Mar 26, 2025 – Day 38 of the 100-Day Dharma Talk, Memorial Service for the 22nd Anniversary of Venerable Seoam’s Passing
Hello. Today is the memorial service for the 22nd anniversary of Venerable Seoam’s passing.
Sunim departed Seoul at 5 AM and headed to Bongamsa Temple in Mungyeong, where the memorial service would be held. As the car traveled along the highway, the morning sun rose outside the window.
After a two-hour drive, Sunim arrived at the Seonyudong Jungto Education and Training Center in Mungyeong at 7 AM for breakfast. The resident Dharma teachers greeted Sunim, who was visiting the center after a long time, with three full bows.
“How have you been?”
“It was very difficult clearing the snow this winter. The snow came after the rain, so it stuck to the trees and many branches broke.”
“Thank you all for your hard work.”
After exchanging brief greetings, Sunim moved to Bongamsa Temple at 9:20 AM. First, he paid respects at Venerable Seoam’s stupa. Before entering the temple grounds, he climbed a winding mountain path to the right, where the stupa and memorial stone stood in a secluded area.
Venerable Seoam set an example of a frugal life and helped people understand that Buddhism is about having a pure mind, thus guiding Jungto Society to practice authentic Buddhism. Sunim made three bows in front of Venerable Seoam’s stupa and reflected on his simple life and enlightened teachings.
After paying respects at the stupa, Sunim had tea with the resident monks of Bongamsa. Everyone expressed concern about the large forest fire ravaging the northern part of North Gyeongsang Province. In particular, there was the sad news that Gounsa Temple, a thousand-year-old temple, had been completely destroyed by a forest fire the day before yesterday. Everyone sincerely hoped that the forest fire would be extinguished soon so that all could return to their peaceful daily lives.
After presenting a donation to Bongamsa, Sunim headed to the main hall at 10:30 AM with the resident monks for the memorial service.
The resident monks, representing the lineage, first offered cups of tea. Sunim also made three bows before Venerable Seoam’s memorial portrait to honor his legacy.
Then monks and lay practitioners who had come from various places offered cups of tea.
After the memorial tea ceremony, the service concluded concisely with three strikes of the wooden chukpi.
After leaving the main hall, Sunim had bibimbap for lunch with the other monks, conversed with them, and then left Bongamsa.
Sunim departed Bongamsa at 11:30 AM and headed to Wonjeoksa Temple. Wonjeoksa has a very deep connection with Venerable Seoam. When Venerable Seoam was appointed as the head monk of Bongamsa at the early age of 50, and when he resigned as the head of the Jogye Order administration after just two months, he returned to Wonjeoksa and resolutely maintained his identity as a practitioner. His teaching that “the world of monks must be as transparent as a mirror” has shaped what Wonjeoksa is today.
After climbing a winding mountain road on the slopes of Cheonghwasan Mountain, which divides Sangju and Mungyeong, Wonjeoksa Temple appeared. Located near the mountain peak, it looked like a temple floating on clouds.
After paying respects at the dharma hall, Sunim took a commemorative photo in front of Venerable Seoam’s portrait.
Even now, disciples who served Venerable Seoam during his lifetime continue their practice at Wonjeoksa. They said that on the anniversary of his passing, they all gather here to hold a separate memorial service.
Sunim had tea with the disciple monks in the living quarters and exchanged greetings with them.
“How is your health these days, Venerable Pomnyun?”
“I recently returned from a 50-day exploration in Bhutan, and my body still hasn’t fully recovered.”
“Your passion is remarkable. It’s difficult enough for us just sitting still and practicing, but at your age, you travel to such challenging regions—that’s no ordinary passion.”
While drinking tea, the conversation turned to Venerable Seoam.
“During his lifetime, Venerable Seoam didn’t really like drinking tea.”
Sunim recalled the memory and said with a smile:
“That’s right. When his disciples were drinking tea in their rooms, he would scold them, saying, ‘You rascals, why are you drinking rotten water instead of clear water?'”
After distributing travel money to all the monks present, Sunim bid farewell and left Wonjeoksa.
Departing Wonjeoksa at 1 PM, Sunim headed to Daejeon. He thought of people he hadn’t been able to visit because of his daily 100-Day Dharma Talks. Dharma Teacher Hyangryu, who has been building the Daejeon Jungto community since the early days of Jungto Society, has been battling illness and receiving cancer treatment since last year. Sunim specially made time to visit St. Mary’s Hospital in Daejeon where Dharma Teacher Hyangryu was hospitalized.
