visiting the Peace Foundation in the afternoon.

A Day in the Life of Sunim is translated by AI, edited by volunteers