What Should I Do When Delusions Arise During Prostrations to Maintain Good Practice?

Hello. Dawn has broken at Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center (두북수련원). Starting today, Jungto Society will hold a three-day Jeongcho (New Year’s) Prayer (정초기도) to welcome the new year. Participants will listen to Sunim’s daily Dharma talks about how to approach the year ahead, practice 300 prostrations, and engage in mindful sharing with fellow practitioners.

After completing morning practice and meditation, Sunim took his seat in front of the camera in the broadcasting room at exactly 10 AM. The members of the Sangha offered three bows to Sunim and requested the opening Dharma talk for the Jeongcho Prayer. Sunim began his talk by discussing the original meaning of the prayers that people in the past offered at temples during the New Year.

“Did everyone have a good Lunar New Year holiday? Today is the third day of the first lunar month. Since ancient times, when the new year arrived, people would offer New Year’s bows to family and elders on the first and second days. From the third day, they would visit nearby temples. They would then practice at the temple for three days or a week to prepare their minds to spend the year safely and well.

What Is the Real Reason for Going to Temples to Pray in the New Year?

At temples located in towns or near villages, people could pray at the proper times like we do today, but in the old days, temples were in the mountains, requiring a full day’s walk. People would stay at these mountain temples for three, five, or seven days while praying.

‘Prayer’ means keeping one’s mind at ease, concentrating wholeheartedly in one place, and earnestly wishing for what one desires. People in the past generally hoped to spend the year safely without major accidents. The ‘major accidents’ that people of old spoke of were typically three things. First, they feared that they or their family members would contract serious illnesses. Second, since people often traveled on mountain paths in those days, there were dangers from wild animals, and accidents like injuries or falls often occurred while traveling long distances or working. Third, they feared being unexpectedly arrested by government officials and suffering the ordeal of being beaten with clubs. They hoped such things would not happen. Additionally, they wished for good harvests without natural disasters like floods or fires. They also hoped there would be no disputes or conflicts among villagers that would lead to fights and create resentment between neighbors. When people in the past prayed for blessings, their main concern was to avoid these various calamities. This is quite different from what we call faith seeking worldly benefits today, such as ‘I hope to make lots of money’ or ‘I hope to achieve success.’ While it could be considered seeking blessings in the broad sense of ‘trying to achieve what one desires,’ the content of their prayers was not about harming others for personal gain. Above all, they wished that ‘various disasters would not occur.’ In the past, unexpected disasters often occurred, causing many people to suffer. So the content of ordinary people’s prayers was to hope such things wouldn’t happen. Furthermore, when typhoons struck, floods occurred, wildfires broke out, or illnesses arose, while these should be recognized as results of one’s own carelessness, they must also be accepted as ‘unavoidable events that happen in the world.’ In other words, when such things occur, one should approach them from the perspective of ‘How will I respond?’ As the old saying goes, ‘Even if carried off by a tiger, if you keep your wits about you, a way to survive will open,’ even in such situations, rather than being shaken by changing conditions, one should calmly consider ‘How can I respond wisely?’ Rather than panicking and inviting disaster through foolish responses, one should respond wisely to overcome the calamity. The purpose of renewing one’s mindset at the beginning of the year is to cultivate such a mind. Renewing one’s mindset at the beginning of the year means developing the mental attitude to handle well the various unexpected disasters that may befall us. First, it means having the earnest wish that worldly affairs will flow smoothly and well. Second, it means preparing one’s mind to respond wisely no matter what happens.

Why We Use the Term ‘Practice’ Rather Than ‘Prayer’

While prayers in the past involved modest wishes and settling one’s mind, recently prayers have often become based not on modest wishes but on greed—the desire (탐심 : 貪心), anger (진심 : 嗔心), and ignorance (치심 : 癡心) that the Buddha warned against. They have deteriorated into seeking worldly benefits, such as passing entrance exams to good universities without studying, being cured of illnesses, seeing stock or land prices rise, or having business prosper just through prayer. Due to this phenomenon, on one hand, many people were attracted to prayer, and during periods of economic growth, large amounts of money flowed into churches and temples under the belief that ‘offering large prayer donations brings spiritual efficacy (영험

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.’ However, as a result of prayer flowing in this direction of seeking worldly benefits, today many people have become skeptical about prayer itself and have developed negative views. Even today, if you visit economically growing countries like China or Vietnam, you’ll still see countless people making offerings, building temples, creating Buddha statues, and erecting pagodas while praying for blessings, chasing after the merit and spiritual efficacy of prayer. Such practices can be said to be far from the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddha’s teaching is a ‘teaching of wisdom.’ Rather than unconditionally denying the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance that humans possess, the Buddha’s teaching awakens us to the fact that while sentient beings may give rise to such minds due to their ignorance, all suffering originates from precisely these minds. Therefore, when such minds arise, responding wisely and not being bound by them is the path from suffering to happiness. The core of the Buddha’s teaching is that the cause of our suffering lies in the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance (탐진치 삼독

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, and only when we control these minds can we reach nirvana, which is true happiness. Yet today, Buddhism has flowed toward trying to make the impossible possible through prayer and achieving everything according to one’s temperament. We must be wary and cautious of such forms of prayer. These phenomena of seeking worldly benefits, regardless of religion, make sentient beings foolish, cause social controversies, and create capitalist ills. We must approach prayer with a mindset that goes beyond the original spirit of prayer handed down from ancient times, pursuing nirvana (열반) and awakening (깨달음). Recently, since the word ‘prayer’ has been used with many negative connotations, today’s younger generation sometimes feels resistance to the term itself. However, in Jungto Society, rather than abandoning the word prayer, we keep the term while filling it with correct content instead of incorrect content. Especially from the perspective of practice, we sometimes use the word ‘practice’ instead of ‘prayer.’ The word ‘practice’ carries a stronger meaning of maintaining one’s mind in a fully awakened state. Therefore, when we do Jeongcho Prayer, we also use the term ‘practice (정진)’ because it contains the mindset of ‘practicing diligently.’

What Should I Do When Delusions Arise During Prostrations to Maintain Good Practice?

The practice theme for this year’s Jeongcho Prayer is the ‘Noble Eightfold Path (팔정도 : 八正道).’ The fundamental root of all suffering is the three poisons: greed, anger, and ignorance. When the mind is stained with these toxins, it causes the disease of suffering. To remove these toxins, we must keep our precepts (계행 : 戒行) pure to eliminate greed, cultivate meditation (선정 : 禪定)to eliminate anger, and attain wisdom (지혜 : 智慧) to eliminate ignorance. This is called the ‘threefold training (삼학 : 三學)’ of precepts (계) , meditation (정), and wisdom (혜).

Practitioners must pay special attention to their speech and actions. Being mindful of speech and actions so as not to harm others is keeping the precepts. The reason speech and actions become crude is because there is much stress and anger in the mind. If one cannot control this and immediately expresses it through words and actions, disputes and conflicts arise. If one merely suppresses anger, it will eventually explode, resulting in even more violent words. Therefore, rather than simply enduring, one must penetrate the essence of the mind and dissolve the anger. This is precisely ‘meditation (선정’

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.’ To cultivate meditation, first, the body and mind must be at ease. When stress accumulates, the mind cannot be at ease and remains in a constant state of tension. Therefore, it is most important to first settle the body and mind into comfort. Second, one must concentrate the mind firmly in one place. Modern people are extremely scattered. As they try to pay attention to multiple things simultaneously, their minds tend to disperse. Even when conversing with young people these days, they often mix various topics to the point where it’s difficult to grasp the main point due to their scattered nature. There are various methods of concentration. A representative method of concentrating on sound is mantra recitation. Concentrating on sounds like ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ is called mantra recitation (주력

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, while chanting involves concentrating on sound but also focusing the mind on the sacred image of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (관세음보살

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or on the Bodhisattva’s great compassion. Other concentration methods include meditation practices ( 선 : 禪 수행) like Seon meditation or Vipassana. Korean Seon meditation mainly concentrates on the hwadu ( 화두 critical phrase) ‘What is this?’ and when practicing breathing meditation, one concentrates solely on one’s breath. The important point to note here is that this is not ‘thinking.’ If thoughts continue, they become ‘delusions.’ One must maintain only an awakened state through concentration, that is, maintain awareness. Thus, while the names differ—Seon meditation, mantra recitation, chanting—depending on the object of concentration such as breath, hwadu, sound, or form, the essence is the same: ‘concentrating while remaining at ease.’ This is the same whether sitting, standing, or even when doing prostrations. When doing prostrations, one should also relax the tension in body and mind and concentrate comfortably. However, many people grit their teeth and force themselves through prostrations because they find them difficult. While this can be a practice for developing patience, it’s hard to call it a practice for cultivating meditation. When doing prostrations, it’s good to keep the body and mind at ease and practice while concentrating on the Words to Remember.

