Sunim’s Wedding Officiation: How Today’s Goodness Can Become a Lifetime of Goodness

Hello. Today, Sunim held a Dharma Q&A session with the Korean Minutemen for Peace and Unification (KMPU) from the Peace Foundation, attended the Senior Jungto Practitioner ordination ceremony where he gave a Dharma talk, and officiated at the wedding of actors Kim Woo-bin and Shin Min-a.

After completing morning practice and meditation, Sunim began the day with a meeting of the lay Sangha Dharma Teacher group at 8 AM. At 10:30 AM, he attended the general assembly of the Peace Foundation’s Korean Minutemen for Peace and Unification. About 50 KMPU members gathered in the auditorium on the 9th floor of the Jungto Social and Cultural Center.

The KMPU members sang “My Country, My People” and “From Seoul to Pyongyang” together as the opening performance, raising the enthusiasm for the general assembly.

Next, there was time to hear reflections from two new KMPU members.

“Through an acquaintance’s introduction, I attended the Peace Citizen course at the KMPU School, and I felt the hope for peaceful unification rekindling like an ember in my heart. After completing all the KMPU training courses, I resolved to live the rest of my life according to the teachings of Commander Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, so that my descendants and I can live united as masters of this land. I am grateful to the senior KMPU members who have guided me this far.”

“While completing the KMPU School, I learned the path of mutual respect between myself and my neighbors, and between our country and neighboring countries, and my heart swelled with emotion despite my advanced age. The fact that I can live in our country today is thanks to the countless people who dedicated themselves and sacrificed to protect our nation. I am grateful to Venerable Pomnyun Sunim and the volunteers who guide us on this righteous path.”

Next, Sunim personally presented appointment certificates to five new KMPU members.

“Having completed the entire KMPU School curriculum, you are hereby appointed as a Korean Minuteman for Peace and Unification ushering in a new century.”

Sunim took a commemorative photo with the new KMPU members.

The newly appointed KMPU members then recited the “KMPU Pledge” together.

The senior KMPU members welcomed the new members with enthusiastic applause.

Next, there was a Dharma Q&A session with Commander Venerable Pomnyun Sunim. Before taking questions, Sunim first gave greetings and spoke about the current international situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula and the corresponding role of the KMPU.

“When we established the Peace Foundation and later started the KMPU movement, the hegemonic competition between the United States and China had not yet intensified as it has today. So at that time, we made efforts to somehow persuade the United States and North Korea to improve US-North Korea relations. Based on this, we aimed to improve inter-Korean relations, establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, and furthermore, lay the foundation for Korean unification.

The Path of KMPU Amid US-China Hegemonic Competition

When the United States and China engage in full-scale hegemonic competition, South Korea has no choice but to follow US policy, and North Korea is likely to follow China’s policy. The tragedy of the Korean War in 1950 occurred because, under the hegemonic competition between the United States and the Soviet Union, North Korea became a subordinate variable of the Soviet Union and South Korea became a subordinate variable of the United States. At that time, South and North Korea had no choice but to side with the United States and the Soviet Union respectively, regardless of their own wishes.

The current US-China hegemonic competition is the same. Looking at the current US-China conflict, the risk of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan, that is, in East Asia, is very high. Therefore, while the ultimate goal of our KMPU is Korean unification, the top priority is to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula so that war never breaks out on this land again. So we must first play the role of peace minutemen rather than unification minutemen. Only by standing on the foundation of peace can we achieve unification. Therefore, in the current international situation, creating peace on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia appears to be a more urgent task. Although we started our minutemen activities under the name of Korean Minutemen for Peace and Unification, it is a minutemen movement for peaceful unification. The current situation can be said to be a time when we need to focus more on peace than unification. However, despite this external situation and our identity, there is actually very little we can do right now. This situation seems to be the biggest factor dampening the vitality of the KMPU. It’s not that we lack the will, but rather that there is nothing appropriate to do in the current situation. So if the preparation period continues to lengthen like this, the minutemen will inevitably settle into reality and their sense of purpose will become blurred. If this happens, we face the danger of being unable to play any role when a situation arises where we should play an important role. Therefore, the task when the KMPU currently has no particular role to play is to ‘strengthen our foundation and build our capabilities.’ When faced with a situation, most people tend to respond hastily and urgently. For example, no matter how angry the masses are, if revolutionary forces are not prepared, it usually ends as a riot. Therefore, to achieve a revolution, there must be meticulous advance preparation. Only then can prepared revolutionary forces combine with a social atmosphere conducive to riots to successfully carry out a revolution. However, if revolutionary forces are not prepared, it usually ends as a riot. Even if revolutionary forces are well-prepared, if the social atmosphere is not ready, those forces will simply degenerate into coup-plotting forces and disband. So although our current conditions are a social atmosphere where there is no particular role to play, we must still steadily prepare to realize our dreams. This can be said to be the current task of the KMPU.

