Nov 28, 2025. Visit to Loving Village Learning Center, the tenth Happy Dialogue Dharma Q&A lecture in Gwangju
Hello. Today, Sunim is scheduled to visit the ‘Sarang Eorin Baeum-teo(Loving Village Learning Center)’ in Suncheon and give a Happy Dialogue Dharma Q&A in Gwangju.
Sunim departed from Tokyo’s Haneda Airport at 2 AM and arrived at Incheon Airport at 4:30 AM. After catching a brief nap on the plane, he left the airport and headed straight to the Jungto Center.
Upon arriving at the Jungto Center, he unpacked his luggage and had breakfast. At 10 AM, he had a meeting with Professor Park Jin-do at The Peace Foundation. Professor Park has recently been leading the National Gross Happiness Transformation Forum and working with several National Assembly members to enact the ‘National Gross Happiness Basic Act’ and incorporate it into national policy. He invited Sunim to give a lecture at the National Assembly on December 3rd on the topic of ‘The Path to National Gross Happiness.’
“Currently, 50 members of the National Assembly are working on legislative proposals to enact the ‘National Gross Happiness Basic Act’ to promote national gross happiness. The core purpose of this legislation is to focus the nation’s goals on people’s happiness rather than economic growth. It’s not just a declaration; it includes detailed content about the responsibilities that the national government, local governments, and private sector should each have. While there are people actively protesting with pickets for minority interests, ‘Happiness’ concerns everyone’s interests, and so, ironically, it lacks momentum. That’s why I’d like you to speak to the National Assembly members about this.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.” 
After discussing various topics, they also talked about the Korean study program for Bhutanese civil servants scheduled for next March before concluding the meeting. Professor Park purchased Sunim’s new book, ‘Tak! Dialogues of Awakening,’ and asked for an autograph.
“I haven’t even received the printed copy yet, but you’ve already seen it, Professor.” (laughs)
After seeing Professor Park off, Sunim immediately departed Seoul for Suncheon.
Pastor Kim Min-hae, who runs the ‘Loving Village Learning Center’, had been requesting Sunim’s visit for a long time. Since there was a Dharma Q&A scheduled in Gwangju today, Sunim decided to stop by briefly on the way.
After a 3.5-hour drive, Sunim arrived at Loving Village Learning Center in Haeryong-myeon, Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do at 3 PM. Getting out of the car, he exchanged greetings with Pastor Kim Min-hae with a warm embrace.
“Thank you so much for coming.”
Students and teachers from Loving Village Learning Center were lined up at the school gate waiting for Sunim. They clapped and sang songs together to welcome him.
After exchanging warm greetings, they walked together to the playground.
They held a simple welcome ceremony standing in a circle on the playground. About twenty children and teachers greeted Sunim and asked him to say a few words.
Sunim introduced himself at the children’s level and encouraged the children and teachers who are conducting new experiments outside of competitive society.
“My name is Pomnyun(法輪). It means ‘to roll the wheel of Dharma,’ a name given by my teacher. That’s why I’ve rolled all the way here. It’s nice to meet you all. (laughs)
Life Wisdom Learned in the Countryside
This place is much bigger than the elementary school I attended. When I enrolled, the school had only four classrooms. Sometimes we studied under trees due to lack of classrooms, and it wasn’t until near graduation that two more rooms were built, making it a six-classroom school. Looking back on my childhood, I lived almost entirely in nature, running around barefoot. Now I think that environment had a positive influence on both my physical and mental health.
When I go to Southeast Asia to help people in need, I can quickly understand a family’s situation just by hearing the parents’ ages, number of children, and size of their farmland. Even the local youth interpreters wonder how I know things they don’t. It’s not because I have supernatural powers, but because the countryside where I grew up is so similar to today’s rural Southeast Asia. When I enter a kitchen, I naturally think ‘their backs must hurt.’ Then the local women are amazed, saying ‘My husband doesn’t know this after living together for 20 years, but how does Sunim know so well?’ When that happens, I say this: 
‘I was born in a poor rural area because I accumulated much merit in my past life. Thanks to that, I received good early education and know a lot.’
Education is not just about going to school and learning from books. Singing, dancing, playing, and fooling around—all of these are forms of education. Such experiences are real-life education and are much more helpful in actual life. Although rural children may seem to lag behind urban children in academic performance now, in the future era, ‘how well one adapts to environmental changes’ will be far more important than ‘how much knowledge one has.’ 
The Best Education for Preparing for the Future
Many people ask, ‘They say many jobs will disappear in the future, so what kind of education should we give our children?’ However, no one knows exactly which jobs will emerge or disappear in the future. Who could have known 100 years ago during the Joseon Dynasty that such diverse occupations would exist today? Therefore, the best education for preparing for the future is to create people who can do anything in any situation. If they need to cook, they cook; if they need to clean, they clean; if calculations are needed, they calculate—in other words, borrowing the expression from the Diamond Sutra, we need to cultivate the ability to adapt to given circumstances with the attitude of ‘there is no fixed Dharma‘. Then there will be no problem even if new occupations emerge. We can simply adapt to them.
I often say, ‘My living well is hope for the people of Korea.’ I am someone who quit high school midway and grew up in the countryside, not knowing anything about studying abroad. Yet, am I not living well now? So why can’t you, who have more education than me, are younger, and have more wealth, live well? My living well with a smile itself becomes a message that ‘If Sunim can live like that, we can certainly live well too.’ So I hope you all will let go of the small worries remaining in your hearts and live a bit more comfortably.”
The children and teachers put their hands together in prayer, taking Sunim’s words to heart.
Everyone took a commemorative photo with the school as the background.
After finishing the photo session, the teacher spoke to the children.
“Say goodbye to Grandfather Pomnyun, the great monk, and now you will go home. For the rest of you, please pray in your hearts that this good time continues.”
As soon as the teacher finished speaking, the children ran toward the school gate like arrows.
Pastor Kim Min-hae, the teachers, and all the Learning Center families moved indoors for a time of conversation.
Although they were people studying Christian thought with the pastor at the center, they performed three prostrations to Sunim and chanted the Heart Sutra. They said that for 50 days before today’s gathering, they had also been reading and studying Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s book on the Diamond Sutra, which he lectured on.
After watching a video introducing the Loving Village Learning Center together, Pastor Kim Min-hae asked Sunim to speak.
“One day, I suddenly thought of Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, and it felt like finding a lost brother. At the same time, I also wondered if Venerable Pomnyun Sunim might be Korea’s Mahatma Gandhi. I am excited and happy to welcome such a great elder to our Learning Center today. Thank you so much.
We prayed and prayed again in preparation for Sunim’s visit. We live each day reciting the Diamond Sutra that Sunim has expounded. I would also like to thank all of you who have joined us in this precious gathering with Sunim.”
The pastor mentioned a family from the Loving Village Learning Center who lost their son in the Jeju Air passenger plane tragedy last year and recently lost their husband as well, asking Sunim for words of comfort. After Sunim spoke about what mindset one should have to overcome grief, he began the conversation.
Anyone could raise their hand and ask Sunim questions. Five people read questions they had prepared in advance.
I heard that Jungto Society is a practice community with a strict daily routine. What is the actual daily life and livelihood of Jungto Society members?
People working at Loving Village Learning Center request and receive money as needed. I haven’t received money for the past three years because my husband receives a pension, but I’m wondering whether to receive money for the next three years.
At Loving Village Learning Center, we are studying the Diamond Sutra. How should we understand and apply sutra study so that it becomes a living, breathing practice in daily life?
What is the meaning of the 10,000-Day Practice at Jungto Society, and what is the proper mindset for prayer?
Venerable Pomnyun Sunim lives busily with various activities. How do you study?
Sunim originally planned to converse for just one hour, but the atmosphere was so good that he continued for another hour. As he concluded the conversation, Sunim shared his impressions of visiting the Loving Village Learning Center along with closing remarks.