The core of diligent practice consists of three elements: first, keeping the mind at ease; second, concentrating on one point; and third, maintaining awareness. Awareness means being fully awake to the object of focus, whether it’s a hwadu, breathing, or chanting. Rather than indulging in delusions or practicing mindlessly, one must maintain clear wakefulness. If one practices with the phrase “I am lacking,” the body performs prostrations while the mind focuses on that phrase. When concentration is maintained in this way, various thoughts like “I didn’t want to do this but forced myself” or “The prostrations went well” are less likely to arise after practice ends. All such thoughts are merely afflictions. Even if various thoughts arise, if one has decided to do three hundred prostrations, one should simply focus quietly and just perform the prostrations. The mind’s various fluctuations all belong to afflictions, and one must not be swept away by them. This doesn’t mean such thoughts shouldn’t arise at all, but rather that one should regard them like the sound of wind or birds outside, maintaining the perspective of simply focusing on prostrations. One must continue practicing steadily in this way. However, we often start with some concentration but quickly get swept away when afflictions arise. Even while doing prostrations, we get caught up in emotions—suppressing anger while thinking “Just wait until I see them,” or crying while recalling past pain. Such thoughts may arise during meditation or prostrations. However, recognizing these as delusions, one must maintain a posture of focusing on the present and staying clearly awake. Regardless of what afflictions arise, the attitude of steady practice is necessary. Practice is like a basketball player dedicating effort to shooting baskets. During practice, if the ball goes in, one retrieves it and shoots again; if it doesn’t go in, one still retrieves it and shoots again. There’s no rejoicing over success or lamenting failure. While aiming for the basket, one practices steadily for 30 minutes or an hour regardless of results. Repeating this for a week, a month, or three months naturally increases the success rate. When first doing prostrations, various afflictions arise—leg pain, wanting to quit, thoughts like “What difference do prostrations make?” or “Isn’t this just praying for blessings?” Rather than wishing these thoughts wouldn’t arise, one must understand that they’re as natural as wind blowing or birds chirping outside. Just as one concentrates on a book while reading, regardless of what thoughts arise, one must steadily continue prostrations while focusing on the words of practice. One must be clearly awake to this, not swept away. There’s no need to talk afterward about leg pain or other discomforts. Pain is natural. It’s like crossing streams, climbing steep slopes, and enduring the blazing sun while hiking. The experiences during hiking aren’t that important. If shoes need to come off, take them off; if a stream needs crossing, cross it. Various symptoms appear during prostrations too, but the most important thing is steadily moving toward the goal. This is diligent practice. It’s not about gritting one’s teeth and enduring desperately, but recognizing “these symptoms are occurring” and simply continuing steadily. The reason for practice is to brighten the mind and gain wisdom. No one knows what situations will arise this year. One might suddenly lose a job, experience family bereavement, or have a traffic accident. While there may be humble wishes that such things won’t happen, what’s more important is the attitude of responding wisely and accepting whatever occurs. If one is mentally prepared in advance, even experiencing the same events causes far less suffering than for others. Since today is the first day of New Year’s prayer, let’s approach our practice with this clear perspective.”

After the opening Dharma talk concluded, there was a brief moment to organize the space before beginning the 300-bow prayer practice.

“With broad and deep vows, practicing the bodhisattva path again and again, to save suffering beings, manifesting in this saha world… Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva…”

As the resonant chanting began under the guidance of Venerable Yusu (유수스님), the images on the monitors showed all participants bowing in unison.

The earnest sound of chanting spread across the nation through the internet connection.

After an hour of prayer practice, participants entered video conference rooms by group for a mindful sharing session.

Following the completion of the Jeongcho Prayer, Sunim rested throughout the afternoon. Due to his poor health following an extended overseas trip, he decided to focus on rest while staying at Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center.

Tomorrow marks the second day of the Jeongcho Prayer. In the morning, there will be a live broadcast of Dharma talk and practice session, followed by a live Friday Dharma Q&A in the evening.