Of course, this is actually difficult to do. That’s why education is very important. We need to conduct emergency drills once a month or quarterly to prepare for emergencies in an orderly manner. These drills must be practiced regularly. Looking at the history of the righteous armies, in most cases, when foreign powers invaded, the outraged masses took up farming tools or made bamboo spears and went out to fight, only to be completely annihilated. This was because they had almost no experience fighting as soldiers. However, after experiencing such failures several times, they began to establish leaders, organize around them, and start training. The righteous armies that had gathered independently by region began to unite nationwide, expanding their scale, developing strategies, and responding to foreign invading forces. Of course, there was also neglect and disregard from the government forces. From the perspective of the ruling class, the righteous armies could become a dangerous force that might later turn into rebels. So from the ruling class’s perspective, the righteous armies were inevitably seen as a dangerous force that required even more caution than foreign powers. That’s why throughout our history, righteous armies were often branded as traitors and killed or suffered damage.

A Time of Preparation to Establish Peace First and Strengthen Our Foundation

That’s why the KMPU must also make it clear that they will not interfere in domestic politics to be free from the false accusations and misunderstandings that righteous armies faced in the past. When government forces lack power or leaders lack leadership, righteous armies think the existing regime is more problematic than foreign powers. Then they inevitably think it would be more efficient to reform the existing regime first before responding to foreign threats. Due to these historical experiences, the established ruling class doesn’t look favorably upon the existence of righteous armies. They also have no choice but to constantly monitor them, because they don’t know when that power might be used for social revolution. For these reasons, righteous armies always had a very narrow standing in society at the time. When the nation reaches the point of collapse due to foreign powers, the existing regime needs the help of righteous armies more than it needs to keep them in check. So government forces and righteous armies join forces to respond to foreign threats. When this situation is reached, the righteous armies can be said to have received some degree of official recognition from the state. The reason some records of righteous armies remain in our history is because most of them received government recognition, even if only in later generations. However, there are far more nameless righteous armies who were not recognized than those recorded in history. In the end, we can say that most righteous armies disappeared without a trace in history. Or rather, many were branded as traitors and executed in disgrace.

Such activities of the KMPU can easily be misunderstood as political involvement. For example, in the current domestic political situation, if the KMPU supports a particular party and the opposing party comes to power, we would inevitably be seen as a group of traitors. The KMPU always faces such difficulties, which is why we operate from the perspective that ‘the KMPU does not intervene in domestic politics.’ However, most of you tend to become interested in political activities as you see how peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula are greatly influenced by domestic political situations. This is not unique to you; throughout world history, such difficulties have always been encountered. Therefore, when acting under the name of the KMPU, we must maintain the perspective of not directly intervening in domestic politics and respond to external attacks accordingly. And when it is deemed necessary to support domestic politics, we must set aside the name of the KMPU and act individually. Only then can we continue our activities regardless of changes in the political situation. The current controversy in domestic politics also concerns religious organizations’ political involvement. If religious individuals had engaged in political activities personally, it wouldn’t have been problematic, but it became an issue because they intervened in politics under orders from their religious leadership. From my perspective, you still seem to lack the ability to consider such aspects when observing matters. I fully understand your desire to participate in domestic politics under the name of the KMPU. However, from the beginning of the KMPU, we started with the principle of operating without involvement in domestic politics. Therefore, if we do not uphold this principle, we will not be able to fulfill a role different from other domestic NGO organizations or political groups. If you approach the role of the KMPU with a desire to show off externally, that is not the role of the KMPU we pursue. We simply carry the name of the KMPU and fulfill the role we must play for our country and nation. If our activities yield any results, we should give credit to the people, and we should maintain the perspective of steadily performing only our role. I hope you will adopt this perspective.”

