Seon-won-sa Temple in Seoul: Progressive Buddhism?

 

Lee won-il, Sunmudo Zen Master was a big inspiration for my move to Gyeongju.

When we’d first met at Golgusa Temple in Gyeongju in December 2007, I was surprised to learn he wasn’t a monk.  After my initial Sunmudo experience, a Korean Zen Buddhist Martial Art and path to enlightenment taught at Golgusa Temple, I was intent on returning for serious study.  As impossible as it seemed, after only a month my wishes came true.  A job teaching at Gyeongju University offer meant I’d be able to move to Gyeongju and study Sunmudo.

 After three weeks upon my arrival, the sad news that Master Lee would be leaving for Seoul was indeed surprising if not somewhat disappointing.  Thus my first lesson of attachment was about to begin.  Miraculously, I realized my move to Gyeongju was not contingent on his being there; nor was my happiness.  So I studied and survived the loss of my inspiration and teacher.  However, the absence of his presence could be felt by all nonetheless.  He came to a point in his life to further his Buddhist studies in an effort to still plaguing life questions in search of happiness.

Six months later in August 2008, I was on my way to visit Master Lee in Seoul, fill my soul with performance and art at The Fringe Festival and buy a digital camera with tentative plans to sleep at a hostel. What I got in lieu of my plans was completely unexpected.

We sat in the Taiwanese Temple café where Master Lee teaches Sunmudo catching up. “How are you”, I asked, “I’m haaappppy”, he replied.  “Three months ago I became a monk and I’ve never been happier”.  “Wow”, was all that escaped from my lips, but I wasn’t in the least surprised, he was always a monk to me.

The head monk of Seon-won-sa thought the same and accepted him to train to full monk hood under his tutelage.  Master Lee ordained as a monk goes by his spiritual name, Kak-Be.

I asked if I could possibly stay the night at his Temple.  He quickly phoned the head monk with the reply that I was welcome. Kak-Be was excited about introducing me to his teacher and head monk.  He felt all foreigners should have the experience of meeting him for the simple reason his teaching was clear and simple.

Seon-won-sa is a small temple at Kang buk gu Su yoo-dong in Seoul, from the outside it’s not a typical Korean Temple.  We walked in and were greeted by a monk, then taken to the kitchen where I was introduced to Seo-jin, the head monk and offered something to drink, a beer perhaps?  Did I hear right? 

I don’t like beer all that much and declined the offer.  I preferred red wine.  Master Lee’s wife quickly left the room and came back with a bottle of good quality French red wine she’d been saving for an occasion.  She opened it and poured some for all in small glasses. I’d already known that Master Lee had a wife and two children and was about to find that most if not all the monks living at Seon-won-sa were married with children. This temple was a special place, a progressive place, a place where monk-hood could be gotten without extreme sacrifice; my interest was piqued. 

They explained that Buddha’s original teaching said nothing of celibacy and that happiness is important.  So if a little red wine or a beer makes you happy, isn’t that what counts?  I’d always felt between “a rock and a hard place” myself.  While I wanted to commit to a spiritual and holy practice I didn’t want to sacrifice aspects of life I found enjoyable and thought, “I may have found a jewel here in the back streets of Seoul”.

We sat around a table with three monks dressed in simple grey tee shirts and sweat pants, not robes.  Along with their wives, we all sipped red wine while becoming acquainted before getting to the “Questions of life”.  As I wasn’t prepared for my “one question”, I improvised and allowed the conversation to flow, go where it wanted to. 

It was surprisingly relaxed despite the fact the head monk didn’t speak English save a word or two to make clearer his meaning.  Master Lee did the translating and invited me to have a translated conversation with Seo-jin the next day when a fluent English speaker would be present.

Seo-jin is a likable, approachable man, a monk without airs, kind of like a true friend. There was no struggle due to language. We communicated.  Seo-jin spoke, I listened to his gist.  I spoke, he listened and got me, finally stating he believed I’d be a good Buddhist student should I want to study Buddhism.

“My ability for happiness can reach the highest highs while my potential for sadness can reach the lowest lows”, I told him, thinking he’d dub me as manic with a need for balance.  To my surprise, he responded, “The height of happiness is as high as the highest mountains and the lows of sadness are as deep as the deepest valleys, one must experience them to know life.  So, I’m not crazy, I thought, now this is interesting.

Seo-jin took a deep interest in my overall heath with concern and compassion. I found his own wife recently passed due to exhaustion, something I’m currently experiencing myself.  I bid everyone goodnight and went to sleep awaking at 4:00 for chanting and meditation in the temple, then had breakfast with everyone. Seo-jin looked into my eyes and hands that morning, “There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re just tired.  You need to sleep”.

I wandered around Seoul that entire day intent on filling my soul with art and performance, which never came about.  I returned to the temple that night catching the end of Seo-jin’s Buddhist class held in the kitchen where a room full of people were seated around a table asking questions, taking notes and listening to him speak.  It was focused yet casual.  At the close of class, Lee Go Eun, or Maya Lee, as she introduced herself to me was to translate an hour-long private session with the head monk for me.

Maya Lee majored in Buddhist Studies at a Seoul University, because as she put it, “I wanted to know the truth”.  After her studies she worked at Golgusa Temple in Gyeongju, where she met Master Lee and one of the other Seon-wan-sa resident monks who urged her to meet with the head monk at Seo-wan-sa. 

“What is Buddhism?”, Maya asked the head monk who replied,  “I am here now”. 

“It was truth simply put”, Maya explained when I asked what made her decide to study at Seo-wan-sa.

Master Lee, Seo-jin, Maya Lee and I sat around a table in a private room and began the session, an intensive one and a half hours.  The head monk looked straight into my eyes when he spoke Korean, his speech passionate and clear, and asked: 

What do you want?   He lead me to conclude absolute bottom line what I’d wanted out of life.  Of the multitude of options and choices that had been mulling around in my head, I was certainly surprised they no longer had any validity.  If I could choose only one, then it was simply “to be happy”, how that was to come about didn’t matter.

“I can help you find happiness, if that’s what you want”, he replied.  I was in awe at the depth Seo-jin was willing to go with me, fulfilling my need for intensive clarity.  After the session was over, we talked about the possibility to study at the Temple. 

Maya and I left the room, Kak-Be returned excited with the news that Seo-jin would accept me as a student.  The factors blocking the possibility of studying with Seo-jin is hard to overcome as the limits of language is a disheartening reality. 

Kak-Be suggested Maya Lee translate the classes, a huge task and commitment.  “Perhaps in the future, as I’m quite busy”, she replied.  I suggested we just wait and see what solutions would come up, as it didn’t seem reality would budge at the moment unless I could speed learn Korean. 

The next morning I awoke and joined the Sunday temple service filled with members perched on simple brown cushions listening to the head monk dressed in a starched sheer billowy silver gray robe speaking expressively for an hour while using a whiteboard to diagram and drive his point. I understood nothing and sat in silence, half meditating trying to absorb his words using other faculties. As we all know, language is essentially limited and can never fully communicate one’s experience.

As to studying Buddhism at Seo-wan-sa, everything changes, it has to, so who knows, perhaps the future will afford me a way.  I have faith, that all will turn out, as it should.

I left Seo-wan-sa on day three inspired and infected by Kak-ba’s happiness and enthusiasm and the head monk’s compassion, knowledge, expression of beauty and clarity of thought.  Simply put, there was an energetic exchange not bound by words. 

That is communication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~ by svetsky on November 26, 2008.