Mar 19, 2026. Travel to Seoul, Pre-inspection of World Meditation Forum Venue
Hello. Today, after morning practice and meditation, Sunim departed for Seoul at 5:40 AM.
When departing from Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center, it was pitch dark in the early morning, but the day became bright as they traveled to Seoul. Traffic congestion occurred as the arrival time in Seoul coincided with rush hour.
Upon arriving at the center at 9:30 AM, Sunim immediately held a brief meeting regarding the schedule. After lunch, he attended to administrative matters, and in the afternoon, he toured the Jungto Social and Cultural Center, which will be the venue for the World Meditation Forum starting tomorrow.
The main venue for the World Meditation Forum is the underground auditorium of the Jungto Social and Cultural Center. Sunim moved to the underground auditorium. While moving, he carefully checked to ensure participants would not experience any inconveniences.
Upon entering the auditorium, a pre-rehearsal was in progress, and foreign presenters who had arrived early for the event were present. Sunim warmly greeted them. Venerable Myohai, founder of the World Meditation Foundation and World Meditation Day Association, and a participant in the INEB Study Tour, greeted him particularly warmly. Venerable Myohai introduced other foreign presenters so they could greet Sunim. Sunim exchanged Muslim-style greetings with a presenter who had come to speak on Islamic Sufi meditation.
The staff were conducting a pre-rehearsal at the venue. They were practicing what to watch for and manage during group photo sessions. Sunim joined them, checking what was needed to ensure the group photo session would flow smoothly without disrupting the event, and discussed preparations with the staff.
As the lights were turned off and sound system activated for video testing inside the venue, conversation became difficult. Sunim and Venerable Myohai went outside the auditorium to discuss the event. Sunim once again introduced Venerable Hyeguk, who will give the keynote address tomorrow, to Venerable Myohai. He carefully explained what kind of religious leader Venerable Hyeguk is in Korea, what type of meditation he practices, and how interpretation would be handled.
Sunim moved to the underground dining hall where tonight’s welcome reception would be held. Many volunteers were busy preparing food and setting up for the welcome reception. After reviewing the facilities on the underground dining hall stage where the welcome reception would proceed, he discussed areas for improvement with the staff. Sunim expressed gratitude to the volunteers preparing for the event and moved to the next location, the rest area on the second floor.
After touring the second-floor space where VIPs would briefly have tea and exchange greetings, he headed to the Dharma Hall on the third floor. This event will include programs to experience various meditation methods in the third-floor Dharma Hall. New meditation cushions had been prepared for foreign participants, and Sunim tried them out himself, sitting in meditation to see if they would be comfortable for the participants.
Sunim toured the rooftop Dharma Hall on the 15th floor, the top of the Jungto Social and Cultural Center. The rooftop Dharma Hall is the Patriarch Hall dedicated to the lineage masters who have transmitted the Dharma from the Buddha to the present. After discussing with Venerable Yusu about the Buddhist paintings, he also toured the 12th floor where foreign guests would stay. He communicated to staff about overlooked aspects of guest reception and areas that needed to be tidily organized and attended to.
Returning briefly to the office, Sunim attended to administrative work before moving to the underground dining hall at 5 PM where the welcome reception would be held.
Since tomorrow’s event starts at 9:30 AM, most foreign presenters arrived at the center today. As foreign participants arrived at the welcome reception venue, volunteers dressed in beautiful hanbok presented welcome flowers.
Sunim guided each foreign participant to their seat on the stage.
The welcome reception began with gentle music. When it was time for welcome remarks, the microphone was passed to Sunim. Sunim handed the microphone to Venerable Myohai, allowing him to give the opening remarks. Venerable Myohai spoke about the background of how World Meditation Day came to be established, why the World Meditation Forum is being held in Korea, and why meditation has become more important today.
This was followed by welcome songs performed by two Young Buddha members.
Sunim then gave welcome remarks and introduced the Dharma Teacher group. Sunim spoke about the background of hosting the World Meditation Forum event.
“Last summer, Venerable Myohai suddenly suggested in Germany that it would be good to hold the 2nd World Meditation Forum in Korea. When I met Venerable Myohai on the street, he bowed deeply and made this request. I couldn’t refuse, so I said yes. When I returned to Korea, I proposed this event to the Jogye Order. The Jogye Order is also commemorating World Meditation Day and has established the Korean Meditation Committee, which is currently active. To hold the event through the Jogye Order, a budget needed to be secured, but due to the tight timeline, they said they couldn’t host the event this time.
I told Venerable Myohai, ‘If the Jogye Order can’t host this event, Jungto Society can. However, since Jungto Society’s principle is to live simply in preparation for the climate crisis, we cannot rent hotels or spend a lot of money. We can only do what we can with existing facilities and volunteer work. If you’re okay with holding the event this way, we’ll do it; otherwise, we can’t.’
Therefore, those who come must pay for their own flights, and while we welcome them to stay in the rooms we provide, if they want better facilities, they must find and pay for their own accommodations. We will provide vegetarian meals. If everyone is comfortable with simple accommodations and equal treatment regarding room and board, then we can host the event. Venerable Myohai said that would be fine. That’s how we came to prepare this modest event. I ask for your understanding if you experience some inconvenience while staying here.
