The Same 7 Dollars Creates Miracles on the Other Side of the Earth

Usually, the bus journey from Varanasi to Gaya takes about 8 hours. The pilgrimage group departed from Varanasi at 4:20 AM, planning to arrive at Sujata Academy around noon. However, after calculating the remaining distance and time during the journey, it was estimated that they would arrive about 2 hours earlier than expected. Arriving too early would rush the children and teachers preparing for the welcoming ceremony at the school, so the group decided to change plans and visit Gayasisa first.

At 9:40 AM, they arrived near Gayasisa. After disembarking from the bus and entering the village, the pilgrimage group encountered steep stairs. Recently in Bhutan, Sunim had to stop several times to catch his breath while climbing steep paths. Today’s climb was also challenging, but Sunim led the pilgrims, taking several breaks and slowly making his way to the summit.

Upon reaching the summit of Gayasisa, while waiting for the remaining pilgrims to arrive, Sunim instructed those who had already arrived to have breakfast with the prepared lunch boxes. He also sat on a rock and had his meal.

As the meal was ending, all the pilgrims had arrived. Sunim began his guidance.

“Everyone, look to the south. I’m sitting on the rock across from you. In the past, this place was spacious enough for a thousand people to sit, but it has become smaller due to the construction of a large stupa. Please understand if you can’t see me well and can only hear my voice. We’ll start with meditation and then I’ll talk about the sacred site of Gayasisa.”

After a brief meditation, he began his explanation in earnest.

“This place where we’ve arrived is known by two names. One is Gayasisa, named after its location in Gaya city, and the other is Elephant Head Mountain (Pragbodhi). Elephant Head Mountain is named for its shape resembling an elephant’s head, as recorded in the scriptures. At the summit, there’s a shrine dedicated to Hindu gods, and the local people also call this mountain ‘Brahmayoni’.”

Sunim then explained two scriptural records related to Gayasisa.

The first is the story of Buddha giving a sermon here to the three Kasyapa brothers – Uruvela, Nadi, and Gaya – and their thousand disciples, instructing them to ‘extinguish the fires of greed, anger, and ignorance.’ The place where this sermon was given is called ‘Gaya Sirsa,’ and there are two theories about its location – one suggesting it’s where we’re sitting now, and another claiming it’s by the river at the foot of the mountain. In the past, a thousand people sat where you’re sitting now, and Buddha sat where I’m sitting. It is said that the rock became indented under Buddha’s weight. (Laughter) After converting these thousand people here, Buddha led the group to Rajgir. The second story is about Buddha leaving Kapilavastu to practice asceticism. Buddha faced inner turmoil as things did not go as planned, but regained his resolve and set out to find a teacher. In Rajgir, Buddha met two great teachers named ‘Alara Kalama’ and ‘Uddaka Ramaputta’. Buddha practiced diligently under these two teachers and eventually reached their level of attainment. However, Buddha thought, ‘This is not complete enlightenment.’ Although all afflictions seemed to disappear during meditation, Buddha became distracted when speaking and acting. Finally, realizing that enlightenment could only be attained by oneself, Buddha decided to leave Rajgir and came to this Gaya region, 80km away. Buddha begged for alms and climbed to the top of Gayasisa. From the summit, Buddha spotted the Dungeshwari area across the Niranjana River and, judging it suitable for practice, moved to the foot of Pragbodhi Hill. Buddha practiced with fearless determination at Pragbodhi Hill but couldn’t attain enlightenment. Buddha reflected on and reconsidered his practice. Then Buddha realized that both extremes of suppressing and indulging in desires were reactions to desire. This was the discovery of the Middle Way. Gayasisa holds great significance as the place where Buddha discovered his practice site and as the starting point where Buddha began his journey of teaching the Dharma after converting the three Kasyapa brothers and their thousand disciples.”

After finishing the explanation and a brief meditation, the pilgrimage group departed for Sujata Academy at 11:40 AM.

At 12:10 PM, they arrived at Sujata Academy in Dungeshwari. The students, dressed in beautiful clothes, were waiting to greet the pilgrimage group.

“Welcome to Sujata Academy!”

The children’s faces were filled with smiles as they welcomed the visitors.

Sunim led the pilgrimage group, walking one step at a time towards the school. At that moment, the exciting sounds of trumpets and drums played by the students filled the air.

Soon, a student from Sujata Academy approached Sunim and placed a flower garland around his neck. Sunim walked with the student through the yellow gate to the school entrance. The other students then welcomed each pilgrim by placing flower garlands around their necks.