“I think what you are attempting here is very valuable. Today is an era where no one can definitively say, ‘Future civilization will be like this’ or ‘Life should be lived this way.’ In such a situation, you are continuing various experiments toward new possibilities. You are finding direction by trying this way and that way. Looking at each attempt individually, it might seem like failure. However, we should not evaluate based only on one person’s life or one era. These experiments should be evaluated within the long history of ‘human civilization.’
What We Leave Behind Is More Important Than Contemporary Evaluation
The various attempts we are making now are similar to the experiments of the Hundred Schools of Thought during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in history. Future generations will evaluate and organize these experiments, and through such organization, new thoughts will be created, and one of them may become mainstream. Therefore, it is too hasty to judge right or wrong based only on contemporary achievements or scale. Jesus’s community was not large at the time, and Buddha was not mainstream in India either. He was just a very small stream among the non-mainstream. However, after time passed, through India’s unification and historical changes, it received relatively rational evaluation from later generations and was thus ‘adopted’ as mainstream later. It wasn’t great from the beginning; later evaluation made it so.
The Yoido Full Gospel Church may seem large now, but no one knows whether it will be recorded that way 100 years from now, or whether Pastor Kim Min-hae of Loving Village Learning Center will remain more prominent in history. Ultimately, scale or contemporary evaluation is not an absolute standard. 
I believe there is something more important. What matters is what goals we set, what experiments we conducted, and how we documented them. Future generations need records to learn from our experiences. Without leaving any trace, everything simply disappears into history.
Looking around here today, I found your attempts very innovative. At the same time, it made me reflect on myself. As Jungto Society has grown larger and I’ve become busier, the time I spend with members of the Sangha has gradually decreased. When the community was first established, we worked together all day, ate and slept together, and even went hiking together. But as we’ve grown in scale, now we only formally gather a few times a year. Seeing your way of life today, I feel once again that I should spend more time closer to the members. Thank you.” 
The conversation concluded with loud applause. At the end, everyone bowed to each other.
The Loving Village Learning Center presented Sunim with rice, eggs, and wild herb extract they had produced themselves, grateful that he had made time in his busy schedule.
“Thank you.”
After saying farewell, Sunim hurriedly left Suncheon and headed to Gwangju. As the sun set, after about an hour and a half drive, he arrived in Gwangju at 6:50 PM.
Today’s lecture was held at the Minjumaru Grand Hall at Chonnam National University. This was the tenth Happy Dialogue Dharma Q&A lecture of 2025. When Sunim arrived, the Happy Citizens of Gwangju who had prepared the lecture warmly welcomed him.
Before the lecture, Sunim had tea with local dignitaries in the waiting room and then moved to the lecture hall together.
As a pre-performance, singer Lee Hyun-mi was singing with her beautiful voice.
After passionately singing two songs, “Gift of Life” and “Land of Happiness,” Sunim presented a book to Lee Hyun-mi as she came down from the stage, expressing his gratitude and taking a commemorative photo.
Following this, a video introducing Sunim was shown, and when it ended, Sunim walked onto the stage to great applause. Sunim greeted everyone with a bright smile.
“Thank you for your warm welcome. I see many people have also taken seats on the second and third floors. To those on the third floor, what makes you so special that you’re sitting on top of other people’s heads? (laughter)
Is everyone doing well? The weather has suddenly turned cold – is your health okay? Seoul has already dropped below freezing.
Many people wonder: How can Sunim answer such diverse questions? What if a question comes up that you don’t know? Why do you tell people to ask anything? But if you think ‘I must give an answer,’ there might be things you don’t know. However, in this kind of dialogue, whether there are questions I know or don’t know isn’t a concern. It’s like when you’re having tea with a friend and they say ‘I have this problem’ – there’s no need to limit the topics of conversation. If I don’t know, I can simply say I don’t know.
Not a Time to Give Answers, but a Time to Find Your Own Path
This is a place for dialogue, so I’m not here to give answers. Through our conversation, you might realize on your own, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal.’ This is a great awakening. Realizing ‘it’s not a big deal’ is the greatest awakening. In sophisticated Buddhist terminology, we could say ‘all dharmas are empty.’ When you think ‘I thought it was a big deal,’ that’s ‘form’ (色), and when you look closely and realize ‘it’s not a big deal,’ that’s ’emptiness’ (空). Since it’s not a big deal, there’s no problem to solve. Also, through our conversation, you might find your own path, thinking ‘I understand, I can do it this way.’ 
We don’t call this dialogue ‘instant question and answer’ but ‘instant question and teaching.’ In what you call ‘instant question and answer,’ you might worry ‘What if I ask Sunim a question he doesn’t know?’ But since our dialogue is instant question and teaching, you don’t need to worry about that. If a question I don’t know comes up, I can simply say ‘I don’t know about that, try searching on social media.’ There’s no need to ask me things you can find through a search. So we can have a dialogue on any topic. Don’t worry about me, thinking ‘Will Sunim be troubled if I ask this question?’ Just ask comfortably.”
Those who had registered questions in advance asked Sunim first. Then anyone in the audience could raise their hand and ask Sunim questions. Over two hours, ten people shared their concerns and had conversations with Sunim. One of them expressed frustration about her teenage son who only refuses to listen to his mother.
My Teenage Son Only Refuses to Listen to Me. What Should I Do?
“Do you hate your son, or do you love him?”
“Sometimes I hate him, but I do love him.”
“Then do you want your son to grow up to be an independent person, or do you want him to be a mama’s boy who follows you around?”
“I want my son to be independent, so I never tell him to study. But I nag about daily habits, like how he should organize his bag or clothes when he comes home from school. Even after telling him hundreds, thousands of times, he doesn’t follow through well.”
“If your child says ‘yes’ and follows your words well, it might be good for you as a mother, but when he gets married later, he’ll only listen to his mother and not his wife. Then his wife will be frustrated. A man needs to have his own perspective to some degree – how can a grown man only listen to his mother?
So which is better – a good mama’s boy who only listens to his mother, or a child who lives his own life even if he doesn’t always listen to his mother? Which do you prefer?”
“Sunim, I think I’ll explode before I see a daughter-in-law!” (laughter)
“So you’re not qualified to be a mother. Maybe you should leave your child with someone else and raise a puppy instead?”
“But I’ve already given birth to a son.”
“Your son is a human being, but you’re trying to treat him like a puppy. A person needs to have their own thoughts.”
“Yes. Sigh.”
“Buddha was originally supposed to be the next king, but he didn’t become king and left home. He was married and had a child, but he left his wife and became a monk. From his father’s perspective, he was a bad son; from his wife’s perspective, a bad husband; and from his child’s perspective, a bad father. So why do people like Buddha?”
“Because Buddha is a special person. My son isn’t Buddha.”
“Your son has the potential to become a Buddha. Because he doesn’t listen to his mother, he might not be a Buddha yet, but if he only listens to his mother well, the seed of becoming a Buddha will disappear. So whenever your son doesn’t listen, think ‘My son could become someone great.'”
“Sunim, that’s not an answer.”
“Don’t worry too much about him not listening. If he doesn’t listen after being told once and you nag two or three times, the child develops immunity. When you use physical punishment, at first they listen well, but with repetition, they think ‘So what if I get hit once,’ and there’s no educational effect. Whether you talk or hit, there’s no educational effect. Because you nag too much, your child has become chronic – he listens with one ear and thinks ‘You keep talking, I’m going.’ So talking now has no effect. It would be nice if the child listened well, but that’s not the current situation. But since he’s the son you gave birth to and raised, doesn’t he resemble you?”
“I think he resembles my husband. I wasn’t like that.” (everyone laughs)
The lecture hall instantly became a sea of laughter. Sunim continued his response.
“Well, it’s fortunate that he resembles his husband. Just because a child doesn’t listen doesn’t necessarily mean it’s bad. However, your current approach is no longer effective. Since your method is no longer working, continuing this way is meaningless. It’s hard for you, and your child becomes a ‘bad child.’ When a mother says ‘My child doesn’t listen and is problematic,’ people around might think ‘That child has problems.’ But even if others say ‘The child is problematic,’ if the mother says ‘My child is fine,’ the child gains confidence. 
So please stop scolding your child. Even if he leaves his clothes anywhere, just leave them be. No matter how much you tell him, it won’t improve, your child will only be hurt, and you’ll only become exhausted. If your child is very different from other children and has difficulty concentrating or controlling emotions, have him undergo a psychological evaluation at a hospital. If emotional control issues or attention deficits are confirmed, he can receive treatment. Nagging alone won’t solve anything. However, if the tests show no particular problems, you should be happy. Then it’s okay if he doesn’t listen. It’s okay to let your child act in his own way. He might just be a late bloomer. These days, instead of just saying a child “doesn’t listen,” actual testing sometimes results in an ADHD diagnosis. Ultimately, if there are concentration issues or psychological anxiety, treatment is needed – this isn’t something that can be solved with nagging. If you judge there’s no problem, leave it be. If you judge it’s beyond the normal range no matter how you look at it, get tested at a hospital. If there’s a problem, get treatment. If there’s nothing wrong, just wait patiently thinking ‘he’s just maturing a bit late.’
You don’t seem to like what I’m saying. If you say ‘Sunim says that because he doesn’t have children,’ then I ask you back: Then why are you asking me?”
“No, I’ve done my best raising my child.”
“You’ve done your best, that’s true, but you haven’t been wise.”
“As Sunim said, because my child lacks social skills, I’ve taken him to counseling centers hoping he would improve.”
“Hoping for improvement when social skills are lacking is the wrong educational approach. First, you need to see a doctor to identify what problems exist, and then receive necessary supplementary education based on those results. Thinking ‘I’ll take him around and train him myself’ because he lacks social skills is wrong.”
“I’m already taking him around and making efforts.”
“The more you try with the wrong approach, the worse it gets.”
“I’m trying according to what Sunim says.”
“If you try with the wrong approach, it’s worse than not trying at all.”
“As a mother, shouldn’t I provide life education at home?”
“But if your child has attention deficits, that approach can actually backfire. You need to get a diagnosis first and follow expert guidance.”
“Yes…”
“You’re saying ‘yes’ reluctantly. Now, please give that microphone to the child sitting next to you.”
Sunim began conversing with the questioner’s son sitting beside her. When Sunim asked, the child answered in a small voice, looking embarrassed.
“Tell me what makes you uncomfortable about your mother.”
“She nags too much.”
“If you listen to your mother and say ‘I’ll do that,’ then it’s not nagging. It becomes nagging when you don’t listen. Why don’t you listen to your mother?”
“Because I don’t want to.”
“Then you can say ‘Mom, I don’t want to.’ But when your mother tells you to hang your clothes on the hanger, should you do it even if you don’t want to, or not?”
“I should do it.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“It’s bothersome.”
Sunim asked the audience again.
“Everyone, does this child seem like a child who doesn’t listen?”
“No.”
When the audience answered in unison, Sunim passed the microphone back to the questioner.
“To me, the child seems fine. He just has slightly reduced concentration. That’s why expert confirmation is needed first. You love your child, but your educational approach is unwise. You’re not providing the right education for your child right now. That’s why this kind of consultation is necessary. Mother, if you have more to say, please go ahead.”
“I’m doing my best.”
“You shouldn’t walk forward with your eyes closed, doing your best when you can’t see.”
“I’m taking him to hospitals, getting counseling, really doing everything I’m told to do.”
“Then according to the hospital diagnosis, does he have reduced concentration?”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to make demands according to those results. You can’t make the same demands of a child with reduced concentration as you would of typical children.”
“I don’t think I’m demanding much.”
“From your perspective it may not seem like much, but for your child it’s a lot. Your child agrees too. What you think he should be able to do is difficult for him.”