Following this, Sunim took questions about any points of curiosity. For one hour, four people raised their hands to ask Sunim questions and engage in dialogue with him.

At noon, the dialogue concluded, and after taking a group photo together, the first part of the program came to an end.

“Unification, Minutemen! Minutemen! Minutemen!”

After lunch, the Korean Minutemen for Peace and Unification held their general assembly for the second part and a time of gratitude and commitment for the third part throughout the afternoon. Sunim moved to the Dharma Hall on the third floor to attend the Jungto Society Seowon Practitioner Ordination Ceremony starting at 2 PM.

The assembly receiving ordination today consisted of 28 members who had completed all the Seowon Practitioner training and passed the qualification assessment. After performing prostrations together and chanting the Heart Sutra, they requested the Dharma from Venerable Pomnyun Sunim, the ordination master, through a formal request chant.

When the ordination candidates requested the Dharma with three prostrations, Sunim explained the origins of the ordination ceremony and the meaning of the Five Precepts and Eight Precepts. Due to severe pain in his shoulder and arm from a neck disc problem, Sunim gave the Dharma talk with his head bowed.

“Today at Jungto Society, we are holding the Seowon Practitioner Ordination Ceremony for those who have steadily practiced as Balsim Practitioners and have become exemplary members of the community. Since Seowon Practitioners will serve as leaders of the community in the future, they must fundamentally avoid causing harm to others and become people who alleviate others’ suffering or benefit others. To achieve this, the attitude they must maintain is: passively, not harming others, not causing loss to others, and not causing suffering to others. Actively, they must save others, benefit others, and bring joy to others. This is the fundamental attitude that Seowon Practitioners, who will become leaders among Jungto practitioners, must maintain. Ordinary sentient beings, in their ignorance, harm others for their own benefit, which ultimately harms themselves as well. They cause loss to others for their own gain, but this returns to cause great loss to themselves. They cause suffering to others for their own pleasure, and this returns to become their own suffering. Those who cause suffering to others and ultimately bring loss and suffering upon themselves are called ignorant people, or ‘ordinary sentient beings.’

For ordinary sentient beings to escape from this suffering, whether through actions or words, they must at least not harm others, not cause loss to others, and not bring suffering to others. They must not accumulate bad karma so that negative consequences do not return to them. This is the first step of a practitioner. First, one must not harm others. That is, one must not carelessly kill living beings. Second, one must not cause loss to others. That is, one must not take, steal, or seize others’ property without their consent. Third, one must not torment others. That is, one must not sexually assault, molest, or harass others without their consent, even if one thinks it is good. Fourth, not only must one refrain from these three things in action, but also in speech. These are the minimum requirements that a practitioner must observe. However, if one only does this, one is no different from rocks, trees, or animals in the mountains. If one cannot even do this, one is worse than those animals, which is why they are called ordinary sentient beings. Therefore, observing the precepts of a Balsim Practitioner means living a life that does not harm others, a life that does not depend on others, a life of self-reliance. A Seowon Practitioner must go one step further. More proactive action is not just avoiding harm to others, but saving dying lives. Going beyond not causing loss to others means giving to the poor, feeding the hungry, treating the sick, and caring for those who suffer. It means not just refraining from tormenting others, but bringing them joy. This should be done not only through actions but also through words. A Mahayana practitioner is not one who practices a Mahayana that is separate from Hinayana, but one who practices a Mahayana that encompasses Hinayana. Therefore, a Mahayana practitioner must not harm others but actively save them, must not cause damage to others but actively help them, and must not torment others but bring them joy. This is the basic attitude that a Seowon Practitioner should have.

The Path of a Seowon Practitioner: A Leader of the Sangha Who Not Only Refrains from Harm but Also Nurtures and Helps Others

While a Balsim Practitioner is someone who observes the basic precepts of not harming others, not causing loss to others, not hurting others with words, and not troubling others while intoxicated, a Seowon Practitioner goes beyond this foundation. Even if they have abundant wealth, they live modestly and share their surplus with those in need. Even if they hold high status or position, they remain humble rather than arrogant, sharing their virtue with those who are struggling. When people acquire money, it’s easy to become extravagant – buying fine clothes, building luxurious homes, or purchasing jewelry to adorn themselves. However, a Seowon Practitioner must earn the respect of the Sangha and therefore must live simply without extravagance. This is why three additional precepts are included. In those times, people primarily adorned themselves by decorating with flowers or applying fragrances as perfume. Therefore, the instruction “do not wear flower garlands or apply fragrances” means “do not be extravagant.” It signifies living modestly. Additionally, “do not sit on high seats” means “do not be arrogant but live humbly.” Furthermore, practitioners must maintain mental equanimity in all situations. The mind should neither be troubled nor excited. Therefore, one should not pursue pleasures that excite the mind – singing, dancing, and shouting “This feels great!” – such sensual pleasures should be avoided. One must always maintain mental equanimity. To become a Dharma Teacher who serves as a model for the Sangha as a lay practitioner, these three precepts must be observed.

However, when we live in the secular world, it’s easy to buy luxury items when we can afford them, use expensive cosmetics, and purchase expensive designer goods. But when you become a Seowon Practitioner, you must live cleanly and frugally. This doesn’t mean ‘live in poverty’ or ‘live in a slovenly manner.’ It means that rather than adorning yourself with material things to show off, you should establish yourself through your mind and practice. Only by maintaining this attitude of frugal living, humble demeanor, and mental equanimity without getting carried away can you become a leader of the Sangha. To become a leader of the Sangha, you must be an example to others. Those of you receiving the Seowon Practitioner precepts today must keep this in mind. Jungto Society has taken these eight precepts and refined them into 40 precepts. For Balsim Practitioners, the five precepts have been refined to fit reality into 18 precepts, and for Seowon Practitioners, the eight precepts have been refined into 40 precepts. So those of you becoming Seowon Practitioners today should familiarize yourselves well with the 40 precepts and practice the spirit of these precepts in your daily lives. In this era of climate crisis, when conflicts and disputes are intensifying, I hope you will live frugally so you can share with others, live humbly so you can love and have compassion for people in the world, and maintain inner tranquility by not getting excited or carried away. In this way, if the Sangha wishes, you should be able to become a branch leader, division leader, team leader, or director. If the Sangha wishes, you should also be able to become a Dharma Teacher. You are becoming Seowon Practitioners who can take on such roles.

First, leaders of the Sangha must understand the unique characteristics of each member, and second, they must be able to acknowledge these characteristics as they are. Additionally, they need the ability to coordinate and balance these characteristics so that members can perform any task well. Leadership is not about excelling alone but about helping the Sangha members fulfill their roles effectively. This becomes much easier when I set an example for the Sangha. When you become a branch or chapter president, you must manage many Jungto Society members. You need to support their work and observe their practice. While practice-related issues will be resolved through consultation with Dharma Teachers, a Seowon Practitioner is not someone who excels alone but someone who takes on the role of helping others succeed. Therefore, if you neglect your personal practice after becoming a Seowon Practitioner, you lack the qualifications of even a Balsim Practitioner, and if you fail to benefit the Sangha, you cannot be considered qualified as a Seowon Practitioner. As executives of Jungto Society, you are key individuals who will take on important roles in Jungto Society going forward. Since positions such as branch president, chapter president, and secretary-general are all roles filled by Seowon Practitioners, Seowon Practitioners can be considered the flowers of Jungto Society who substantially lead the organization. Of course, receiving the precepts today and becoming a Seowon Practitioner doesn’t mean you must take on these roles starting tomorrow. However, you will inevitably assume these roles in the near future. Therefore, you must practice diligently and humbly fulfill your role in creating harmony and unity within the Sangha. We often find ourselves either being good at our own work but clumsy at helping others, or conversely, being good at directing others to do various tasks while failing to practice ourselves, which causes resistance from the Sangha. Therefore, keeping the precepts and practicing myself is fundamental. Please remember that as a Seowon Practitioner, you must not only maintain this foundation but also take on the role of helping others and leading them.”

The ordination recipients pledged to purify themselves using the precepts as their guiding fence.

After Sunim’s Dharma talk ended, everyone knelt down in their seats, placed their hands together in a prostrating position, received the ritual stick from the Dharma Teachers, and repented. They prayed that all their karmic sins would disappear in that sharp moment.

“We, the ordination disciples, repent with utmost sincerity. From countless ages past until today, before knowing the Buddha’s Dharma, we have committed countless bodily sins such as killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. Now we vow to discipline our body, speech, and mind and repent with utmost sincerity.”

After completing the repentance and ritual stick ceremony, the assembly, now as Seowon Practitioners, promised to live a life of keeping the precepts purely. With joyful hearts, they approached the Buddha one by one to offer flowers, once again vowing to keep the precepts purely.

Sunim offered a blessing prayer for the assembly who had received ordination.

After the blessing prayer ended, ordination certificates were presented.

The ordination assembly presented flowers to Sunim and offered three prostrations with gratitude for guiding them to the right path.

Next, Dharma Teacher Seonju, head of the Dharma Teacher group, gave a welcoming address to the ordination assembly.

“I sincerely welcome the twenty-eight people who have become Seowon Practitioners. Becoming a Seowon Practitioner and receiving precepts in Jungto Society means becoming an owner and leader of the Jungto practice community. I look forward to your self-reflective practice and active participation in the future. I earnestly hope you will become fellow practitioners who harmonize with each other, practice together, and take action until we overcome humanity’s crisis and realize the Jungto world on this earth.”

After concluding the ordination ceremony with the Four Great Vows, everyone took a commemorative photo together.

Twenty-eight new Seowon Practitioners were born, vowing to create a Jungto world where individuals are happy and society is peaceful.

Sunim rose from his seat, and the ordination assembly continued with the second part of the program. In Part 2, they had time to introduce each ordination recipient individually, listened to practice testimonies, and then had mindful sharing sessions by division.

As the sun set, Sunim headed to the Shilla Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul, to officiate a wedding ceremony. Recently, actor Kim Woo-bin had visited Sunim to request that he officiate his wedding. Kim Woo-bin had received significant mental support through consultations with Sunim during his battle with nasopharyngeal cancer in 2017, and actress Shin Min-a also found great comfort in Sunim’s words while caring for him. Before their wedding, the couple practiced generosity by donating 300 million won to various organizations, including Good Friends, a peace and human rights refugee support center founded by Sunim. Because of this connection, Sunim gladly agreed to attend the wedding.

At 7 PM, upon arriving at the Shilla Hotel, the wedding venue resembled an awards ceremony just by the guest list alone. Major figures from the film, drama, and entertainment industries attended, including BTS’s V, Gong Hyo-jin, Ryu Jun-yeol, Kim Tae-ri, Uhm Jung-hwa, Bae Jung-nam, Yoo Hae-jin, Kim Eui-sung, Go Doo-shim, Nam Joo-hyuk, Park Kyung-lim, Ahn Bo-hyun, Lee Se-young, Lee Byung-hun, Yoon Kyung-ho, PD Na Young-seok, writer Kim Eun-sook, and writer Noh Hee-kyung. Actor Lee Kwang-soo, who has built a special friendship with Kim Woo-bin, served as the MC.

Sunim, who was officiating, took the stage first, and then the bride and groom entered as the wedding march played. After the couple exchanged their vows and the marriage was declared, they asked Sunim for his wedding address. Looking at the couple standing side by side, Sunim calmly advised them on the mindset needed for a happy married life.

“First, I congratulate you both on your marriage. I have known both of you for a long time. Ms. Min-a has a warm and kind heart and has been consistently supporting poor children for over ten years. She has particularly provided much support to ease the sorrows of North Korean defectors who have come to South Korea. Children who came with defectors often face bullying at school because they cannot adapt to Korean society, and she has always supported after-school programs that care for these children. Mr. Woo-bin once suffered from poor health, but Ms. Min-a carried rice offerings on her head and went to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva on Namsan Mountain in Gyeongju to pray together, transcending religious boundaries. After that, Mr. Woo-bin regained his health, and today the two of you stand here hand in hand, promising to spend your lives together in marriage. This is truly the result of deep karmic connection. However, living together is not easy. How wonderful it would be if you could always maintain the feelings you have today. As you live together, differences in views arise, leading to conflicts. Most people think that when they marry, because they like each other, they should be the same. While marriage has its joys, it often constrains individual freedom. This makes people want to leave. To overcome this, married couples need not only to seek the warmth of mutual dependence but also to greatly respect individual freedom.

Sunim’s Wedding Address: For Today’s Joy to Become a Lifetime of Joy

When two halves come together to make a whole, even though they become a full moon, there’s a crack in the middle. However, when two wholes meet to become a full moon, there’s no crack in the middle. This allows for complete union. Even if separation comes for any reason, I hope you both become individuals who can stand as complete wholes without the pain of losing a half. I hope your marriage becomes one that makes each other more free rather than a constraint. Most people think love is liking, but liking is often more desire than love. When liking cools, it can turn into dislike or hatred. As Mr. Woo-bin just mentioned in his vows, you must acknowledge your differences. Even as a married couple, you can have different thoughts, different feelings, different beliefs, and different views. Acknowledging these differences is called ‘respect.’ In other words, you must know how to respect each other. Next, based on acknowledging your differences, you need to understand each other, thinking ‘From my wife’s perspective, that could be so,’ or ‘From my husband’s perspective, that could be so.’ Love without understanding can sometimes turn into violence. Parents say they love their children, but that can often become tremendous suffering for the children. Therefore, you must always base your love on understanding the other person’s position. Please remember these two things: respect that acknowledges differences and understanding of each other. If I may add one more thing, you must remember that love comes with responsibility. Beyond your responsibilities as wife and husband, you are both widely known figures who receive the love of the people in our society. Therefore, any conflict between you doesn’t end as just a personal matter but affects our entire society. That’s why you must always keep in mind the social responsibility that comes with the honor you both possess. You need not only the responsibility as a husband to your beloved wife and as a wife to your respected husband, but also the social responsibility to live up to the love that many citizens have for you. To reiterate: First, for marriage to become a path to greater freedom rather than constraint, you must maintain your independence while depending on each other. Second, you need to respect and understand each other. Understanding is true love. Third, you must have responsibilities as wife and husband, and if you have children, as parents. Also, since you both receive national love in our society, please remember that you must also have social responsibility that doesn’t betray that love. If you always keep these points in mind, today’s joy will continue to lead to even greater joy in the future. Once again, I congratulate you both on your marriage.”

The couple took Sunim’s wedding address to heart. All the guests present congratulated their marriage with great applause.

After leaving the wedding venue, Sunim headed to Severance Hospital in Sinchon to pay his condolences. He visited the funeral home late at night after hearing that Kim Chun-seop, emeritus professor at Chonnam National University and husband of writer Lee Geum-rim, had passed away. Writer Lee Geum-rim helped create the foundation for Gilbeot, a mind study group for broadcasting culture and arts professionals, and has been supporting Jungto Society for a long time. Sunim conveyed his deep condolences to the writer.

He returned to Jungto Center at 11 PM and concluded his day’s activities.

Tomorrow morning, Sunim will have an online Dharma Q&A session with Jungto Dharma School students from around the world, followed by an online Dharma Q&A session with Jungto Buddhism Course students. In the afternoon, he will attend the UN International Day of Meditation commemoration event and the launch ceremony of the Korean Committee at Bongeun Cultural Center in Seoul. In the evening, he will conduct a 15-minute meditation ceremony via online broadcast at the Dharma Hall on the 3rd floor of Jungto Social and Cultural Center to commemorate the International Day of Meditation.