In front of the pilgrimage group, a first-grade student riding on an elephant showered them with flower petals. The pilgrims’ steps looked even more beautiful under the fluttering flower petals.

The pilgrimage group entered Sujata Academy and first paid respects at the Dharma hall, then visited the memorial stupa of the late Seol Seong-bong, who passed away 20 years ago after being attacked by an assailant while volunteering at Sujata Academy.

They then toured Jivaka Hospital and headed to the playground. Warm tea and snacks were prepared on the playground. The pilgrimage group, tired from the long journey, took a moment to relax while enjoying the warm tea.

Once all 400 members of the pilgrimage group were seated on the playground, the welcoming ceremony began. First, all the students of Sujata Academy opened the ceremony with a dance performance. The children’s movements were incredibly pure and beautiful. The pilgrimage group also stood up and danced together, facing the children.

Next, celebratory performances by each grade level followed. The children, dressed in colorful costumes, danced skillfully with confident expressions. Their free and beautiful blossoming appearance was truly admirable.

After watching four celebratory performances, it was regrettable to end the welcoming ceremony. Sunim smiled and said.

“I hear there are more performances prepared for the school anniversary celebration the day after tomorrow. (Laughs) Let’s plan to see them again at the anniversary celebration. For now, we’ll move on to Pragbodhi Mountain.”

At 1:30 PM, they departed for Pragbodhi Mountain.

After arriving at Pragbodhi Mountain and everyone had put on their kasayas and taken their seats, Sunim began his explanation.

“Do you see that white building in front? It is said that during the six years of Buddha’s ascetic practices, he slept in caves at night to avoid the cold while practicing. In summer, he would also enter caves to escape the heat. The cave up there is called ‘Yuyeonggul’ because it is said to have retained Buddha’s shadow. Although it’s called a shadow, it seems to mean that traces and essence of Buddha’s long stay and practice remain there.

Yuyeonggul is not the only place where Buddha stayed. Buddha practiced throughout this entire area. There are many anecdotes about Buddha’s practice in this vicinity. Later, King Ashoka visited this place and built memorial stupas at all locations associated with Buddha. There are remains of seven stupas on top of the mountain.”

Sunim then spoke about Buddha’s process of enlightenment.

“Attaining enlightenment means achieving something. However, here, Buddha mostly endured extreme hardships without achieving great accomplishments. Perhaps that’s why later generations didn’t particularly commemorate this place or give it special meaning. We often focus only on success and don’t consider failure as important, but Buddha progressed on the path to enlightenment by practicing diligently here for six years. Compared to the six years he spent here, he only stayed in Bodhgaya, where he attained enlightenment, for 100 days. This place, where Buddha practiced for six years, is a very important location, but it hasn’t been widely recognized by people. People tend to remember only success and consider failure insignificant or try to hide it. It’s clear that Buddha’s six years of practice here formed the foundation for his enlightenment, but people don’t regard that process as important. It’s similar to how we ignore failure and remember only success. However, there are lessons to be learned from failure. In fact, failure can serve as a stepping stone towards success.”

After the explanation, the pilgrimage group engaged in meditation and sutra recitation, then offered prayers while facing Pragbodhi Mountain.

At 3:20 PM, after completing the pilgrimage to Pragbodhi Mountain, the group returned to Sujata Academy. Following dinner, a Dharma assembly was held in the Culture Hall starting at 7 PM.

After watching a video introducing the 30-year history of Sujata Academy, the pilgrimage group performed three prostrations to Sunim and requested teachings.

Sunim explained the history of JTS India and Sujata Academy.

“I first visited this area in 1993. Now, the uphill path to Pragbodhi Mountain is paved and neat, but back then it was a zigzag trail. As I walked up that winding path, I saw hundreds of children sitting closely together, begging. Seeing this, I asked the person next to me, ‘Is it Sunday today?’ They said no. I wondered how so many children could be on the streets when it wasn’t even Sunday, so I asked if they didn’t go to school. The answer was that there was no school.”

How Can There Be No School for Hundreds of Children?