“Then should I lower my expectations a bit?”
“It’s not about lowering or not lowering expectations. You’re kind but unwise. You need to make demands appropriate for your child. For example, you can’t demand a three-year-old to ‘do several jumping exercises.’ Just like you can’t demand a baby under one year old to walk, you need to examine your child’s current state and make appropriate demands. You need to start with low-level repetitive training, but you keep setting high standards and expecting your child to learn quickly. So your child struggles and resists, then you can’t handle it and end up yelling. That wounds your child’s heart. 
You’re a kind mother, but not a wise mother. So make demands appropriate for your child, lower your standards to match your child’s condition and help accordingly. Don’t try to drag him along by your standards, but help him according to his needs. Even if your child has slightly reduced concentration, you need to understand.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Questions continued one after another.
I came to the college of education wanting to be a teacher, but my passion has disappeared and my confidence in my career path is shaken. Should I look for a different path even now?
I tried to cover up past wounds and forgive, but the trauma has become more entangled and my heart is struggling. How can I acknowledge the past while living well in the present?
I love animals and started keeping them, but now I have many dogs and cats, my personal time has disappeared, and I’m getting exhausted. What should I do in this situation?
My pancreatic cancer has metastasized to my lungs, and in my lonely and fearful heart, I worry about my family and feel regret about life. How should I manage my mind to spend my remaining time peacefully?
I was so impressed after attending the Awakening Retreat that I’m doing 10 prostrations and 10 minutes of meditation. By Jungto Society standards it seems insufficient – is it okay to practice just this much?
The more I study environmental issues, the greater my sense of helplessness becomes. It’s painful knowing that convenience destroys the environment, yet I still pursue convenience.
I’m preparing to transfer schools. Because of wounds from my parents during school years, I’m reluctant to receive their interference again.
My daughter is getting married next year. Please give my daughter some good advice on how couples can create a harmonious family without fighting.
I have Asperger’s syndrome and came to Gwangju alone due to conflicts with my father. How can I maintain long-lasting relationships with good people?
After finishing the dialogue, Sunim gave concluding remarks.
“If you nag too frequently, it has no effect. You need to be patient. The same goes for married life. When you marry, you should live with the mindset of making your spouse say ‘I’m blessed to have met you.’ If you think ‘What help is this person to me?’ or ‘There’s no benefit to being married. I’d be better off alone,’ you’ll only create conflict.
You need to have comfortable, natural relationships. Think about when you raise a puppy or kitten. Raising a puppy or kitten doesn’t really help you much, but you feed them and enjoy being with them. The good thing about puppies and kittens is they don’t nag like people do. Nagging is hard to listen to even if it’s beneficial. Between spouses and between parents and children, we need to reduce nagging. If you maintain relationships at an appropriate level without interfering too much, you can live well enough without conflict. I hope you all live happily day by day in this way.” 
The lecture concluded with thunderous applause.
Sunim then moved to the lobby to begin a book signing session. Most of the audience members formed a long line to receive Sunim’s autograph and express their gratitude.
“Thanks to you, Sunim, I’ve become so much happier.”
After the book signing ended, Sunim took a commemorative photo with the volunteers who had helped prepare the lecture.
“Gwangju-Jeolla, wow! Great job!”
After shouting this fun cheer together, everyone burst into laughter. Sunim expressed his gratitude to the volunteers before leaving the lecture hall.
At 10 PM, Sunim departed from Gwangju and headed to Seoul. After a three-hour drive, he arrived at Seoul Jungto Center at 1 AM and concluded the day’s activities.
Tomorrow morning, Sunim will conduct a live online Dharma Q&A session for English-speaking Jungto Society members, followed by a Dharma Q&A session for Sutra Course students. In the afternoon, he will participate in coal briquette delivery volunteer work at Guryong Village with members of ‘Gilbeot,’ a group of broadcasting, film, theater, and arts professionals, and have a dialogue session with them. In the evening, he will travel to Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center.
