Mar 3, 2025 – Day 15 of the 100-Day Dharma Talk, Open Dharma Meeting 7, Standing Executive Committee Meeting
Hello everyone. Today is the 15th day of the 100-Day Dharma Talk. This week, like last week, we have open lectures before the main 100-Day Dharma Talk begins. In the morning, an Open Dharma Meeting on the topic of “Memorial Services” is being held, and in the evening, another Open Dharma Meeting on “The Song of Dharma Nature” will take place.
After completing his morning practice and meditation, Sunim headed to the Jungto Social and Cultural Center to deliver the 100-Day Dharma Talk. At the Dharma Hall on the third floor, everyone diligently performed the 9 a.m. prayer service and then prepared the space for the Open Dharma Meeting. At 10:15 a.m., the Open Dharma Meeting began with the recitation of the Three Refuges and the Heart Sutra.
With about 170 people in attendance, everyone paid respect to Sunim with three bows and requested his Dharma teaching. Starting today, the Open Dharma Meeting will focus on “Memorial Services,” one of the representative Buddhist ceremonies. In this first session, Sunim explained in detail the reasons behind various Buddhist ceremonies and the significance of conducting memorial services.
“In human life, it’s necessary to maintain courtesy between people. When many people gather for an event or meeting, rituals naturally develop. The ceremonies we perform during Dharma meetings and the Barugongyang (formal Buddhist monastic meal) ritual are all examples of such rituals. It’s impossible for humans to live without rituals.
The various rituals performed by Korean monks in temples today are primarily based on ‘Seokmuneuibeom’ (釋門儀範), which was compiled in the 1930s. Seokmuneuibeom means Buddhism—it refers to the rituals and norms practiced in the lineage of Shakyamuni Buddha. Most Buddhist rituals today are performed based on Seokmuneuibeom, with some additions and subtractions.
Buddhism as Religion vs. Buddhism as Practice
Since Jungto Society began with a focus on practice, there were no rituals in the beginning. When I first started practicing with a few others, we had no rituals at all. But as our community grew, rituals became necessary. When someone’s parent passed away, cultural norms dictated that a 49-day memorial service should be held. Since Jungto Society didn’t conduct these services, people would go to other temples for them. After a few years, we started receiving constant requests to hold 49-day memorial services at Jungto Society. However, I was concerned about several issues: I’m not a priest, and if our community continued to grow, I might end up spending all my time conducting memorial services. There was also the question of how much to charge for these services. If we provided more elaborate services for those who paid more and simpler ones for those who paid less, people might rightfully complain that they suffered from wealth inequality in life and now had to experience it in death as well. For these reasons, Jungto Society initially decided not to conduct memorial services.
Most temples generate income from conducting memorial services for the deceased. Without these services, there would be no income. Prayers for blessings and memorial services for the deceased constitute the majority of temple revenue. Since Jungto Society doesn’t perform these services, there was no income, so practitioners had to work outside to raise operating funds. However, as time passed, there were increasing requests: “Please allow us conduct these services in accordance with the Dharma.” Eventually, memorial services were permitted.
To perform rituals, there needs to be a set of standards, but Jungto Society didn’t have any, so we had to adopt existing ones. However, most existing rituals were based on traditional religious perspectives. What Jungto Society teaches is not Buddhism as a religion but Buddhism as a practice. When conducting memorial services in the traditional way, they become religious rituals, which, though necessary, conflict with our practice-oriented approach. Due to this contradiction, we attempted to transform these rituals completely into practice-oriented ceremonies. However, rituals aren’t just about content—they’re a form of cultural art that requires elements like moktak wooden instruments and melodies. Someone would need to compose new music to create a new artistic form. But I’m completely ignorant about art. I can’t sing, compose, or play instruments. So ultimately, we had no choice but to adopt traditional rituals. 
This is how we came to accept traditional rituals, but I have never given a lecture about this before. Other temples offer lectures on the Thousand Hands Sutra, but at Jungto Society, we have never given such lectures. We’ve always taught, “Don’t just read it, understand its meaning properly,” yet I’ve provided no explanation about rituals while we continue to perform them. This is actually a contradiction that Jungto Society has been carrying.
So today, I would like to first explain how the rituals currently practiced in Buddhist communities were formed, from what perspective we should perform these rituals, and then explain some important aspects of these rituals.
Why Do We Fear Death?