Arriving at the hospital at 3 PM, Sunim visited Dharma Teacher Hyangryu. The Dharma teacher had been in a nursing home but had improved significantly since being transferred to the hospital recently. He smiled brightly upon seeing Sunim. Sunim presented him with a Buddha portrait and prayer beads brought from India. After encouraging his two sons who were diligently caring for their father, Sunim left the hospital.
Back in the car, Sunim headed to Cheongju to visit Silsanghwa Bosal, who was also hospitalized. Silsanghwa Bosal has been volunteering and supporting Jungto Society for over 30 years since its early days. At 97 years old, she recently fell and seriously injured her leg, requiring hospitalization at Cheongju Medical Center.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Sunim found her asleep in bed. Hearing Sunim’s voice, she immediately woke up and firmly grasped his hand.
“Oh, Sunim! How did you come here? Thank you.”
“Looking at your face, I can tell you’ll live longer than me.”
Still holding Sunim’s hand tightly, she quickly fell back asleep.
When it was time for dinner and she was awakened, Sunim spoke to her.
“When you move back to the nursing home, I’ll visit you again. Until then, take good care of yourself and rest comfortably.”
Sunim presented her with a Buddha portrait and jade prayer beads brought from India.
“Thank you.”
Her son, though over seventy years old himself, was devotedly caring for her. After encouraging him, Sunim left the hospital.
Departing Cheongju at 5:30 PM, Sunim headed to Seoul. Looking out the car window, he said:
“This isn’t someone else’s situation. I’ll soon be bedridden too. When people come to visit, I’ll have to lie there and watch them.”
The attendant beside him expressed his sadness.
“I don’t even want to imagine it. Just thinking about it makes me sad.”
Sunim smiled and replied:
“Even if you don’t want to imagine it, that’s the reality we can’t avoid. It’s bound to happen. This is what we call an inevitable force of nature. It’s sad when we can’t do things we’re capable of, but since avoiding death is impossible, being sad about it serves no purpose. I can’t stop the sun from setting. No matter how sad I feel, I can’t prevent the sun from setting.”
The sun set as they drove along the highway.
At 7:30 PM, Sunim arrived at the Seoul Jungto Center. In the evening, he took care of work in the office and concluded his daily routine.
Since there was no Dharma talk today, I’ll conclude this entry by sharing what Sunim said about his connection with Venerable Seoam while pre-recording yesterday’s Weekly Dharma Assembly talk.
“Today marks the 22nd anniversary of Venerable Seoam’s passing, who was a teacher and advisor to Jungto Society. Venerable Seoam was born in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province in 1917. He spent his impoverished childhood wandering with his father, who was an independence activist. At 16, he lived as a Haengja for three years at Seohaksa Temple in Yecheon and received his novice precepts. Two years later, at the age of 20, he received his bhikkhu precepts. At that time, the Korean Buddhist community sent students to study in Japan with denominational support. Venerable Seoam passed the exam and entered a Japanese university’s Department of Religious Studies as a scholarship student. He worked while studying due to financial constraints, which may have contributed to his contracting tuberculosis, forcing him to return to Korea before completing his studies. This was before tuberculosis medication was available.
Venerable Seoam thought, ‘If this is how it’s going to be, I’ll practice with fearless determination to attain enlightenment before I die,’ and entered a cave for intensive practice. During his practice there, his tuberculosis was cured. Through this experience, Venerable Seoam deeply realized that ‘life and death are like floating clouds.’ Afterward, he spent his life practicing as a Seon master and teaching for the benefit of all beings. He traveled to Seon meditation halls throughout the country, and during the Korean War, he was appointed as the head master of Bongamsa Temple, which had been completely destroyed, and led its reconstruction. He briefly served as the head of the Administrative Headquarters when it was in turmoil. Later, he served as the chairman of the Council of Elders of the Jogye Order and also took on the role of Supreme Patriarch during the ‘Denominational Crisis.’ Venerable Seoam lived his entire life as a Seon master while fulfilling all the important positions in Korea’s Jogye Order.
A Life of Simplicity and Frugality
Sunim lived his entire life as an upright practitioner. He lived so frugally that he would walk most distances and only ride the lowest class train, the Tongil train. Even when his disciples offered to purchase tickets for the higher-class Saemaeul train, he firmly refused and insisted on taking only the Tongil train. He would always dry and reuse tissues, and consistently maintained a life of simplicity. Typically, when one becomes the Head of the Administrative Headquarters, Supreme Patriarch, or Elder Council Chairman, they have one or two attendants. However, Venerable Seoam never had an attendant throughout his life. He ate very simple meals, wore modest clothing, and lived a frugal lifestyle.
Venerable Seoam practiced Seon meditation throughout his life, cultivating samadhi and avoiding complicated affairs. When he gave Dharma talks, they could be transcribed verbatim from recordings without any editing, as he spoke without redundancy or digression. Even in my case, when my Dharma talks are recorded, they need some editing to become written text, and sometimes I find myself repeating things. However, Venerable Seoam never had any redundancy in his speech. In this way, Venerable Seoam lived his entire life simply and frugally.
I Was Trying to Pluck Illusory Flowers from the Sky!
I first met Venerable Seoam in 1981 when I went to Los Angeles. Someone told me about a temple where a Korean monk was studying, so I decided to visit. The temple was a small place in a semi-basement of a house with a modest reception room. It seemed the resident monk had temporarily established it as a temple to spread Buddhism among Korean immigrants. When I arrived, the resident monk wasn’t there, but an elderly monk was present. It was Venerable Seoam.
When it was time to eat, Venerable Seoam said, “Though I’m also a guest here, since I arrived a day earlier, I’ll act as the host and prepare a meal for you.” He prepared a simple meal. After dinner, he mentioned that the bed was uncomfortable for him and offered it to me while he made a place for himself on the floor. He made the excuse that his back hurt when sleeping on the bed, but he was simply being generous to me. Seeing his humble demeanor, I felt comfortable sharing my thoughts and opinions with him. So I expressed my views on the problems in Korean Buddhism at that time. Back then, I had a critical perspective on the negative aspects of Korean Buddhism. I poured out all the criticisms I had been harboring about Korean Buddhism to Venerable Seoam, as if he represented the established Korean Buddhist tradition. Venerable Seoam listened quietly without saying a word. When I had nearly finished, he finally spoke.
“Listen! When a person sits quietly below a rice paddy ridge and purifies their mind, that person is a monk. That place is a temple. That is Buddhism.”
His words were brief, but they hit me like a blow to the back of my head. Until then, I had been striving to reform Buddhism and create a new Buddhist movement in my own way. But with Venerable Seoam‘s short statement, I saw myself—talking about the Dharma while my eyes were focused outward.
He was saying that wearing monastic robes doesn’t make one a monk, and an impressive tile-roofed building isn’t necessarily a temple. A person with a pure mind is a monk, and wherever such a person stays—even beneath a rice paddy ridge—is a temple. This is Buddhism, not something else. He was directly challenging my assertions. Of course, I had already studied the Diamond Sutra and knew the teachings like “Do not cling to any appearances” and “When you see that all appearances are not appearances, you see the Buddha.” However, in reality, I still held the view that monks were those with shaved heads wearing gray robes, temples were tile-roofed buildings, and that was Buddhism. So I thought the problem was with the monks, the temples, and Buddhism itself. I had been trying to reform Buddhism, but now I realized I had been mistakenly trying to reform something that wasn’t Buddhism at all. It was like trying to pluck illusory flowers from the sky. In Buddhism, a foolish person is described as “one who tries to pluck illusory flowers from the sky.” These illusory flowers are hallucinations. No matter how hard you try, you cannot pluck flowers that are mere illusions. That’s why I had been feeling so frustrated.
The Turning Point That Helped Me Overcome All Limitations
I was truly shocked at that time. That experience became the catalyst for me to start a new Buddhist movement after returning to Korea. Before meeting Venerable Seoam, I thought Buddhist reform meant educating monks, making temple finances transparent, and building many social welfare facilities. But after meeting Venerable Seoam, my perspective changed. I realized that since a practitioner is one whose mind is pure, there was no need to distinguish between monastic and lay practitioners. Anyone with a pure mind is a practitioner, and wherever they stay becomes a temple. There was no need to build separate temples. Whether it was a home, restaurant, office, or church—any place could become a temple if a practitioner dwelled there.
This understanding became the foundation for overcoming all limitations, such as when there was no suitable place or not enough people to do something. This became the bedrock upon which Jungto Society was founded.
After establishing Jungto Society, I held Dharma talks and discussions anywhere people gathered, regardless of who they were or how many attended. I always maintained the perspective that those who discussed the Buddha’s teachings were monks, and the place where these pure-minded people studied was a temple. Starting with home Dharma meetings, we were able to build Jungto Society with lay practitioners at its center rather than monastics. Today, Jungto Society has established a new Buddhist alternative by reorganizing online, making one’s room a Dharma hall and one’s home a temple—all thanks to the teachings of Venerable Seoam.
This was around the time when the 1988 Seoul Olympics had ended and a democratic government was about to take office. While engaged in Buddhist activities, I was feeling somewhat exhausted, sensing limitations despite knowing something needed to change. At that time, society was evolving—a president with a military background had been elected through voting, and social movements were becoming more active. Workers were engaging in labor movements, women in women’s movements, and farmers in agricultural movements. We had deep contemplations and lengthy discussions about what activities we should pursue. These discussions led to four key tasks.
First, we saw environmental issues as the most critical global challenge, which led us to start an environmental movement. Second, we believed that eradicating absolute poverty was an important task for humanity. While Korea had become relatively well-off, 20 percent of the world’s population was still suffering in absolute poverty. Third, from Korea’s perspective, the risk of war was the biggest problem. Therefore, achieving peace and unification to establish lasting peace was extremely important. Fourth, from an individual’s standpoint, the most significant task was teaching people how to practice in order to live happily.
At that time, Northern European countries had the highest happiness levels and economic prosperity in the world. Yet, they also had the highest suicide rates. Now, Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries. So why would countries with good environments, economic prosperity, and peace have high suicide rates? This indicates that favorable external conditions alone do not increase happiness. For individuals to be happy, they need to cultivate their minds. Buddhism has the most expertise in mind cultivation. Therefore, I thought Buddhism should no longer be the exclusive property of Buddhists but should help everyone practice self-cultivation. To achieve this, the Buddha’s teachings needed to transcend the religious boundaries of Buddhism. So we set the goal of making Buddhism universally accessible to everyone. With these four practical tasks—preserving the global environment, eradicating poverty, achieving peace and unification, and individual practice—we founded Jungto Society and began the 10,000-Day Practice.
I’ve been able to walk the right path until now thanks to this person
To purify my mind before embarking on a new beginning, I spent the 1989 summer retreat at Bongamsa Temple working as a bumok (temple laborer). When Sunim Seoam asked why I was working as a bumok when I was already doing well, I explained that I wanted to quietly cleanse my mind of impurities accumulated during my social activities, without the other practitioners knowing. A bumok is essentially a servant who works at the temple. During that time, I worked desperately hard. I’ve always been diligent by nature, and I also didn’t want people to think I was lazy once they discovered who I was. I couldn’t keep my mind at ease and carried this burden with me. Though I had entered the role of bumok with the intention of letting go of myself, I ultimately failed to do so.
One day, I was chopping firewood, sweating profusely. When I turned around, I saw Sunim Seoam standing behind me, leaning on his walking stick and gazing at me intently. After I greeted him, he casually remarked:
“Bongamsa Temple has been doing just fine without you all this time.” Once again, I was struck by his words. I had given up everything to live as a bumok in order to let go of all attachments, but now I found myself attached to the bumok life itself. He was subtly awakening me to the fact that I had lost sight of my true purpose and was merely clinging to the work.
Sure enough, I soon became severely ill. I was working hard as a kitchen helper during the day, and because I had this idea in my mind that “I am a monk,” I was also attending morning and evening services until my body couldn’t take it anymore. At that time, I had persuaded a beggar who came to Bongamsa Temple to join me as a kitchen helper, and he teased me about my lifestyle. He would say, “You’re not even a monk, so why do you get up at dawn for morning service and attend evening service too, living like a monk?”
While working as a kitchen helper at Bongamsa Temple, I received another great awakening from Venerable Seoam. We often say we’ve let go of one thing, but it’s easy to cling to something else. It’s not easy to release our attachments. That’s why we need to examine ourselves carefully to practice correctly. I was unconsciously clinging to something, and Venerable Seoam enlightened me with just a single word, without telling me what to do or not to do.
The reason I can walk this right path today is thanks to the teachings of Venerable Seoam. Venerable Seoam demonstrated by example, living a life of simplicity and poverty. Although I cannot live exactly as Venerable Seoam did, I always use his example as a standard to reflect upon myself.”
Tomorrow is the 39th day of the 100-Day Dharma Talk. In the morning, Sunim will give the 6th lecture on Buddhist scriptures at the Dharma Hall on the 3rd floor of the Jungto Social and Cultural Center. In the evening, he will present the 6th lecture of the Buddhist Social Studies Course in the basement auditorium.
