Time Does Not Inherently Exist, Why Is That?

Mar 4, 2025 – Day 16 of the 100-Day Dharma Talk, 8th Open Dharma Assembly

Hello. Today is the 16th day of Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s 100-Day Dharma Talk. It snowed heavily in Seoul overnight.



After completing his morning practice and meditation, Sunim headed to the Jungto Social and Cultural Center to deliver his 100-Day Dharma Talk. At 10:15, the Open Dharma Assembly began with the recitation of the Threefold Refuges and the Heart Sutra.



With about 100 people in attendance, the assembly formally requested Sunim’s teaching with three bows. Continuing from the previous session, Sunim spoke on the topic of “Funeral Rites for the Deceased.” Following the order in the funeral service book, Sunim explained in detail the meaning of each ritual element: inviting the Buddha, calling the spirits, dharma talk, the verse for guiding spirits, the Great Dharani, invocation for wandering spirits, offering of incense, the verse for peaceful sitting, and the tea offering.



“When performing funeral rites, we first conduct ‘Geobul,’ inviting the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, and then ‘Cheonghon,’ calling forth the spirits. During ‘Cheonghon,’ we place the parents’ spirits at the center when conducting the ceremony for them, and then invite all relatives, neighbors, beings in hell, and all suffering beings in the samsaric world.”

Let Go of a Single Thought as There Is Nothing to Cling To

“Next comes ‘Chakeo,’ the Buddha’s dharma talk. These ritual procedures vary slightly from temple to temple. What I’m explaining is the funeral ceremony as practiced by Jungto Society. ‘Chakeo’ primarily contains the Mahayana concept of emptiness, emphasizing that everything arises and disappears according to causes and conditions.”

Following this, all participants chanted the solemn Buddhist invocation together, accompanied by Venerable Yusu’s chanting and the sound of the moktak wooden instrument.







As water freezes to become ice and ice melts to become water, life and death in this world are like water and ice. Just as floating clouds gather and disperse according to conditions, the birth and death of sentient beings appear according to causes and conditions.

“The core message expressed through these verses is ‘Let go of a single thought as there is nothing to cling to.’ Everything arises according to the mind. Here, ‘mind’ refers to the ‘deluded mind.’ All disputes and discriminations arise from the deluded mind, and when the deluded mind disappears, all disputes and discriminations disappear. Even concepts of good and evil merely arise according to the mind. The same applies to what is considered sinful or not. These ideas are repeatedly emphasized. To borrow an expression from the Song of Dharma Nature: ‘The nature of dharma is perfectly harmonious without duality’ and ‘Not holding to its own nature, it forms according to conditions.’ This can be expressed so simply. However, due to our thick karmic obscurations, our attachments don’t easily disappear just by hearing the dharma once. That’s why the same content is repeatedly expressed in different ways. As a result, the text becomes very long. Even this version is condensed. There are even longer versions.”

Birth and Death Are All Suffering

During the Silla Dynasty, there was a conversation between Master Wonhyo and a snake catcher. It seems that even back then, funeral ceremonies were quite lengthy. The snake catcher was uneducated. Wonhyo had broken his monastic vows and abandoned his status as a monk to live among ordinary people as a layman. At that time, a snake catcher lived next door to him. One morning, the snake catcher came to Wonhyo and said, “My mother has passed away. Come with me to conduct her funeral.” So they went together to perform the funeral. In those days, the lower class people were not allowed to have proper graves. So they wrapped the mother’s body in a straw mat and carried it on their shoulders, one in front and one behind. After digging a hole and placing the body in it, the snake catcher said, “Wonhyo, you’re quite learned. Please chant a prayer for my mother.” If this had been Wonhyo before he broke his vows, he would have chanted a long prayer, but since he was dealing with a snake catcher, he kept it very brief.

‘May one not be born, for birth is suffering. May one not die, for rebirth is suffering.’

Hearing this, the snake catcher said, “You still haven’t let go of your book learning. That’s too long—make it shorter.” So Wonhyo made it even shorter.

‘Birth-death suffering.’