Among rituals, the most representative ones that people cannot avoid are those related to death. This is because death is what humans fear most. Some may claim they’ve experienced greater fears, but that’s just talk. Death is the greatest fear. Since people in this world don’t understand death well, both the dying person and those witnessing death feel anxious. So, finding ways to alleviate the anxiety of the dying person and comfort the hearts of family members has been something many people have contemplated since ancient times.
The Buddha taught that fear of death arises from ignorance. Since fear comes from not knowing what happens “after death,” once this ignorance is dispelled, the fear disappears. When ignorance is overcome, there is no fear when going to unfamiliar places, meeting strangers, doing unfamiliar tasks, or facing death. That’s why the Buddha said, “Even if an angry elephant comes, or a murderer chases with a knife, there is no fear in the Tathagata.” Because there is no fear, there was no need to do anything for after death. Therefore, in the original Buddhist teachings, rituals for after death were unnecessary. 
When the Buddha was asked about how his funeral should be conducted before he passed away, he replied, “You don’t need to worry about that. People will follow their own customs.” He instructed them to let people handle it according to their traditions, whether that meant disposing of the body in water or cremating it. The people who conducted Buddha’s funeral in Kushinagar were royalty known as the Malla clan. They performed the funeral according to their customs. At that time, one’s social status was important regardless of whether one had attained enlightenment, and since the Buddha was of royal lineage, his funeral was conducted according to royal protocol. Alternatively, it could be viewed that since those who conducted the funeral were royalty, they followed royal customs. Originally, Buddhism focused on attaining fearless nirvana as its goal, so matters like funerals weren’t of concern. However, since the Buddha was cremated in this manner, monks who passed away later were also cremated, and this came to be accepted as the Buddhist funeral method.
How Jungto Society Came to Accept Memorial Services
From a practice perspective, the memorial services currently performed at Jungto Society are unnecessary. However, since people living together need rituals for death, we accepted memorial services, though this creates some contradiction with Jungto Society’s identity. Therefore, when beginning a memorial service, I give a Dharma talk from the perspective of practice.
Dear departed soul, during your lifetime, you saw with your eyes, heard with your ears, smelled with your nose, tasted with your tongue, touched with your hands, and thought with your mind, saying ‘This is me,’ ‘This is mine,’ ‘I am right.’ But now that you can no longer see, hear, smell, taste, touch, or think, how can you say ‘This is me,’ ‘This is mine,’ ‘I am right’? What is your original face? If you can respond to this question from the Dharma teacher, you will instantly awaken and attain liberation and nirvana. However, if you cannot answer this question, no matter how many good deeds you did during your lifetime, if you do not understand this principle, you are merely a deluded being. A deluded being cannot escape the cycle of suffering and pleasure in the world of samsara. Today, the Dharma teacher and the assembly gathered here will conduct this memorial service and create merit for your rebirth in the Pure Land, so that with this merit, may you be reborn in the Pure Land, meet Amitabha Buddha, listen to his teachings, awaken, and enter nirvana.
After explaining these fundamental principles, we begin the religious ceremony. The rest of the ritual can be considered a ceremony to comfort those who fear death. Even if you practice diligently, if you still fear death and feel sad when your parents pass away, you need a memorial service to comfort these fears and sorrows. Therefore, we briefly address the fundamental principles, and the rest is a traditional comforting ceremony wishing the departed soul a good journey. Thus, the memorial services at Jungto Society inevitably become religious ceremonies. The current memorial ceremonies in Buddhist circles, known as “Gwaneumsisik,” are based on the Pure Land rebirth ideology from the Three Pure Land Sutras, centered on rituals performed in esoteric Buddhism, and incorporate Huayan philosophy and Seon thought.
The term “Cheondo” (薦度) in Cheondojae (薦度齋, memorial service) means “the method of sending to a good place.” It is a ceremony to send the departed soul from a difficult place to a better place, and since this requires giving, the character “jae” (齋) meaning “to give” is used.
Therefore, if someone has truly awakened and has no fear of dying tomorrow, and feels no sadness when their parents die, they don’t need to hold a memorial service. But for those who cry when their parents pass away and fear their own death, comfort is needed to soothe these fears. From what I’ve observed, it seems that Jungto Society members haven’t yet reached the level where they can forgo memorial services. (Laughter) 
There are three methods for conducting a memorial service for the deceased. First, you must practice giving. Second, you must offer prayers of repentance and listen to Dharma talks to gain insight. Third, you must earnestly pray while calling upon Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. These elements constitute a memorial service. Tomorrow, we will examine these components in greater detail.”
After concluding his Dharma talk, Sunim descended from the Dharma platform, and the participants gathered in groups to share their thoughts. Following the Four Great Vows, the Open Dharma Assembly ended as noon approached.
Sunim had lunch with the participants in the dining hall on the first basement level, then moved to the Peace Foundation meeting room.
At 2 PM, Sunim held the first consultation meeting with the Standing Committee members of the 1000-Day Practice Preparation Committee of Jungto Society in The Peace Foundation meeting room.
Every three years, Jungto Society forms a 1000-Day Practice Preparation Committee (hereafter referred to as the Committee) to prepare for the next 1000 days (three years). This committee drafts the overall business plan for Jungto Society, including organizational restructuring and personnel changes.
First, Dharma Teacher Beopjeong, the chairperson of the Standing Committee, presented the key agenda items. Although Jungto Society quickly transitioned to online operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is currently experiencing stagnation. Dharma Teacher Beopjeong emphasized the need to examine the problems with the existing operational methods and set realistic goals for the second 1000-Day Practice through this consultation. In particular, key tasks included increasing the retention rate of members after completing the Jungto Dharma School, harmonizing online and offline activities, and strengthening the role of engaged volunteers. Sunim also shared his opinions regarding the committee members’ concerns.
“We need to develop practical alternatives that fully consider the current situation. We need to readjust the balance between online and offline activities to adapt to the changing environment. When we transitioned to an online system while maintaining the existing offline structure, we couldn’t fully leverage the advantages of the online format. Therefore, it’s important to listen to the opinions of people who are unfamiliar with online methods or who found them uncomfortable because they differ from traditional offline approaches. To build an online Jungto Society, we need to redesign the membership organization method, qualification criteria, and operational methods to suit the online environment. To properly transition online, we need to consider fundamental changes.”
There was also extensive discussion about helping Jungto Dharma School graduates naturally participate in the Weekly Dharma Assembly. Sunim emphasized that to develop flexible and realistic operational plans, discussions must move beyond an insider-centric approach to reflect diverse perspectives.
“If we only listen to the opinions of those who remain in Jungto Society, discussions are likely to flow toward maintaining the status quo. We need to understand why people left Jungto Society to properly identify the issues we’re missing. To solve problems like low membership registration rates or low attendance at Dharma assemblies, internal opinions alone are insufficient. By listening to those who graduated from the Dharma School but didn’t join Jungto Society, we can discover problems we’ve overlooked. If we listen to their opinions and analyze why they couldn’t continue their activities with Jungto Society, we can find better directions for how to operate the organization in the future.” 
Based on Sunim’s suggestion, the Standing Committee decided to analyze the factors causing member attrition and improve Jungto Society’s operational methods through more comprehensive opinion gathering. The meeting concluded with an agreement to develop more practical implementation plans at the second consultation meeting.
As the sun set, Sunim conducted an Open Dharma Assembly for evening session members at 7:30 PM.
About 100 participants who had rushed over after finishing work filled the Dharma hall on the third floor.
The evening Open Dharma Assembly focused on the “Song of Dharma Nature” (Beopseonggye), which contains the core teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra.
“Beopsong (Dharma Nature) means ‘the nature of the Dharma.’ The term ‘Beop’ (Dharma) carries the meaning of both ‘truth’ and ‘existence.’ Therefore, when we say ‘Beopsong,’ it can be translated as ‘the nature of truth’ or ‘the essence of existence.’ ‘Gye’ means to sing or recite. This is a recitation about the nature of truth by Master Uisang, a great monk from the Silla Dynasty. That’s why it’s called Master Uisang’s Song of Dharma Nature.
Master Uisang composed a song about the nature of dharma by summarizing the content of the Avatamsaka Sutra. He could be considered the person who best summarized the Avatamsaka Sutra. The Song of Dharma Nature consists of 30 verses, each with seven characters. This means the entire Avatamsaka Sutra is condensed into just 210 characters, which is even shorter than the Heart Sutra.
For example, if I ask you, “Is this cup big or small?” most of you would answer, “It’s small.” You might think you’re saying it’s small because the cup is actually small. You consider “smallness” to be an objective fact that you’re simply observing.
But that’s not actually the case. If I ask, “Which is bigger, this cup or its lid?” you would say, “The cup is bigger.” If I compare this cup with the microphone and ask, “Which is bigger?” you would say, “The cup is smaller than the microphone.” The concepts of “big” and “small” are phenomena that arise in our perception depending on what we’re comparing things to. They are merely phenomena that arise from comparison. If we look at just this cup alone and ask, “Is it big or small?” we can’t say it’s either big or small. This isn’t just true for this cup—it applies to everything.
“Is This New or Used?” Even If You Ask This, It’s the Same. When someone asks, “Is this new or used?” it’s the same situation. If you answer, “This is new,” it means you’re comparing it to something else. Similarly, when you say, “This is small,” you’re making a comparison. When you think of a large mug while looking at this cup, you perceive it as small. Someone thinking of a soju glass would perceive it as large. All relative concepts arise in our perception. The object itself isn’t inherently that way. In other words, “the mind creates everything.” The core philosophy of the Avatamsaka Sutra can be expressed in one phrase: “All phenomena are created by the mind.”
I’m not good at anything. Why do I feel so inferior
Both superiority and inferiority arise in our perception, not from existence itself. Your thoughts of being “superior” or “inferior” work the same way. Each of you simply exists as you are, just as this cup simply exists as it is. It’s neither big nor small, neither expensive nor cheap, neither new nor used, neither clean nor dirty. Your existence is simply what it is. Yet most of you carry feelings of inferiority. The reason is that you compare yourself to others.
Of course, if you compare yourself with just one person, you might find some areas where you’re better. You might say, “I’m not good at this, but I’m better at that.” But how do you typically make comparisons? You compare your singing to professional singers, your dharma talks to Sunim, your appearance to actors, and your physical strength to athletes. This makes you feel like you’re not good at anything. Conversely, those who act superior focus only on areas where they excel while ignoring everything else. They might compare themselves to others based solely on having scored first place on a recent test. In this world, there are hundreds or thousands of things to compare, but they grasp just one thing and think, “I’m better.”
Here is a piece of wood. An artist took this discarded piece from a warehouse and carved it into a Buddha statue. Once enshrined, it becomes sacred. When exactly did this ordinary piece of wood become sacred? Initially, it was just abandoned wood that later became a sacred Buddha statue, but looking at the entire process, we cannot pinpoint the exact moment it became sacred. This is why the true nature of reality has no fixed form. This first line is the most important in the entire Song of Dharma Nature.
This means “all dharmas are empty.” The true nature of reality doesn’t fluctuate between good and bad or virtuous and evil. Such fluctuations exist only in the human mind, not in existence itself. Consider how certain substances can be medicine in small doses but poison in large amounts. We call it “medicine” or “poison,” but the substance itself has neither medicinal nor toxic properties inherently. When the substance helps heal under certain conditions, people call it “medicine.” When it causes adverse effects like diarrhea, they call it “poison.” 
“No name, no form” (無名無相) means we cannot assign names or forms to things. We cannot say “this has medicinal properties” or “that has toxic properties.” “Transcending all” (絶一切) means everything is cut off. It means that before naming, these forms themselves do not exist.
“Realized wisdom” (證智) refers to wisdom gained through personal experience and enlightenment. What we see, hear, and know is knowledge. However, this is something known through wisdom that I have realized and attained, not something known through other means.
“True nature” (眞性) refers to one’s authentic nature. The true nature is so profound that it is extremely subtle. Its meaning is so deep that it cannot be described as this or that—it is that subtle.
“Self-nature” refers to one’s inherent nature. This means not clinging to one’s inherent nature but forming according to conditions. In other words, not insisting on medicinal or toxic properties, but becoming medicine or poison depending on the conditions at that time. 
The same applies to you. You cannot definitively say whether you are good or bad at studying. With your current abilities, if you transfer to a rural school, you might be considered a good student there. If all the top students from regional schools are selected and sent to a prestigious school in Seoul, someone among them will still end up at the bottom of the class. So being last doesn’t mean you lack ability, and being first doesn’t mean you have ability. It all depends on conditions.
Generally, when people reach their fifties, they think, “It’s too late to start anything new.” But when you reach sixty, you realize that your fifties were actually your prime working years. I’m over seventy this year, and when I meet social elders in their eighties, they sometimes ask me, “Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, how old are you?” When I reply, “I’m seventy-three,” they say, “Oh, you’re in your prime! If I were that age again, I’d be flying around.” The concept of youth and old age works the same way. 
