Jan 8, 2025 – Weekly Dharma Assembly, Travel from Bhutan to India
Hello. Today Sunim traveled by plane from Paro, Bhutan to Gaya, India, and then by car for about 6 hours from Gaya to Varanasi.
After completing his early morning practice and meditation, Sunim conducted the Weekly Dharma Assembly broadcast at 7 AM, which is 10 AM Korean time. After all Jungto Society members entered the video conference room, there was first an introduction to the 100-Day Special Practice program. From February 17 to June 1, Jungto Society will conduct a 100-day special practice program to revitalize the Jungto Social and Cultural Center. After hearing a detailed report, everyone bowed three times to Sunim to request his Dharma talk.
Sunim began his Dharma talk by briefly introducing the results of his two-week survey in Bhutan.
“I stayed in Bhutan for two weeks and surveyed the situation focusing on one city. One city in Bhutan is about the size of Gun in Korea, and it consists of 8 towns, 40 villages, and smaller villages below that. Although I couldn’t visit every village, I inspected most areas and checked the situation in detail. I was able to identify many issues such as homeless people, houses needing improvement, farms without fences, inadequate waterways, villages without water sources, elementary schools needing repairs, and so on. Based on this, I discussed with residents and officials how to improve the living conditions of the residents.
When I actually visited the sites, I found that about twice as many houses were needed compared to our initial estimates based on the pilot project, and there were far more houses that needed repairs. The pilot project was mainly conducted in areas about one or two hours by car from the national highway, so these were relatively better-off areas. The situation was much worse in areas far from the national highway.
To build new houses, skilled carpenters are needed, but for house repairs, the situation varies from house to house, and there are many aspects that residents and volunteers can work on together without necessarily having professional carpentry skills. Initially, we estimated that 200 houses needed repairs, but after looking around in person, there were over 500 houses that needed repairs. Since it’s difficult for volunteers to repair all the houses, I thought it would be effective to create a sample house in each village as a reference, provide tools, and train residents so they can do the repairs themselves. This approach should enable residents to maintain their houses on their own in the future.
While funding is necessary, ideas are needed more than anything. For example, in areas with many wild boars, the bottom of fences needs to be reinforced with wire mesh, while in areas with many deer, the top of fences needs to be raised. So not only materials but also a lot of technical research and support are needed. Also, we need to build irrigation channels, but it’s very difficult to transport cement because there are no farm roads. Since there may be almost no farmers left in 10 years, excessive irrigation construction could be inefficient. We need to persuade and coordinate considering both the residents’ demands and effectiveness.
From the residents’ perspective, it’s appropriate to do house repairs during the winter off-season, but volunteers from Korea or India find it very difficult to adapt to the cold weather and harsh environment. Some volunteers from Korea wanted to go home after just a few days because it was so hard. It’s practically impossible to build new spaces for volunteers to stay, and it’s very difficult to stay in existing houses for volunteering because there are no heating facilities. Also, since most places are deep in the mountains, it’s almost impossible to go out, making it realistically difficult for Koreans accustomed to modern life to go and volunteer. Older volunteers have skills but find it difficult to endure the cold and dietary environment, while younger volunteers adapt to the environment more easily but lack skills, so they’re not actually helpful. However, I think if someone with some skills can adapt to the environment, they can carry out volunteer activities sufficiently even if they don’t speak the language.” 
After sharing the results of the Bhutan survey up to this point, they watched a video of Sunim personally surveying 40 villages. After watching the video, Sunim continued his explanation of the 100-Day Special Practice program starting on February 17.
“Today, there was a report on the 100-Day Special Practice program. The core of the 100-Day Special Practice is practice. For this 100-Day Special Practice, the top priority is to practice every day without fail for 100 days from February 16, when we start the 8th 100-Day Prayer, to June 1, when it concludes.
The Most Important Program of the 100-Day Special Practice Is Practice
It’s most important for each Jungto Society member to practice at home every day at 5 AM without fail, and at the Jungto Social and Cultural Center, it’s most crucial to perform the four-time daily Buddhist service and practice from 9 AM to 10 AM every day. The core of this 100-Day Special Practice program is to perform the traditional four-time daily Buddhist service offering to the Buddha and the Jungto-style 1000-Day Practice every day without fail. So, those who have started the 1000-Day Practice should practice at home every dawn, and general public and members living near the Jungto Social and Cultural Center should come to the Dharma hall every morning to practice. You often tend to prioritize work and try to do practice casually. The core of this 100-Day Special Practice program is practice. That’s why it’s called special practice. Practice is the most important. I hope you don’t miss the importance of practice.