He summed it up in one phrase: birth and death are all suffering. Only then did the snake catcher clap his hands in approval. Wonhyo, being an enlightened master, was able to condense it so concisely, but since we haven’t reached that level, our prayers tend to be much longer. (Laughter)

All Things Are Created by the Deluded Mind

The ceremony for guiding the deceased includes not only Tantric mantras but also beautiful passages from the Avatamsaka Sutra. This is because the ceremony contains the intention for the deceased to hear many good teachings and attain enlightenment.

若人欲了知 三世一切佛 應觀法界性 一體唯心造

This means that to understand the essence of all the Buddha’s teachings throughout the three times (past, present, and future), one should contemplate the nature of the dharma realm. When contemplating the nature of the dharma realm, one realizes that all things are created by the mind. When we hear ‘all things are created by the mind,’ the first story that comes to mind is the famous tale of Great Master Wonhyo and the skull cup.



Great Master Wonhyo had already read the Avatamsaka Sutra and understood its contents before attaining enlightenment through drinking water from a skull cup. He already knew the teaching that ‘when one thought arises, all phenomena arise, when one thought ceases, all phenomena cease.’ The principle that all things are created by the mind. However, he had not yet experienced and realized this truth directly. At that time, Silla did not have many Buddhist scriptures available. So, hoping to learn deeper teachings, he set out on a journey to study in China. While waiting for a ship, he took shelter in a cave to avoid the rain. In the darkness of night, feeling thirsty, Wonhyo fumbled around and found a container with water, which he drank with great satisfaction. When he woke up in the morning, he discovered that the sweet water he had enjoyed the night before had been collected in a human skull. Upon realizing this, he felt disgusted and vomited the water. This was not yet the state of enlightenment. If he had been enlightened, he wouldn’t have vomited. However, through the experience of drinking from the skull cup and then vomiting, he gained insight. The water was the same water he had drunk the night before, and the container was the same container. So why did the water taste sweet yesterday but become disgusting today? He realized that the cause was not in the container or the water but in his own mind. Upon this realization, Wonhyo began dancing joyfully and exclaimed.

‘When one thought arises, all phenomena arise. When one thought ceases, all phenomena cease.’

Here, ‘all phenomena’ refers to the dualistic concepts like pure or impure, right or wrong. This was ‘experiential wisdom (證智)’ – understanding gained through direct bodily and mental experience, which is fundamentally different from intellectual knowledge gained from books. Having realized that everything depends solely on the mind, he understood that truth was neither in China nor India, nor in books. Therefore, there was no need to travel to China in search of truth. That’s why Wonhyo returned.

Spirits come and go freely without hindrance.
Dear departed souls, what difficulty could there be in coming to this place for a moment?

We commonly use the expression ‘knows like a ghost’ when someone knows something that only I should know. This implies that ghosts know things that are impossible for us to know. So would ghosts be unable to find their way if we change the date or location of an ancestral ritual? Ghosts know everything and will come regardless. Yet people often ask if it’s acceptable to change the date or location of ancestral rites, or if it’s okay for their son to perform the ceremony in America. But ghosts can move throughout the entire universe regardless of time. So there’s no need to worry about such things.



In a religious sense, a ceremony for guiding the deceased is a ritual to send the dead to a better place. However, if you don’t view it as a religious ceremony and instead keep comparing it with the Buddha’s teaching of non-self, contradictions will arise. From a religious perspective, the concept of a soul must exist for such a ceremony to be meaningful. I suggest you view the ceremony for guiding the deceased from this religious perspective.



So the direction of the ancestral memorial service aims at rebirth in the Pure Land as pursued in Pure Land Buddhism. The memorial ritual primarily incorporates esoteric Buddhist ceremonies, while the Dharma talks during these services are mostly based on Mahayana thought, specifically Huayan philosophy and Seon Buddhist perspectives. During these memorial services, food is offered to all hungry beings. That’s why we use the Chinese character ‘齋’ (jae) which means ‘to offer.’ Originally in Buddhism, the core purpose was to teach the Dharma to the deceased to help them attain enlightenment, but when this practice met Confucian culture, it transformed into making offerings to spirits as well. This can be understood as a fusion with the cultural practices of the time.”

After the Dharma talk, participants gathered in groups to share their thoughts. Following the Four Great Vows, the Open Dharma Assembly concluded at noon.



Sunim had lunch with the Sangha members in the dining hall on the first basement level.



After finishing his meal, at 2 PM, former National Assembly member Kim Seong-gon visited to seek Sunim’s advice on current political issues. They had an extensive conversation before he departed. Following this, at 4 PM, SBS Entertainment Division PD Ryu Ji-hwan visited and engaged in a lengthy discussion with Sunim.



After these consecutive meetings with visitors, dusk had fallen.



At 7:30 PM, Sunim began the 7th lecture of the Open Dharma Assembly for evening session members. About 110 people who had rushed to the center after work filled the Dharma hall on the third floor.



The evening Open Dharma Assembly continued with the second lecture on the “Dharma Nature Verses” (法性偈), which contains the core teachings of the Avatamsaka Sutra, following yesterday’s session.



一中一切多中一 一卽一切多卽一

Within one is all, within many is one.
One is identical to all, many are identical to one.

“Each individual thing, when gathered in countless numbers, forms the whole (一切). The whole refers to the entirety. Within this entirety exists each individual thing. This is ‘within many is one’ (多中一). This concept is easy to understand. Right now, many people are gathered in this Dharma hall, and each one of you is an individual within the whole. But then, within each individual exists the whole. This is ‘within one is all’ (一中一切). Therefore, one is identical to all, and all is identical to one. This is ‘one is identical to all, many are identical to one’ (一卽一切多卽一).



The concept that one is included within the whole is easy to understand. However, the concept that the whole exists within one is very difficult to comprehend with our spatial understanding.

Viewing From a 3D Perspective Rather Than 2D

Our perceptual world exists in three dimensions—a spatial concept consisting of length, width, and height. Let me explain the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional worlds using the Jungto Social and Cultural Center where we are now. This is a 14-story building. If we were to look down at this building from an airplane, we would only see one square plot of land about 300 pyeong in area. In a two-dimensional world with only length and width, if you wanted to use the entire plot of land, you could build only one thing—either a Dharma hall, a bathhouse, or a dining hall. Alternatively, you could divide the land into pieces to build a Dharma hall, dining hall, and bathhouse. However, in a three-dimensional space, this entire plot can simultaneously be a bathhouse, a Dharma hall, and a dining hall. Does this mean these three are mixed up in a mess? Not at all. By building multiple floors, you can have the Dharma hall, dining hall, and bathhouse on different levels without any problem. Yet, when viewed from above, they all appear to be on the same plane. The space occupied by the bathhouse is simultaneously the dining hall, which is simultaneously the Dharma hall, and there are also accommodations there. In the same space where one person is bathing, someone else is sleeping, while others are giving Dharma talks or eating. This is how the whole exists within one.

From a two-dimensional perspective with only width and length, this cannot be understood. You might think, ‘Oh no! Everything will get mixed up and become a mess,’ but that’s not the case. In a three-dimensional world with the concept of height, different spaces can exist on each floor of a building.

Looking From a Four-Dimensional Space Rather Than Three-Dimensional

In a three-dimensional space, to go outside, we must break through the floor, wall, or ceiling. But is it possible to exit without breaking through any of these? In a four-dimensional world, it is possible. You simply exit through the axis of time. The coordinates in a four-dimensional space consist of spatial dimensions x, y, z, and time t. Even if the width, length, and height are identical, in a four-dimensional space, different spaces exist in layers according to time. However, since we move along with time, we can only see the space of the same time. We cannot see worlds in different time dimensions. Being in three dimensions actually means that we are in a four-dimensional world but cannot move along the time axis.

Let’s assume a person moves along the time axis. If they move with the same (x, y, z) coordinates but different (t), where would this person go? Would they rise into the air? Move sideways? Go down? No. They would simply disappear from here. They were just here a moment ago, but now they’re gone. If they move along the time axis and then return, it would appear as if they vanished with a ‘poof’ and then reappeared with another ‘poof’, just like in movies.



In the fourth dimension, at this location where the Jungto Social and Cultural Center stands, there could simultaneously be a forest or a factory. Just as different spaces exist on each floor of a building, different spaces exist along each axis of time. It’s like a multi-story building, but someone in the second dimension can only see one floor, just as we in the third dimension can only perceive one axis of time. If the fourth dimension is this complex, imagine how complicated the fifth dimension must be! However, a person on a one-dimensional line would find the second dimension complex, and someone on a two-dimensional plane would find the third dimension complex. When viewed from a different dimension, the whole exists within one.

一微塵中含十方 一切塵中亦如是

A single speck of dust contains all ten directions, and all specks of dust likewise contain the same.


This describes the world of dependent origination. Let’s assume this body is “me.” I drink water and eat food to form my body. The elements that constitute this body eventually leave, whether as feces or urine. These elements flow as water or become part of the soil, then rise through roots into trees. Trees bear fruit, and when others eat that fruit, these elements become part of their bodies, and after many cycles, may return to me again. So, can I define ‘me’ solely by my physical body? If we follow the connected links, the entire world is my body.



The first evidence that we are interconnected is through solids, which we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands. With solids, we can largely verify whether things are connected or not. With liquids, though not as clearly as with solids, we can still verify connections to some extent. But what about gases? It’s very difficult to confirm connections. The same applies to waves. We cannot easily perceive their connections. Therefore, we must look for evidence of connection through experiments.

Here is a tree. To determine if the tree is connected to the ground, we can simply cut its roots and see if it lives or dies. If it dies when we sever the connection point, it means the two were connected. If they weren’t connected, cutting the roots would have no effect. Thus, we can confirm that trees are connected to the earth through their roots. How exactly are they connected through the roots? Through water. The tree absorbs water, along with various elements that provide energy, and then releases them back out. Even with such a simple experiment, we can verify that trees are connected to the earth.

However, trees are also connected to the air. The tree’s connection to the earth can be confirmed through solids and liquids. In contrast, the tree’s connection to the air is through gases. Gases cannot be grasped by hand. They are invisible, so how can we know the tree is connected to them? If we cover a tree with plastic to block the air, will the tree live or die? If we block the flow of gases, the tree will die.



“Trees are also connected to the sun. Sunlight is an ultrashort wave, or a form of radiation. Among waves, those that can be heard by our ears are long waves, while light belongs to short waves. If sunlight is blocked from reaching trees, they cannot survive. Thus, everything is interconnected. The method of connection can be either material or wave-based.”

Simultaneously Full and Empty

“What would happen if we removed all electrons from every substance on Earth and compressed only the nuclei together? It’s said that while the weight would remain the same, the size would be reduced to that of a basketball. Whether it’s a chunk of gold or iron, when viewed through the lens of subatomic particles, any object appears as empty as the cosmos appears to us. From a subatomic perspective, even atoms are empty space. Yet, this emptiness is also completely full.

For example, imagine inflating rubber balloons and continuously placing them in a room. Eventually, the room would be filled with balloons. Let’s say you fill the room with so many balloons that you can’t fit any more and then close the door. The room appears completely full. However, if you pop all those balloons, the room suddenly appears empty again. In other words, the room is filled with emptiness.”



The phrase ‘filled with emptiness’ can also be expressed as ‘full yet actually empty.’ Emptiness is fullness, and fullness is emptiness. Depending on how you look at it, the world can appear either completely full or entirely empty. Therefore, this world is simultaneously full and empty, empty and full.

The Entire Universe Exists Within a Single Speck of Dust

We can view our DNA from the same perspective. A single human being consists of approximately 10 trillion cells. From the cellular perspective, there are 10 trillion individual cells, but collectively they form one person. Looking deeper into each of these 10 trillion cells, we find DNA, which contains all the information about our body. For example, if we were to take a part of my body and clone it, another copy of me could be created. This is because all my bodily information is contained within the DNA. While my body has 10 trillion cells, each of these cells contains information about my entire body.



Therefore, within the one there are many, and within the many there is one. The one is everything, and everything is the one. The entire universe exists within a single speck of dust. Not just in one speck, but in every speck of dust, the universe is contained. In a single tiny cell, all the information about my body is contained, and this is true not just for one cell, but for every cell in our body.”

無量遠劫卽一念 一念卽是無量劫

Countless long eons are just a moment of thought,
and a moment of thought is countless time.

“This refers to the concept of time. Let’s examine the time you experience, that is, subjective time. When you are suffering greatly, does time feel longer or shorter?”

“It feels longer.”

“Is living a long life important to you? If so, you should experience a lot of suffering. The more suffering you experience, the longer time feels. On the other hand, when you’re feeling extremely good, does time pass quickly or slowly?”

“Time passes quickly.”

“That’s why when time passes quickly, we say ‘ten years passed like a day.’ But is it good that ten years pass like a day? Do you want to live only a week and then die? (Laughter)



But when you’re struggling and having a hard time, we say ‘a moment feels like three autumns.’ It means a brief moment feels like three years. Isn’t it great if one day feels like three years? You can experience three years’ worth in just one day. That’s why we have the saying, ‘Seek hardship when you’re young.’ If you don’t avoid hardship when you’re young, you can use time efficiently. But if you just play when you’re young, time passes without accomplishing anything. So we say that when you’re young, you should experience hardship even if you have to pay for it. Deliberately seeking hardship doesn’t align with the Buddha’s teaching of the ‘Middle Way.’ However, there’s no need to avoid hardship that comes with given conditions. You don’t need to meditate at the expense of sleep when you should be sleeping, but at least you shouldn’t sleep during meditation time. (Laughter)

Time Does Not Inherently Exist, Why Is That?

Similarly, time is not absolute. Usually, we think, ‘As time flows, nothing remains unchanged.’ But thinking in reverse, time does not inherently exist. This is because time is a measurement of the rate of change. The concept of time arises because things change. If nothing changed, the concept of time could not exist. Therefore, it’s impossible to imagine that there could be something unchanging within time. This is because time is a measurement of the rate of change.



For example, the nucleus of an oxygen atom consists of 8 protons and 8 neutrons. The distance between them is extremely short. You learned about electromagnetic force in school, right? When two charges q1 and q2 are separated by a distance r, the electromagnetic force F between them is given by Coulomb’s law: F = k(q₁q₂)/r². This means that the magnitude of the electromagnetic force between two charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.


When the distance (r) approaches zero, F becomes infinite, making it impossible for particles to stay together without being destroyed. Yet, they remain together. Why? Because there’s another force at work besides electromagnetic force. This is called nuclear force.

To explain this nuclear force, we have the concept of mesons. When a negatively charged pi (π) meson shoots out from a neutron, the neutron loses a negative charge and becomes positive. So the neutron becomes a proton, and when this attaches to a proton, it becomes a neutron. It’s not that neutrons and protons exist separately; rather, protons become neutrons, and neutrons become protons. How quickly does this transformation occur? It happens in 10^-23 seconds. This force maintains the atomic nucleus. Compared to 10^-23 seconds, one second is an enormously long time.



Even a human lifetime of about 100 years is shorter than a second when compared to the time it takes for the sun to form and disappear in the universe. Our lives are merely a moment. The time from birth to death of a person doesn’t even register on the cosmic timeline. It’s like an electron moving back and forth. When we view things from this different dimension, we can break free from our fixed notions about time.

Sunim continued explaining each verse of the Dharma Nature Sutra, using various analogies.

初發心時便正覺 生死涅槃相共和

The moment of first awakening is the moment of true enlightenment.
Birth, death, suffering, and nirvana all harmoniously coexist.

“When you first awaken your mind and continue practicing for 10, 20, or 30 years until you achieve enlightenment, that is jeong-gak (true enlightenment). The initial awakening is the beginning, and achieving true enlightenment is the end. So ‘初發心時便正覺’ means ‘the beginning is the end.’ In Buddhist terminology, this is called ‘槃相共和,’ meaning ‘no beginning, no end.’ From this perspective of no beginning and no end, the moment of first awakening is already the moment of achieving true enlightenment.



The phrase ‘Life and death, nirvana are in harmony’ means that just as initial aspiration and enlightenment are not separate, life with its suffering and nirvana are not separate either. The moment you first aspire to practice is the moment you achieve enlightenment, and the world of sentient beings with their suffering is itself the world of nirvana. In other words, Buddha and sentient beings are not separate.”



As the Dharma talk concluded, participants gathered in groups to share their thoughts, while Sunim left the Dharma hall and headed to the Jungto Center.



Tomorrow will be the 17th day of the 100-Day Dharma Talk. In the morning, Sunim will lead the daytime Weekly Dharma Assembly at the Jungto Social and Cultural Center’s Dharma hall. In the afternoon, he will meet with religious and civic society leaders to discuss current national issues, and in the evening, he will conduct the evening Weekly Dharma Assembly.