If I had seen about 50 children begging, as we do nowadays, I would have thought some children were in school while others were begging. But seeing hundreds of children sitting and begging was very puzzling. It seemed unbelievable that there was no school nearby with so many children around, so I asked again, and they confirmed there really wasn’t one. This led to discussions with the villagers about building a school. I asked the villagers: “Is this Korea or India?” “It’s India.” “Whose children are these?” “They are our children.” “I’m not even Indian, but Korean, and moreover, I’m a monk who isn’t married and has no children. So who should be responsible for educating your children?” “We should, but we have no money. We are poor.” “Even if you’re poor, shouldn’t you do something if you’ve had children?” “We can’t do anything.” “Why can’t you do anything? Don’t you have any land?” “We do have land.” “Then shouldn’t you at least provide land to build a school?” This is how ten villagers agreed to donate one katha of land each. One katha is about 42 pyeong (approximately 139 square meters). We built the first school on this wasteland that was too barren for farming. But since providing land alone isn’t enough to build a school, I persuaded the villagers, saying, “These are your children, so shouldn’t you do something?” They agreed to work together, and that’s how the school construction began.

Teaching children doesn’t necessarily require a school building to start. It’s important to begin classes even with temporary facilities. So, I asked if there were any literate young people in the village, and they said there were two. One had completed 5th grade, and the other had finished 8th grade. We had these two graduates of 5th and 8th grade act as teachers, and when we gathered children to teach, there were about 150. We divided the children into two classes and had them taught under trees, then began building a proper school. This is how we started from scratch. At first, the children who came to school weren’t really there to study, but to eat candy. We gave out candy every weekend based on how many days they attended school. We tried to get them to attend school somehow, but initially, it was difficult to get all the children enrolled. Even when we went to the village to bring children to school, no one in their families had ever been to school, so they didn’t know why they should go to school, what they would learn there, or what learning at school meant. Usually, if a father had gone to school, he would send his children, or if an older brother attended, the younger siblings would follow. But in this entire village, no one had ever been to school, so they couldn’t even think of sending their children. So at first, no matter how much we built schools and told them to send their children, it was difficult to achieve an enrollment rate of over 50%, and even those who did come to school often quit after 2nd grade. This was because by 3rd grade, children could help with household chores, so parents kept them at home to work instead of sending them to school.

How Literacy Eradication Was Possible in Untouchable Villages

The near 100% literacy eradication in this area became possible when we established kindergartens in every village. Initially, I had planned to eradicate illiteracy through elementary schools. However, by the time children reach elementary school age, they’re already old enough to work, so parents wouldn’t send them to school and made them work instead. But when we built kindergartens in every village, parents readily sent their young children. They couldn’t put toddlers to work, and it was difficult for parents to take care of all the children, so they sent them to kindergarten. Even though it was just a place where children gathered to eat snacks and play together before going home, parents almost always sent them. This was because parents could work while their children were at kindergarten. From toddlerhood, children went to kindergarten with their friends, and after graduating from kindergarten, they naturally entered elementary school together. As you know, children tend to follow their peers. So, in the end, literacy eradication was made possible through kindergartens rather than elementary schools. After establishing kindergartens, we no longer had to go around calling children to school every day. Currently, there are about 1,000 kindergarten students in 15 villages. If all the kindergarten graduates came to Sujata Academy, JTS wouldn’t be able to handle it. If JTS had accepted all those students, we would have had well over 1,000 elementary school students. However, government schools have been established here and there, although they’re not very good. So we forced students living in villages with government schools to attend those schools. If all the children came to Sujata Academy, not only would it overburden our school, but it would also make it difficult for government schools to operate. So while children attend JTS-run kindergartens, we made them go to government schools for elementary education depending on where they lived. Initially, there was a lot of resistance from parents. This was because most people here are untouchables, and government schools were established in upper-caste villages, so untouchable children faced discrimination at school. When a child faces discrimination at school, they soon stop going. Also, while upper-caste children had seniors at school, untouchable children were the first to go, so they often couldn’t find their place. Another difficulty for untouchables was that in government schools attended by upper-caste children, parents had to bear the cost of all school supplies. There was some resistance and side effects at first, but after persuading the parents and as time passed, they eventually settled into attending government schools. Instead, for children who absolutely couldn’t adapt to government schools or faced severe discrimination for being untouchables, we allowed them to attend Sujata Academy. This is because children need to learn at the right time, regardless of the reason. Through this process, we’ve reached today’s Sujata Academy. Currently, including branch schools, there are about 500 elementary school students, about 200 middle school students, and about 1,000 kindergarten students. A total of about 1,700 children are currently receiving education at Sujata Academy. Next to the school is Jivaka Hospital, which you should think of more as a health center rather than a general hospital. In addition to running the school and hospital, we’ve also been involved in village development, such as helping the needy in the village and solving water problems through hand pumps. These days, as the Indian economy has improved a lot, government support is gradually increasing. As a result, the overall road conditions are improving, and most thatched houses are being replaced with brick houses, showing gradual improvement.