In this 100-Day Special Practice program, there’s only one program that’s being developed for new content. It’s the Buddhist Social University. The Buddhist Social University is giving new lectures for the purpose of developing content. Except for the Buddhist Social University, the Buddhist University and scripture lectures are all repeating content that has already been taught. They’re not new lectures. After I give lectures for the Buddhist Social University this time, we’ll edit the content and set up a new system to operate the Buddhist Social University. Then you can enroll anytime and listen to the lectures.
So this Buddhist Social University is open for anyone from the general public to attend. The scripture lectures are also open for anyone from the general public to attend. Many Buddhists who go to temples other than Jungto Society have requested to listen to Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s Dharma talks. Until now, even if they wanted to listen to Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s scripture lectures, it was difficult to access because they had to graduate from the Buddhist University to listen to the scripture lectures. So this time, we’ve opened the scripture lectures and Buddhist Social University as a service for the general public. You can understand it as a program prepared as a public service for the general public. Many Buddhists want to listen to lectures on the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, and want to know about Buddhist social thought, but it’s very difficult to learn this at regular temples. So these lectures are being given as a public service. So I hope that you too will start the new year with a renewed mindset, practice without fail starting from the opening ceremony of the 8th 100-Day Prayer when the 100-Day Special Practice program begins, and do your best to spread the Dharma with the intention of widely sharing this good Dharma with your neighbors.” 
After finishing the Dharma assembly, when Sunim went to the dining hall for breakfast, Tashi was waiting.
“Sunim, you’re here.”
“Dr. Tashi, you’re here early. I was a bit late for mealtime because I was broadcasting the Dharma assembly this morning.” 
Sunim had a warm breakfast prepared by the BNF Foundation with Tashi. After finishing the meal, he packed up his lodgings and prepared to leave for India. After packing everything, he had a brief conversation with Tashi.
“This November, we’re preparing a bhikkhuni ordination ceremony at the BNF Foundation, inviting several bhikkhuni nuns from overseas. The Sangharaja (Dharma King) is also expected to attend. Before that, we plan to finish most of the construction here and complete the interior organization.”
“Then that building will be the last construction, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You must have a lot of work. I’ve rested well for two days. Thank you for providing the accommodation and meals.”
“No problem. Please come and rest comfortably anytime.”
Sunim expressed his gratitude to the BNF Foundation staff and handed over a donation. After packing his luggage, he departed for Paro at 11 AM.
Yeshi from the central government came to see Sunim off at the airport. Sunim, worried that she might have gone straight to the office without resting after the survey, asked.
“Yeshi, did you get some rest after the survey? You didn’t go straight to work, did you?”
“Thanks to you speaking to the minister, I rested all day yesterday. Thank you so much.”
“That’s good.” (laughs) 
Sunim arrived at the airport, finished the check-out process, did some work for a short time, and then got on the plane when it was time to board.
“The sky is clear today, so we should be able to see the snow-capped mountains well.” 
As the plane took off, the Himalayan snow-capped mountains came into clear view. The mountain range, stretching widely above the clouds, created a majestic landscape like a vast natural work of art.
After about 1 hour and 20 minutes, Sunim arrived at Gaya Airport in India at 3:30 PM. However, the immigration process took a long time. It was only after an hour, at 4:30 PM, that he could depart for Varanasi. In the car, Sunim asked the driver.
“Has the road from Gaya to Varanasi improved?”
“Yes, most of the road is well-paved. However, the area around Mugalsarai is still not fully developed.”
“How long do you think it will take to reach Varanasi?”
“It’s expected to take about 5 to 6 hours.”
“The Gaya-Varanasi road is always under construction, but the travel time is the same now as it was 30 years ago when I used to travel here.” (laughs) 
While traveling to Varanasi, Sunim briefly stopped at a service station. Although it was past 8 PM, it was dinner time in India, so the restaurant was crowded. He found a spot and had dinner with chapati, Indian food prepared by Priyanka.
After resuming the journey, Sunim arrived at the Thai Temple in Sarnath at 10:30 PM. It was a 6-hour journey from Gaya to Varanasi. After unpacking at the accommodation, Sunim immediately began proofreading manuscripts. It was already past 1 AM.
From tomorrow, the schedule in India will begin in earnest. In the morning, there will be a tour of Sarnath, and in the afternoon, an online meeting with the 100-Day Special Practice Committee is planned.
Since there was no Dharma talk today, we will introduce the content of the English-interpreted Dharma Q&A held in San Jose, USA, on September 16th.
People Around Me Pressure Me to Get Married
“I don’t quite understand the question. You broke up with someone, so how can you get married? Who are you supposed to marry?”
“Not with him. Ah, so the idea is that I start looking.”
“Is there a man in this world waiting to marry you? Why would you choose someone as your marriage partner without considering their opinion? If you approach a man for marriage, how uncomfortable would he feel? If you’re stressed, there are other ways to relieve it, so why try to relieve stress through marriage? It’s not the right attitude to objectify people as marriage partners.
First, people need to meet each other. For marriage, there must be mutual agreement. Even if you like someone after meeting them, you need to confirm if they like you too. If they do, you should discuss whether to date or even get married. If the other person agrees, then you can get married.
But I don’t understand what you mean by asking ‘Should I get married?’ when you’re not even dating anyone.”
“So the idea is nowadays there’s online dating available where people specifically state like what they’re looking for. I guess my fear is what if I’m not trying hard enough?”
“Then it would be better to ask about finding a marriage partner online. That’s fine. You can confirm mutual interest online, and then meet in person to talk. However, if you marry based solely on online interactions, there’s a high chance of being scammed. You should first search for potential partners online and then meet in person to confirm if they’re suitable for marriage.
But why are you in such a hurry to get married? Is it for a green card? Citizenship? What’s making you rush? Is it revenge against your ex-boyfriend? Why are you trying to get married so quickly after a recent breakup?”
“I think it’s that people bring it up around me.”
“What does it matter what people around you say? I’ve probably been told to get married over a thousand times in my life. If you’re not interested, what others say is just like the sound of wind. It would be correct to say that the questioner has now become interested in marriage, influenced by their words. The question is why you became interested. Why do you think you need to get married when you can’t even date? You could live without worrying about marriage, couldn’t you?”
“Is there a way to get not be interested?”
“Think back to when you were dating. Didn’t you have a lot to worry about because of your relationship with the other person, and didn’t that make your psychological state more complicated? Marriage makes it even more complex. It becomes even more complicated when you have children. When you get married, your partner’s parents and siblings become your family, and relationships expand enormously and become complex. In dating, there’s no problem if just the two people’s hearts match, but in marriage, family members’ opinions can all differ. Because you become family through marriage, you have to respect everyone’s opinions when they express them. If you ignore them, you’ll end up disconnected from the existing family relationships you each had, even though you’re married. Considering these things, you might think it’s best to live alone.
The people around you have probably already experienced how many things need to be considered and how complicated it becomes when you get married. Maybe the reason people around you are recommending marriage is that they don’t want to leave you alone comfortably, so they’re trying to drag you into the pit with them.” (laughs)
“I think I’m afraid of missing out on the chance of having like a family.”
“You’re living well on your own now, aren’t you? So why do you have to have a family? Please calm down and think about it. I’ve lived alone for seventy years without any problems.
Why do you feel psychologically stable only when someone is by your side? From my perspective, getting mental treatment should be the priority before thinking about marriage. In your current state, it might be a bit difficult to handle relationships even if you form one with someone else. I’m not saying all this to prevent you from getting married. Your current psychological state seems unable to handle the complex situations that come from human relationships. So you need to achieve independence and be able to live alone first. You should be in a state where living alone is no problem. Only then can living with someone else be problem-free.
Most people end up living together because they can’t live alone, which leads to more problems. I’m worried you might take this negatively, but it would be good to receive psychological treatment first. I hope you maintain more psychological stability. If you rush into marriage to alleviate the anxiety from breaking up with your boyfriend, you’ll be inviting greater unhappiness.”
“Thank you.”
왜 다른 사람들을 자기 결혼 상대라고 본인 마음대로 결정을 합니까?
Why do you arbitrarily decide that people who hurt you are your marriage partners?
–>Why do you arbitrarily decide that other people are your marriage partners?
*It seems there is a need for correction of the sentence error.
Thank you for clarifying that the main emphasis of the 100-day special intensive practice and on-site Dharma talks is on the practice itself rather than the lectures.
I initially felt disappointed about not being able to attend the special talks for several reasons, but now I feel at ease after Sunim explained that this 100-day project serves as a prayer practice and a way to share Buddha’s teachings with people. I will continue my morning practice and I will widely inform those around me about the Dharma Talks.
“If you have no interest in something, the words of those around you about it are nothing more than the sound of the wind.”
I understood clearly. My daughter’s words are sometimes so frank that they feel quite harsh to me. However, I will consistently practice letting go of my likes and dislikes. In doing so, I will be able to hear my daughter’s words like a gentle breeze.