<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When we are young, time seems to crawl at a snail\u2019s pace, but as we get older, time seems to fly by. As we all know, time passes at the same speed for everyone, but why does it feel different for the young and the old? When we are young, we are impatient to become adults, so we sometimes add a year or two to our age. Since the young are impatient to grow up, time seems to drag along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once we hit adulthood, however, we want to seem younger than we are and even lie about our age. This is because while time brings growth when we are young, it causes decline after a certain age. Our smooth skin becomes wrinkled, gray hair begins to peek out among the dark hair, and our once inexhaustible physical strength begins to weaken day by day. Even though we are still young at heart, our bodies feel their age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, at the thought of \u201cI've grown old without having achieved anything,\u201d we become afraid of the future and dwell on the past. Therefore, as we age, we keep reminiscing about past events and become nostalgic about the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We may wistfully think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d But were we really happy then? Are all young people happy? Ask middle school, high school students, or even college students if they are happy. They will all tell you that life is tough. We may remember the past as a time filled with happiness, but in reality, we weren\u2019t always happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our regrets are a reflection of our dissatisfaction with ourselves now and our current lives. When an opinion poll was taken of people ranging in age from teens to 50s and they were asked to describe their biggest regret, the top answer, regardless of age, was \u201cI should have studied harder when I was in school.\u201d People felt that their lives would have turned out better had they been better students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same way, we constantly feel regret about the past and cling to the past. We think to ourselves, \u201cIf I had only known then what I know now... If only I had made this choice instead\u2026 and write a scenario of what our lives could have been. We regret the choices we made in the past and feel unhappy with the way we are now. When we cling to the irreversible past, the present can only be miserable and unsatisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is the secret to having a happy life, free from regrets? It is to live fully in the present whatever your age may be. Teenagers should focus on what teenagers should do and those in their 20\u2019s should focus on what they should be doing at their age. Teenagers should dedicate themselves to their studies. As an adult, people have to take responsibility for their lives and earn a living, but teenagers only need to study and will be praised just for getting good grades. Teenagers don\u2019t realize that they will experience such a period of time only once in their lives. Because they don\u2019t know how good they have it, teenagers thank life is hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their 20\u2019s, people may experience the bliss of falling in love and the heartache of breaking up. This is a special privilege of the young. Even if they fail in a relationship, the experience enables them to have a deeper understanding of people and become more mature. However, because such experiences are difficult to go through, they are impatient to get older in order to avoid heartbreaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While people find life hard and sometimes even miserable during their 20\u2019s, as they grow older, they miss that time and think, \u201cThose were the good old days.\u201d People in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s lament their mature age. However, after 10 years, they think, \u201cIf only I were 10 years younger.\u201d Being old is all relative. When a high school senior sends a high school junior on an errand, he says, \u201cYou do it, since you are young. This oldie will get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children fail to fully live in the moment because they try to behave like adults. Young people wish to get older quickly because they feel life is so hard. The elderly, envy the young thinking, \u201cLife was better when I was young.\u201d Such foolishness results from their inability to appreciate the happiness they have been given in the present moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, while the young should be happy to be young with plenty of energy and dreams for the future, the elderly should appreciate how a lifetime of experiences has brought them a great depth of understanding. That is, we should be positive about ourselves and improve our present lives. Those who are content as they are, whether as children, as young people, or as aging adults, will be happy throughout their lives. In fact, those who live fully in the present without clinging to the past and being afraid of the future are always in the prime of their lives. Then, instead of being sad as we age, we can live happily until the end of our lives. The reason we are full of regret, dissatisfaction, and misery as we age lies in our inability to remain centered on true values and being swayed by worldly values. In other words, we have been taken hostage by countless worldly desires such as attending the best college, earning more money, achieving a higher social status, and making a name for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to maintain our focus on true values and resolve life\u2019s issues, we must set aside our desires for wealth, a successful career, fame, and heath which have been our priorities until now. Because these desires were in the way, and we were busy pursuing them, we were blind to what is truly important in life. Only when we let go of those desires are we able to open our eyes and finally see the path to real happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a good look at yourself to see if you are squandering your life as if you are going to live forever. Since we don\u2019t know when we will die, we should do the best we can today. Then, we will be able to live a life without regrets even if we were to die tomorrow. If you live your life contentedly, regardless of worldly success, that is a good life. If you are always content with your current life, that is a happy life.<\/p>\n","post_title":"Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"right-now-we-are-in-the-prime-of-our-lives","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-01-16 16:22:31","post_modified_gmt":"2024-01-16 21:22:31","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17841","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":17838,"post_author":"40","post_date":"2023-12-27 20:50:04","post_date_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:04","post_content":"\n