When we realize this truth, we can acknowledge that whether it’s age, wealth, appearance, knowledge, or ability, “it is just what it is.” Look at the animals in the natural ecosystem. Squirrels live as squirrels, rabbits live as rabbits, deer live as deer, and lions live as lions. How could squirrels or rabbits survive if they constantly compared themselves to tigers or lions? They would all end up committing suicide. If a rabbit kept thinking, “Why am I not strong, not fast enough, and so small?” while comparing itself to a lion, it couldn’t survive. But the reality is different. Every being is precious exactly as it is.
Truth Is Not Fixed but Follows Causes and Conditions
The nature of the Dharma is perfectly harmonious without having two aspects, and it does not maintain its own nature but is formed according to conditions. This is the true appearance of this world. While “the nature of the Dharma is perfectly harmonious without duality” (法性圓融無二相) speaks of the world of emptiness, “not maintaining its own nature but forming according to conditions” (不守自性 隨緣成) speaks of the world of form. That is why the Heart Sutra also says, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”
You can see with your own eyes that a human body dies and completely breaks down, right? So we accept that the physical body goes through the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. But we can’t see what happens to the mind. That’s why ancient Indians thought that the entity called “I” could enter a cow and become a cow. They believed that if you lived foolishly, you would become a cow; if you were greedy, you would become a pig; if you had a vicious mind, you would become a venomous snake; and if you accumulated good deeds, you would be reborn as a human. This way of thinking assumes there is a self. However, Buddha said that there are only mental processes, but no actual entity called the self. It’s like how a car moves around, but there isn’t a single thing you can point to and say, “This exactly is the car.”
What’s important here is “not holding onto its own nature but taking form according to causes and conditions.” It’s not enough to know that all phenomena are empty; we must also understand that they arise according to causes and conditions. When grasping an object, we must close our hand. When releasing it, we must open our hand. Following causes and conditions in this way is natural. The roles each of you play also correspond to “taking form according to causes and conditions.” People call me “Sunim,” but that’s just a name used in relationships. It’s the same as being called “big” or “small” depending on the context. When I meet my father, am I a monk or a son? I am a son. But when I meet you, I am a monk. In a taxi, I am a passenger; in a store, I am a customer. Everything takes form according to causes and conditions. 
Because people don’t understand how things arise according to causes and conditions, they have fixed ideas like “How could a monk do such a thing?” or “How could a son do that?” or “How could a passenger act that way?” or “How could a customer behave like that?” Our existence is not fixed. There’s nothing fixed about being a monk, a father, a woman, or a mother. Everything simply arises according to causes and conditions, and we are labeled according to these relationships. In one set of conditions, we’re called small; in another set of conditions, we’re called large.
Value doesn’t inherently exist. Value is something we assign. Even worthless virtual currencies like cryptocurrency gain value when many people assign worth to them, causing prices to rise dramatically. Just yesterday, when former President Trump said the U.S. government would stockpile cryptocurrency, the price jumped by $10,000 in a single day. That’s why it’s called speculation. It’s all an illusion. This doesn’t mean illusions are unnecessary—it means we’re currently living within illusions. Paper money works the same way. We assign meaning to it and trust in it, which is why we exchange it with one another. 
Without maintaining our own inherent nature, we change in various ways according to circumstances. There is no fixed rule that says ‘you must wear clothes’ or ‘you must take off clothes.’ When entering a bathhouse, you need to take off your clothes, and when leaving, you need to put them back on. You can’t just take off your clothes anywhere. It all depends on where you are in time and space. Yet we often insist on some kind of absolutism. You shouldn’t cling tightly to childhood memories from a particular time and place and claim ‘this is the truth.’ Truth is not fixed. Rather, it manifests according to conditions in each moment. Though it follows conditions, even that is not permanent.”
As the Dharma talk concluded, the attendees gathered in groups to share their thoughts, while Sunim left the Dharma hall and headed to the Jungto Center.
Tomorrow will be the 16th day of the 100-Day Dharma Talk. In the morning, an Open Dharma Assembly on the theme of “Memorial Service” will be held, followed by consecutive meetings with social leaders visiting the Peace Foundation in the afternoon. In the evening, another Open Dharma Assembly will take place on the theme of “Song of Dharma Nature.”