Village Development Was Not as Easy as Expected

Among the projects we’ve carried out so far, education has been relatively successful. The eradication of tuberculosis through the hospital and the significant reduction in infant and maternal mortality were also successful. On the other hand, village development was not as effective as we thought. We wanted to develop villages by building houses, paving roads, increasing agricultural production, creating production and consumer cooperatives, and establishing village banks. But firstly, our capabilities were quite limited. Secondly, the problem here isn’t just poverty; because they’re untouchables, they rarely own land to cultivate and mostly survive by working as day laborers. As a result, we couldn’t establish the foundation to form organizations like production cooperatives with resident participation. There’s also the issue of residents being completely illiterate, although this might improve as more young people who can read and write emerge. Overall, their way of life is very different from typical rural areas. It’s possible to create cooperatives when people have even a small piece of land to farm and live poorly, but here, like urban slums, untouchables live around upper-caste villages and survive by working for their masters. This system made village development challenging.

Village development is difficult to succeed without someone meticulously planning and investing in it. That’s why it hasn’t been well-implemented so far. In particular, most of the JTS volunteers who come here are young people. While young people can manage schools, they find village development challenging due to lack of experience. On the other hand, older male lay practitioners have the experience to do village development, but they find it difficult to volunteer here for extended periods. Long-term volunteering is necessary for village development, but older people struggle to adapt to the food, have difficulty communicating, and find it hard to endure the climate. They find it challenging to withstand temperatures that rise up to 50 degrees Celsius in summer and the chilly winters. Nevertheless, we’ve been able to achieve today’s results thanks to the numerous volunteers who have passed through here. Over the past 30 years, we counted more than 150 people who stayed and volunteered for over a year. Although we haven’t yet expanded to village development, the current state has been achieved thanks to the many volunteers who have come and gone.

The Same 7 Dollars Creates Miracles on the Other Side of the World

When your donations are used well, they provide educational opportunities for children like this. They give treatment opportunities to sick people. In some areas, they can provide clean water, and for the hungry, they can provide food. The same 7 Dollars in Korea might only buy one bowl of rice, but here it can become ten or a hundred bowls. The story of five loaves and two fish from the Bible isn’t just a story in a book; depending on where the money is used, miraculous things can actually happen. If we reduce the waste in our own lives and transfer that money to people on the other side of the world who we can’t see or hear, it can greatly help alleviate their suffering. Of course, as you’ve seen, money alone doesn’t make things happen. The money spent here alone couldn’t have formed this. More than money, it’s the sincerity, ideas, and continuous efforts that have come together to create the current results. If you ask, ‘Has everything gone well?’ it hasn’t, and if you ask, ‘Is everything going well?’ it’s not going well even now. There are always many challenges remaining.

After the explanation, the pilgrimage group raised their hands and asked questions about what they were curious about. Two people asked Sunim questions.

“While traveling on the Indian pilgrimage, I felt uncomfortable seeing mothers begging with babies in their arms. Is this feeling of discomfort similar to what Buddha felt during his four sights?”

“From my perspective, the poor people in India look pitiful, but it seems that the Indian people themselves don’t think that way. How should we view this?”

Sunim answered the last question and concluded the Q&A session.

The Poor in India Look Pitiful to Me, How Should I View This Feeling?

“There are two reasons why Indian people have a different perspective from us. First, they were born and raised in this society. They are already adapted to this system. Second, in India, caste is divided by occupation. Originally, the caste system was a social hierarchy, but occupations became fixed according to social status. The son of a barber becomes a barber, the son of a driver becomes a driver, and the son of a cleaner becomes a cleaner. There are about 3,000 occupations classified this way. The broad division of castes into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, and Sudra is called ‘Varna’. Within these, there are about 3,000 detailed castes. This is India’s traditional culture, and Indians accept their life as karma, or destiny. It’s like how we use livestock – we consider plowing fields as the job of oxen, and carrying people as the job of horses. Indian people believe that by doing their best in the job that matches their caste, they will go to a better place in their next life. They believe this and live their lives accordingly. The Indian person you met probably said that based on the Indian way of thinking.