-An extract from Venerable Pomnyun's book, Life Lessons<\/em>-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

---

\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/gwmw><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

P:<\/strong> When our parents are alive, we don't realize how precious they are and how grateful we should be for their existence. Once they pass away, we realize how big their presence had been in our lives and regret that we didn\u2019t realize it sooner. Likewise, we don\u2019t feel thankful to our spouses when they are by our sides. We always complain, focusing on the issues that we disagree on. It\u2019s the same with our children. When they are healthy, we want them to do well in school, and if they do well in school, we want them to be outstanding. We focus on our children\u2019s shortcomings and push them to do better. Then, if by some misfortune, the child passes away, we bitterly realize how foolish we have been. Often we gripe and complain about the people close to us and don't realize how grateful we should be to them when they are by our sides, but we feel regretful and miserable when they are gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There once was a lady who wept while she told me about her fianc\u00e9 who suddenly died in a car accident. She said, \"When he was alive, he worked hard to help the elderly and the children. However, I always complained and hurt him verbally because I thought he was too idealistic. After his death, I have been feeling increasingly more guilty about my past actions toward him, and I even wonder if I was responsible for his death.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of us, like this lady, complain and feel dissatisfied with our loved ones when they are with us, and then, we make ourselves miserable with regrets when they pass away. Would a dead person tell you that he died because you hurt them? The dead remain silent, but this lady kept looking back at the past and had locked herself in a prison of guilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeling guilty and missing her fianc\u00e9 are simply the thoughts and feelings she herself is clinging to. They do nothing for the person who has passed away. Therefore, she should let go of her lingering affection or regrets for her deceased fianc\u00e9 and say goodbye with a light heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is always the errant child who weeps the most when his parents pass away. Children who didn\u2019t bother to visit their parents when they were alive are the ones who cry a great deal when they are gone. Dutiful children have no reason to cry because they did their best for their parents when they were alive. Setting up a fancy grave for the parents or offering huge amounts of food during ancestor memorial services is useless to the deceased parents. Doing something as simple as offering your parents a glass of cold water while they are alive is the action of a dutiful child. Then, calmly saying goodbye to your parents when they pass away is the best thing you can do. Even if you have regrets, it is best to put them behind for your sake as well as that of your parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one can live forever. People are struck with various illnesses. Will crying cure an illness or prevent anyone from dying? So, if your parents are ill, it\u2019s better to prepare them meals, clean their room, and offer them a smile as often as you can instead of crying. If you are anxious all the time and do nothing but cry while thinking, \u201c\u201dWhat will I do if my parents pass away?\u201d your parents will also be unhappy. Even if they were to die tomorrow, if you can smile happily today, your parents will be happy until the moment of their death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a lady who told me that she cried whenever she thought of her mother who passed away 10 years ago in an accident. She asked me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q:<\/strong> \"I prayed for my mother to go to heaven, but does heaven really exist?\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, I quoted the Bible: \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.\u201d and \u201cBlessed is she who believed for there shall be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.\u201d It means that she will benefit greatly from believing, \"My mom has gone to heaven.\" instead of wondering whether heaven exists or not. She would feel unhappy if she thought that her mom went to hell, and she would feel empty if she believed there was nothing after one\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daughter should not cry because her mother doesn't appear in her dreams. The more she misses her mother, the harder it will be for her mother's spirit to peacefully leave this world, so it would keep coming back. But since the spirit does not have a body to go back to, it will drift and become a so-called \u201cforlorn wandering spirit.\u201d The daughter should say goodbye to her mother and let her go quickly so that her mother\u2019s spirit can leave this world without attachments to hold her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A while back, a questioner whose child had died wept in front of me as if the world had ended. I can\u2019t imagine the heartache of a mother who has outlived her child. Still, she had to let go of her dead child in order to live her own life. So, I asked her to say \"Goodbye, my child.\" with a light heart, but she couldn't. She said, \"Goodbye\" weeping copiously with tears running down her face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, it is not easy to let go of her child, but saying goodbye should be as light as biting into a crispy rice cracker. If she says goodbye with a lingering attachment like a sticky taffy, her child\u2019s spirit won\u2019t be able to leave this world. We weep because we are sad about the death of a loved ones, but weeping miserably greatly torments the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is a husband, a child, or a parent who passes away, we should say goodbye with a smile after the funeral. People often burn the clothes of the deceased because it\u2019s so hard to say goodbye. If we are able to let go of our attachments to those who pass away, we won\u2019t have any problems using their possessions. However, since most of us become sad upon seeing their possessions, we burn them to get rid of any attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should do our best for our loved ones when they are alive, but let them go with a light heart when they pass away. However, we tend to do the opposite. We give them a hard time when they are with us but hold on to them when they die. Ancestor memorial services and rituals for sending spirits to a good place are actually performed for the peace of mind of the people who are alive rather than for the deceased. If we don\u2019t hold onto the spirits of the deceased, they will leave of their own accord. A problem occurs when we hold the dead back out of our own grief and regrets. Letting go of the deceased from our heart without any lingering attachment is what will actually help the spirits go to a good place.<\/p>\n","post_title":"A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","post_password":"","post_name":"a-goodbye-as-crispy-as-a-rice-cracker","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2023-12-27 20:50:05","post_modified_gmt":"2023-12-28 01:50:05","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.jungtosociety.org\/?p=17838","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"next":false,"prev":false,"total_page":1},"paged":1,"column_class":"jeg_col_2o3","class":"jnews_block_37"};

Home Tag regret

regret

Mindfulness

Right Now, We Are In The Prime Of Our Lives

January 2, 2024

28

Family

A Goodbye As Crispy As A Rice Cracker

December 27, 2023

24

Jungto Society is a community of Buddhist practitioners who seek to free themselves of suffering in their daily lives and to make the world a better place.

Donate

Subscribe to Newsletter

Δ

Email

First Name

Subscribe Now

EVENTS & PROGRAMS

• Live Dharma Talk
• Sunday Meditation
• 1000-Day Practice
• Jungto Dharma School 2025

POSTS

• A Day in the Life of Sunim New
• Dharma Q&A
• Meditation Q&A
• Wisdom Note
• Jungto News

ABOUT

• Jungto Society
• Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님)
• Our NGOs
• Visit Us
• Contact Us

RELATED LINKS

Menu

Cookie Policy

Copyright © 2025 Jungto Society

No Result

View All Result

• Home
• About
  • Jungto Society
  • Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님)
  • Our NGOs
  • Contact Us
  • Visit Us
• Articles
  • A Day in the Life of Sunim
  • Jungto News
  • Press & Media
• Library
  • Dharma Q&A
  • Meditation Q&A
  • Wisdom Note
  • Practice Resources
• Online Programs
  • Live Dharma Talk
  • Happiness Workshop
  • Jungto Dharma School – Introduction to Buddhism I
  • 정토담마스쿨 – 근본불교
  • Jungto Dharma School – Introduction to Buddhism II
  • 정토담마스쿨 – 인간붓다
  • Sunday Meditation
  • 1000-Day Practice
• Offline Programs
  • Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center Volunteering

Subscribe to Newsletter
Donate
Contact us