An Event Prepared by Volunteers
Also, there is not a single person here who receives a salary. Everyone here is volunteering. However, the faces change frequently. (Audience laughs) We will do our best within our capabilities, so even if you experience inconvenience, please bear with us for these three days and two nights. The food is also vegetarian, as Korean Buddhist culture is vegetarian. Here, you serve yourself as much as you want to eat and wash your own dishes. (Audience laughs) If you need anything during your stay, please let the volunteers know. Once again, welcome. I would also like to express gratitude to the volunteers who prepared this welcome reception.
“The people sitting in front are the Dharma Teachers who provide Dharma guidance and support the practice of Jungto Society members. Those sitting in the back are volunteers who prepared today’s meal. For the interpreters, two came from the United States and one from Australia. They all came as volunteers. Thank you to all the volunteers.”
The modest welcome ceremony concluded. Sunim and the foreign participants lined up at the serving station for dinner.
Sunim served small portions of food onto a plate for the Theravada monk. In Theravada Buddhism, there are specific protocols for monks’ alms rounds and meal offerings, so Sunim attended to the Theravada monk’s meal according to these protocols. Afterward, Sunim took food from the serving station and sat down. After reciting the meal verse, the foreign participants had their dinner.
After the welcome ceremony and dinner, Sunim attended to some work and concluded the day’s activities.
Tomorrow is the day of the World Meditation Forum event. Sunim will participate in the event programs at the Jungto Social and Cultural Center all day.
Since there was no Dharma talk today, this post concludes with a Dharma Q&A from the last Weekly Dharma Assembly.
My Son Has Anxiety, Compulsions, and Tics. How Should I Pray?
“Yes, it’s fine to pray that way.
However, when we observe rain, sometimes it falls heavily, sometimes lightly, and sometimes not at all. It’s not that only moderate rain is natural. Heavy rain and light rain are all part of nature. Similarly, when your child is satisfied because things go his way, that’s part of his daily life, and when he gets angry or throws tantrums because things don’t go as desired, that’s also part of his daily life.
But as a mother, you worry about your child’s various states because you think, like expecting rain to always fall moderately. Therefore, you need to observe your child consistently, recording how many days in a month he’s stable, how many days he’s agitated, and how many days he’s depressed, tracking these changes.
When your child becomes agitated and has outbursts, you need to consult with a doctor and follow appropriate methods. When he remains in an excessively depressed state, you also need a doctor’s diagnosis and prescription. This is because when your child becomes excessively agitated, angry, or remains too depressed staying only in his room, these are illnesses beyond what a mother can handle. What a mother can do is limited to cooking meals, doing laundry, and taking care of daily needs. Beyond that belongs to the professional domain.
Therefore, record your child’s condition, show it to professionals, and receive treatment with their help. As you observe over time, you can understand your child’s condition – for example, over the past year, the tics have improved slightly while agitation has somewhat worsened. You can evaluate like this: ‘At this level, hospitalization isn’t necessary yet,’ or ‘The possibility of improvement is higher than deterioration in the future,’ and support your child while monitoring. Like taking him to the hospital, parents should help where they can. However, parents cannot cure the illness itself. Whatever state your child is in, it’s most important for the mother to respond with equanimity. This is necessary for the mother’s own sake and also helps the child. Getting agitated together doesn’t help at all.
When we say ‘My child is okay just as he is,’ it doesn’t mean everything is always normal. Using weather as an analogy, it doesn’t mean it rains appropriately every day, but rather that various conditions naturally occur. Just as it might not rain for ten days, or even a month, or it might pour for several days causing floods – this is the nature of things.
Therefore, while observing your child’s life as it is, help where you can and seek professional assistance where you cannot. If we consider the average person’s ability as 100, and your child’s ability is around 80, rather than forcing them to reach 100, it’s important to provide opportunities and support for them to live according to their capacity of 80.
Children with the specific temperament you mentioned are likely to face difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Because they try to form relationships in their own way, it’s difficult for them to maintain smooth relationships.
However, these characteristics can actually be advantages in artistic fields. In activities like composition, visual arts, or sculpture, strong focus can lead to creating excellent works. Conversely, when their condition isn’t good, they may cause difficulties for those around them.
In fact, among socially successful people, there are some who show specific tendencies. They may have a diminished sense of ethics and morality and a weak sense of guilt, and if such people become leaders, it can lead to social chaos.
But we cannot say these tendencies are unconditionally bad. Depending on what role they play, they can be either strengths or weaknesses. In specific fields like art or creative work, they can actually be strengths. For example, in gaming, when concentration is maximized, they can achieve outstanding results, but conversely, they may also experience severe ups and downs.
Continuously Observe Like Recording Weather Forecasts
Since people with various characteristics live in this world, rather than judging children as good or bad by certain standards, it’s important to continuously observe the child’s condition and set realistic expectations.
You can make judgments like: ‘At this level, they can manage social life; at this level, they can live independently; or marriage might be somewhat difficult.’ Even if they do marry, it may not last long. However, unlike in the past, we don’t necessarily see this as a big problem now. Because such cases are common.
Looking from this broader perspective, you don’t need to be overly anxious or obsessed because of your child. As a mother, you should observe your child, record their condition like keeping a weather forecast log, check their status, while maintaining your own daily life. In situations that are difficult to handle, seek professional help, consider hospitalization if necessary, and return to daily life when the condition stabilizes. This approach is desirable. Only this way can you maintain your own life. If you focus only on your child’s problems, you’ll eventually lose your own life. I hope you’ll care for your child with this perspective.”