To help understand Indian culture, let me give you an example. In the Joseon Dynasty, a seven-year-old nobleman’s child could call a 60-year-old commoner “Hey, you!” and the older commoner would respond “Yes” and come running. In the United States during the era of slavery, young white children would treat grown black adults like animals. It wasn’t a matter of power that could be discussed. Because of the system of slavery, people had no choice but to live that way. It may seem absurd to us today, but within the thought system of that time, people couldn’t think any differently. In the past in Korea, it was taken for granted that women must unconditionally obey their husbands, and children must unconditionally obey their parents. But today, we see such practices as discriminating against women. It was a way of thinking, or a kind of karmic habit, that people lived by. Does this mean that the present age is absolutely right and the past age was absolutely wrong? In the present age, it’s considered natural that if you study well in school and get good grades, you go to law school or medical school to become a doctor or lawyer and earn a lot of money. If you’re not good at studying and lack ability, you think you have no choice but to become a farmer or laborer. This meritocracy is a kind of brainwashing, just like the caste system of the past. Just as people in the past thought, “I was born a commoner, so there’s no other way,” or “I was born a woman, so there’s no other path,” today we accept the class order created through school education, thinking, “What can I do if I lack ability?” or “What can be done if that person is talented?” Just as we reject the old thought systems but accept today’s meritocracy, perhaps in a few centuries, a system that denies discrimination based on ability will take root. Today, we say that a son can’t become president just because his father was president, but we allow a son to inherit a conglomerate if his father was a tycoon. Why is it that inheriting status is not allowed, but inheriting wealth is permitted? It’s because of capitalism. If in the future, inheriting wealth becomes unacceptable, today’s society will be judged as truly unequal when looking back. People will think, “How can it make sense that a son automatically becomes rich if his father is wealthy?” It’s the same as saying it doesn’t make sense for a son to become president just because his father was president. While it’s true that things have become more equal than in the past, we are still trapped in our own thought systems today. And it’s from this perspective that we view Indians as trapped in their thought systems. While it may seem nonsensical to us, they accept and live within these thought systems because they were born and raised in their own culture. The greatness of the Buddha lies in the fact that he transcended such temporal limitations. Born as a prince, in a situation where it was natural to enjoy wealth and status, he realized that his own wealth existed at the expense of others’ suffering. That’s why later, after attaining enlightenment, Buddha preached that the happiness we pursue exists on top of others’ unhappiness. Even if we’re shocked by how people live here in India, it ends when we return to Korea. Compared to Buddha’s time, Korea today is like a royal palace. Our coming to India is like when Buddha went outside the palace gates and saw the suffering of sentient beings. Ordinary people might think, “I should live in Korea, not India, to avoid ending up like that,” or “I just need to live well myself,” but Buddha began to contemplate, “Why does such inequality exist?” and “How can we find a way to escape from such suffering?” While such questions and contemplations might have seemed useless to adults, it was through them that Buddha attained great enlightenment. The questioner’s feeling of pity for that person is a mind that arises according to circumstances. Just as feeling happy or sad arises according to circumstances. Being elated because you feel good due to circumstances is not practice. It’s unavoidable that good feelings arise – it’s your karma. However, if you get carried away and enjoy it, that can be called the mind of an ordinary being. Sadness arising is also your karma, but if you become immersed in that sadness, you should know that this is the mind of an ordinary being. When you notice sadness or compassion arising in your mind, you should be able to return to the perspective of “What will I do, even if it’s something small?” It’s important to maintain equanimity without getting caught up in emotions, and to think about and implement what you can do to help that child, that disabled person, or that child’s mother, even if it’s just a little. That is the bodhisattva mind. Simply feeling sad, happy, pitiful, or annoyed is merely the mind of an ordinary being. You must recognize the mind of an ordinary being for what it is. You shouldn’t call the mind of an ordinary being compassion. That pain, sadness, and compassion can be the catalyst for developing compassion, but they are not compassion in themselves. They are just the mind of an ordinary being. From this perspective, I hope the questioner will observe yourself a bit more. When helping others, you shouldn’t do it to satisfy your own mind, but to do what is helpful for that person. That’s why it’s said that bodhisattvas manifest according to circumstances. Manifesting according to circumstances means responding based on the needs of others. The feeling of pity is a mind of an ordinary being that comes from your own needs.”

“Thank you. I understand well.”

Regrettably, as it was past 9 PM, the Dharma talk ended to prepare for tomorrow’s pilgrimage. Sunim went to check on a person who had injured her leg during the pilgrimage.

“Once you leave Bodhgaya, there are no airports. If you want to return to Korea, you need to prepare quickly. However, since you’ve come this far, it would be good to visit the Mahabodhi Temple and the sacred sites in Bodhgaya. I’ll assign a vehicle for you tomorrow, so please tour the sacred sites.”

“Sunim, thank you.”

The first day at Sujata Academy came to an end.

Tomorrow, Sunim plan to visit the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment.