I 992

VOLUME TV NUMBER 9

IBI, KOREA

1164

WON BUDDI{|SIU|

Published byResearch lnstitute for

Overseas MissionsWonkwang University

lri Gity, ChonpukThe Republic of Korea

1 165

CONTENTS

Editorial 1

Who is Sotaesan Taejongsa? 3

Religious Ethics in a Multi-religious Societyby Prof. Yi Hum Yoon ' '' ' '1 5

Meeting between Western and Eastern Religionsby Prof. Wi Jo Kang " " " 1 9

Gradation ol Dharma Ranks ''' .27

News Corner ' '30

A Notice f rom Chairferson of WCRP/ACRP Women's Wing ..... ...32

"t187

WON BUDDHISM 1

VOL Mo.9 WON BUDDHISM 1992

EDITORIAL

There have long been a number of religions on our globe. Theymay be different from each other according to their age, location ortribe, among other things, but they all have one object in common. Thegoal of each is to relieve the pained soul of all humanity; to deliver allsuffering people to paradise.

We have witnessed to our regret. however, so many troubles andconflicts between believers of various faiths which atl too often havefinally led to serious'wars. lt seems a perverse historical truth that themost miserable of wars often appear rooted in religious differences.

lf the meaning of the existence of religion lies in its mission to se-cure peace or to seek for the spiritual comfort of the faithful. then themisery these religion-based wars inflict is most ridiculous, incongruousand unacceptable. Exclusiveness in a religion can thus never be re-garded in a positive way

We eat f ood everyday. Not all people like or dislike the samefoods. According to generations. areas and nations, people prefer onefood to another, and dislike this or that. However the common objec-tive of eating food is to give health and help the growth of our bodyby distributing nutriments throughout.

Nobody should be forced to eat food they are not willing to ac-cept. Nor should anyone be illtreated or excluded from any group be-cause he or she eats different food.

Likewise, no one of different faith should either be mistreated as aheretic or pushed aside. Believers in every religion should try to under-stand and help each other so that each of them may acquire peace ofmind through a faithful religious life, which will help to result in worldpeace.

The root of every religion is one and the same; sages and saintsadapted different ways to teach their religions according to nations,areas, ages, etc. This is why all religious people are regarded as broth-ers coordinated with one truth. and as members working in the sameworkshop for one object of delivering all suffering human beings. WonBuddhism presents the catchphrase, "fhe truth is one. the world is

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one, The human race is one family, in one workshop. Let us establishone happy and peaceful world. "

This thought of oneness advocates and leads Won Buddhism tothe movement for a United Religions (UR). Politically. the massive wallthat for so long. separated east and west Germany has been brokendown and the ideology of the Cold War has bedn put to an end. Whyshouldn't religious people take a'leading role in bringing down the highwalls between religions.

Without understand;ng and cooperation between religions, wortdpeace cannot be expected. The world has the United Nations. whichmainly undertakes political matters. it is incredible to expect the con-struction world peace through the UN alone. The UN is like a rigid fa-ther in a home. As a perfect home needs a cooperative father andmother, so does the peaceful world need the UN and the United Reli-gions, the latter to fulfill the mother's role.

The UN and the UH can also be likened to the two wings of a bird.or the two wheels of a cart. Beyond these, I should not iail to insistthat a peaceful and harmonized world means one where spiritual civili-zation and material civilization go side by side.

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f; .. 9n" of the disciples asked the Great Master, "what may we ilX call the great Way?" til The Great master replied, "The way which ail people can t$ follow is called the universal great way, and the way which il; only a few people can follow is called the narrow way. The fun- 0fr damental teachings of ll-won, the Four Graces and the Four Es- *X sentials, and the Threefold Learnings and the Eight Articles of X

$ our order are to be taught to and can be practiced by all people. tfr Theref ore, these teachings are called the great Way. "

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WON BUDDHISM 3

Who is Sotaesan Taejongsa?

Pak chung-bin. the founder of won Buddhism, was born on May5, 1891 as a son to a peasant family in an obscure village of Yong-ch'on, located in Ydngkwang County. Chdlla-nam Province, Korea. He\ /as born the third son to his father. Pak S6ng-sam and mother. Yu Ch6ng-ch'6n, who had four sons and a daughter. His infant name wasChin-s6p and his youth name was Ch'6hwa. Chung-bin was the namelisted in tne sensus record. Sot'aesan' is his nom de plume and'Taejongsa' [Great Master] was the title which his followers used toaddress him after his great enlightenment and the establishment ofWon Buddhism as a new religion.

Sotaesan, though he was born a commoner to a peasant family inan impoverished mountain valley, started showing extraordinarinessfrom childhood. His childhood personality was marked by carefulness.spirited mien, magnanimity and fortitude;

When Sotaesan was four years old, two events occurred whichshowed signs of the great figure he would eventually become. On alate spring day of that year, he was having breakfast with his fatherat the same table. Finishing up his rice. he took some rice from the fa-ther's bowl and ate it. His father scolded him for being ill-manneredand threatened to thrash him. The child, then, warned that, if his fa-ther would thrash him, he would knock his father's hat off before thesunset. ln the afternoon, his father returned home from work in thefield and was lying on the floor for a short rest. the child suddenlycried out, "There are Tonghak Rebel Army on the Norumok road / "

the father. startled and flustered, went over the rear fence and hidhimself in a bamboo bush. After a while he recalled his son s warningat the table and thought much of his child's extraordinariness.

At that time, the Tonghak revolution, which arose at the town ofKobu. in Chdlla-puk Province, rampaged through its outskirts and Y6ngkwang County. The Tonghak revolution was a pure peasant move-ment which tried to put an end to the despotic government and repelforeign intervention around the time of the end of Yi dynasty. Howev-er. those peasants who could not stand poverty became riotous underthe disguise of Tonghak revolutionary army and made frequent ap-pearances in different districts, harassing good citizens.

. On an early summer day not long after this incident, the child wasplaying together with other children from the village on the bank of a

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brook in the front of the village. Then, a huge serpent came creepingout of a crevice of the rock embankment. Adults and children were all

afraid of it and about to run away. However, the young Sot'aesan, in-

stead of running away, stood firmly in front of the serpent and scold-ed it for recklessly making man horrified. The serpent, startled by thechild's scolding, crept away. The village people who watched thisscene wondered at the birth of a great figure in their village.

Sotaesan's search for truth started at age seven and lasted fortwo decades. On a spring day of his seventh year, he climbed Mt.Ongnyo-bong behind his house in order to take hold of the rising

clouds. Looking at them from the yard of his house, he thought he

could touch them from the top of mountain. When he reached themountain top. however, the clouds were floating much higher and thesky looked much higher than he had thought. "How high and wide is

the sky? Why is it so clear and sereneT How and why do black cloudsand storms come out of such a sky?"

ln addition to these initial wonders. he began to lose himself incontemplation concerning such natural phenomena as rotation of thefour seasons. the movement of heavenly bodies, change of night and

day, ftowers blooming, and birds' singing. Around age nine, he beganto be deeply concerned with myriad complicated and delicate human

affairs in addition to the wonders of natural phenomena.ln his mind arose questions concerning the relationship of parents

and children, the problem of birth, aging, lilness, and death. happinessand misery, and good and evil. Thus, doubts concerning the universeand man were the starting point of young Sot'aesan s search for truth.From this time on, he was looking for a teacher in his mind, and strongdesire to know all principles was burning in his heart. Around age ten,he attended a village school to learn Chinese classics due to his par-

ents' educational plan; however, he had little interest in learning whatwas offered at school, but lost himself in investigating abstruse princi-ples.

ln the autumn of his eleventh yeat, he followed his father to par-

ticipate in the yearly rite performed in October before the grace ofdistant ancestors of his clan. There he learned of the numinous moun-

tain spirit, which he thought could resolve all of his doubts. He made

up his mind to offer sincere prayer to the mountain spirit so that he

could meet it. Returning home, he started offering'prayers at a flatrock floor (Yard Rock) of Sambat Peak which was uninhabited and de-

serted. He continued climbing the mountain once a day for five years.

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Though his prayer was utterly sincere, the mountain spirit did not ap-pear to answer his questions.

At fifteen, he married Yang Ha-un by the arrangement of their par-

ents; his wife contributed substantially to the establishment of thenew religious order he later opened. They had three sons and onedaughter. fhe second son died while a student. The remaining childrencontributed greatly to the works left by Sot'aesan.

When he was sixteen, he went to the house of his wife's parents topay the New Year's greeting in accordance with custom. There, villag-ers were reading an ancient storybook, where the hero solves all his

problems by meeting a Taoist guru. Young Sot'aesan came to think offinding a guru, and he began to Search around for one. When he met abeggar in rags or any strange looking mendicant, he invited them to hishouse and treated them with heart-warming hospitality, sometimesstaying up all night in conversation to see if the guest was a Taoistguru. As was the case with the mountain spirit, however, he couldnot find an enlightened teacher.

When Sotaesan reached the age of twenty. his father passed

away. Young Sotaesan had to assume the responsibility of householdhead. His elder brother had been adopted into the family of a relative;the second brother had died earlier, and his younger brother was still a

child. Thus, he had to take care of his mother. younger brother, his

wife and children. As his mind was filled with the desire to find a

teacher and to be enlightened to the principles of the universe and themeaning of life. his household was becoming destitute.

At age twenty-two, he was gradually giving up his wish to find a

guru. He lamented, "My desire to meet a mountain spirit and a guru

has turned out to be nothing but an idle thought. Ten years of my timehas come to nothing. What should I do with this matter?" From thistime on, he was gradually going of f the normal track of daily lif e.

Sometimes he chanted a spell which by chance came to his mind;

sometimes he pleaded for help to the numinous spirit of heaven andearth when he was frustrated by the illusory feelng of almost grasping

the meaning of all that had bothered him for so long.At twenty-four, he devoted himself to ascetic concentration at

Ydnhwabong (Lotus Peak), a mountain in Koch'ang County, Chdlla-pukProvince for several months. He once spent a whole day standingwith a vacant face at Sdnjinp'o ferry point, thinking nothing. From thistirne on, anxiety over the question, "What shall I do with this matter"was forgotten. He was not aware of what he was doing, what he

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was saying, what he was eating. To make matters worse, his bodywas covered with blotches, and he suffered from persistent coughing.Villagers reagarded him as good as dead and felt leery about comingclose to him, while he was thus efltering the realm of absorption(samadhi).

on April 28, 1916, at age twenty-five, Sot'aesan was sitting inSamadhi at early dawn, as usual, in his worn-out house at the villageof Norumok. Suddenly his spirit began to brighten with the first grayof dawn. lt was the light of truth beginning to shine at last in his spirit.The fundamental principles pertaining to natural phenomena and manappeared clearly in his state of intuitive insight. He was overwhelmedwith physical and spiritual freshness. lt was the great enlightenmentthat he attained at last./ Eighteen years had passed since he began toraise questions on natura! phenomena at the age of seven. He had be-come enlightened to the profound truth of the universe and man byhis own effort and without any teacher's guidance. He expressed therealm of truth to which he was enlightened:

All beinge are of one Reality and all things and principlesoriginate from one source, where the Truth of No Birth andNo Death and the Principle of cause and Effect operate as aperfect organ on a universal basis.

He also expressed the pleasure of enlightenment as follows:When the moon rises in a fresh breeze,Everthing becomes bright of itself.

The many years of struggle Sotassan had undergone in search oftruth prior to his great enlightenment had been like a dark night cov-ered with black clouds. ,At long last, however, at the early dawn ofthe 28th day of April. 1916. the moon of one Mind. the light of Self-nature, arose floating high up in the air. When he illuminated the uni-verse in the three periods (past, present, future) with the light of themoon of One Mind, the truth of no arising and no ceasing and the prin-ciple of karmaic retribution of cause and effect became as clear as ajewel in one's palm.

Sotaesan's mind, upon the great awakening, was full of joy. Allitems of doubt he had in the past were solved in his numinousthought. Day by day, blotches all over his body were clearing awayas he was recovering his health. His countenance was like the roundand bright sun, overflowing with compassionate grace.

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Thus, the 28th of April (1916) is the day sotaesan was enlight-ened to the truth of neither arising nor ceasing and the principle ofkarmaic retribution of cause and effect, which are the fundamentaltruth of the universe and man. This is the day Won Buddhism openedits gate to the world and is celebrated as the common birthday of allWon Buddhists. The year 1916 is the first year of the Won Buddhistera.

It was reflected upon Sotaesan's enlightenment that people thosedays were ignorant of the great way and the correct doctrine, losingthemselves in beliefs of false miracles and superstitions. How couldthis be corrected in futureT While he was searching for the Way, itwas regrettable to fai! to find the way. Now he found the way; but,regrettably. no one seemed to understand his enlightenment.

Though he deplored it, a few months after his great enlightenmenthe had over forty foliowers. From among these, he selected as hisprincipal disciples, eight men whose faith in him was outstanding. Twoyears later. Sot'aesan met a ninth, Song Kyu, who became thq ablestof the Nine Disciples. Song Kyu (1900-1962), though youngest, wasthe ons who would fill the Center Position of the Body of Nine Mem-bers. Sotaesan had kept the Center Position vacant until his arrival.

Sotaesan s Nine Disciptes came to the world with' the great mis-sion to be tbe foundation stones of Won Buddhism. They were thefoundation stones of a new religious order, helping Sotaesan with theirunique personalities. The Great Master organized the One body of TenMembers out of the nine disciples and himself, which later became theparent body of the Supreme Council of Won Buddhism.

Sotaesan began to do ground work for the establishment of anew religious order with his nine disciples. lt consisted of the estab-lishment of a savings union and the project of embankment. Sometimein August 1917, the Great Master Sotaesan established the savingsunion and explained its purpose:

Establishing this order is not work ordinary people can do. lt will requireperseverance and particular effort to achieve what ordinary people areunable to do. At present, as we cannot afford to establish the founda-tion needed for accomplishing our task, an especially thrifty and labori-ous way of living is needed. We will wholeheartedly observe all articlesof the cooperative and be an example, as founders of an Order forthose who follow.

Sotaesan assumed leadership of the savings union with the nine dis-

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ciples as its governing board. Only a few months later, the union'sactivity had resulted in a ldrge sum of savings. With this fund. theunion operated a charcoal business. which yielded substantial profit.

ln March 1918, Sotaesan collecting the funds so far saved, andpointing to the riverside beach in front Kilyongni (his birthplace), said,"Look at that beach.z That is a piece of land deserted foi thousandsof years. Let us reclaim it into farmland. "

Construction work on embankment commenced. Neither equip-ment nor civil engineering was available. Funds were insufficient. Thevillagers, who had never seen sucl'i an undertaking, poured forth altsorts of criticism and ridicule, silently concentrating on the embank-ment work. Under Sotaesan's direct supervision and spiritual guidance,the nine disciples cooperated as one body to carry out th; project.through the hottest part of summer and the coldest of winter. stiug-gling hard against the difficulties. The project was completed in March1919, after one year of labor. About 25 acres of land were reclaimedfor farming. As it was the fruit of perspiration and devotion; the landwas named Ch6nggwangp'young, and Sot'aesan explained the signiti-cance of this achievement to his nine disciples as follows:

You are not accustomed to such heavy work. This hardship you arenow suffering, as initiators of the great order, is quite different fromthat endured by ordinary people. However, you will find unique pleas-ure in doing it. lt will be more meaningful to initiate and finish a thingyourselves through hardship and difficulty than merely taking over someother person s work. Our order is to be of unprecedented greatness,and at the same time, it will be the last of its kind. To establish such agreat order, we must prepare a doctrine which incorporates the follow-ing teachings: moral study and philosophy of science should be compat-ible. to bring real civilization to the world; study in Motion should beharmonized with Study in Ouietness in order that the study of BuddhaDharma might parallel our practical works; possibilites for the unity of alldoctrines must be found which will bring the world together in peacefulharmony like a family. Thus, to accomprish our task perfectly, a greatdeal of effort on our part is naturally required.

Thus, the savings union movement and the embankment projectprovided the economic ground for the foundation of Won Buddhism.The principles of thrift and saving, gradual growth from small to great,cooperation as one body, and selfless service for the public well-beingbecame the spiritual foundation of Won Buddhism.

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March 1919, Sotaesan ordered his disciples to offer a specialprayer.

At present, materialism has increasing influence in the world today,while the minds of human beings are becoming weak. ln these circum-stances, individuals, homes, societies and nations are not able to main-tain equilibrium and must remain in endless suffering. Can we who havemade up our minds to help other people neglect this situation? Weknow of saints and sages who, with utmost sincerity, gave prayers forall living beings and received a response from Heaven, now I suggestthat this is the ttme for us to pray incessantly to Heaven and Earth untilHeaven and Ebrth respond to our prayers.

Then people can be the masters of material things, instead of beingtempted by them. Your mind is equivalent to the mind of Heaven; yourvirtue will meet with the virtue of Heaven and Earth when the last bitof self-centered desire has left your mind. Everthing will then turn outsuccessfully, as you desire. You should be conscious of the fact thatyou possess the ability to impress the will of Heaven and at the sametime should always be aware of your own responsibility to save all sen-tient beings.

There is an old saying, "one sacrifices oneself in order to preserveone s integrity. " There were some who performed miracles by foliow-ing this principle. Why wouldn't gods of heaven and earth be affected ifyou would not mind sacrificing your life for the well-being of all sentientbeings? ln the near future, a correct doctrine and a great way will ap-pear in the world and the disturbed mind of mankind will be correctedthereby, contributing to the blessings of sentient beings. lf so, you willbe the saviors of the world and the hidden virtue of yours will be im-mortal.

The prayer began on the 6th day of the 3rd month (lunar calen-dar), 1919, and it was offered on the 6th, 16th, and 2oth days ofevery month with ten days of purification. The prayer sites were ninemountain tops; one for each of the nine disciples, with each membersettirig up a flag of the union on top of the mountain. preparing in-cense and a bowl of clear water. bowing and confessing. reading theprayer, and chanting.

The nine disciples decided to sacrifice themselves for the sake ofall sentient beings on the last prayer date, August 21 (26th day of the7th month by lunar calendar) at each prayer site.

On August 21, the nine disciples gathered in the dharma hall, andthe Master ordered them to arrange a bowl of clear water and dagger

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on the table. He ordered them, as a form of signature, to press theirbare thumbs on the document, where was written an agreement"sacrifice with no regret", and then had them prostrate themselvesand offer silent confession of their determination to make sacrifice. Amiracle then occurred; nine bloody finger prints appeared on thepaper.

The one Mind offered in the prayer to save sentient beings hadcaused such a miracle to occur. Sotaesan said:

Heaven and Earth have already made a response to your devoted rnind,and this miracle shows the judgement of the invisible world of Truth.This is the first step in our successful project. From this moment youdo not belong to yourselves, but to the universe. ln spite of any hard-ships and difficulty which you may face in the future white carrying outyour work, do not change your minds from their state at ihis moment.Be reminded of this moment whenever you are tempted by the pleas-ure of home and by the five desires. Thus. with a free and concentrat-ed mind, be faithful in your study and work.

Upon saying this, Sotaesan gave dharma titles and dharma namesto his nine disciples. and said:

The name you have used before is a worldly name and a name for anindividual. You may suppose that you who have been called by theworldly name have died. but are now reborn with this universal Dharmaname. Do your best to save numerous sentient beings from suffering byusing this Dharma name.

ln October, 1919 (4. W. B. E.), upon completing the p6bin [Dhar-ma authentication] prayer, Sot'aesan, together with a few disciples,moved to Pongnae cloister located at Pongnae Mountain, in PuanCounty, Chdlla-puk Province.

. There he spent five years warding the enlightened mind, avoidingpublic notice in the turbulent times. and crystallizing his ideas of thedoctrine and system for opening the new religious order. The sur-rounding area of Mt. Pongnae in Puan County provided beautiful scen-ery and was excellent for mental cultivation.

While running a household with a few disciples, Sotaesan's fol-lowers kept coming from various districts to see him. He preachedsermons to them. His sermons at that time were mostly on the meth-od of entering into absorption (samadhi), based on his ovyn enlighten-ment, and the method of attaining Buddhahood by awakening to one's

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own original nature.ln 1920 (5 W. B. E), Sotaesan announced the outline of the doc-

trine for the new religious order. lts contents consisted then, as now,of the two central tenets of Won Buddhist doctrine, viz. Four Gracesand Four Essentials which spell out the ways devotees should follow,and Three Principles of Training and Eight Articles as the essentialways of discipline.

While drafting the basic canon with his disciples, he exchanged hisideas for Buddhist renovation with Buddhist monks. Eventually. hewrote the Chosun Pulgyo Hy\ksillon lon Reformation of Korean Bud-dhisml and the Suyang Yingu Yoron [Outine of Spiritual Cultivationand lnquiryl. The main point of the former is that the outmoded andobsolete Buddhism should be modernized and renovated to be usefulfor general salvation. The latter contains the correct method of spiritu-al cultivation and articles of inquiry as the correct ways of discipline.Using these texts. Sot'aesan directly taught his disciples at PongnaeCloister.

As his followers gradually grew in number. groups were organizedin districts and his teachings were spread thereby. As the years wentby since tne move to Pongnae Cloister, disciples of earlier times cameone after another from various districts. and some of them expressedthe opinion that a new religious order should be opened.

At last in 1924(9 W. B. E.), Sotaesan chose the place in S-hinyong-dong, lri, Ch6lla-puk Province, as the site fpr generalheadquarters where Won Buddhist General Headquarters is now locat-ed. ln that year. he held the.inaugural meeting at Pogwangsa Temple inlri (which was rented temporarily), and the tentative name of "TheResearch Society of Buddha Dharma." was used until 1945, the yearKorea was liberated. The current name, W1nbulgyo,or Won Buddhism,was used thereafter. !n the fall of that year, two straw-thatchedhouses were built. This marked the beginning of the construction ofthe General Headquarters. lt was 9 years after Sot'aesan's great en-Iightenment.

At the beginning of the construction of the headquarters, the dev-otees' communal life (chonmu ch'utsin) started. The nine disciples andthe others from the earlier years were mostly poor peasants, hencetheir communal life during the construction of General Headquarterswas to be a continuation of their earlier poverty and hardship. Theystarted by manufacturing and selling taffy and doing tenant farming.Later. they tried businesses such as raising silkworms, managing or-

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chards, and raising livestock, accompanied by all sorts of difficulties.However. they did their menial tasks without hesitation; for theyfound in them a great joy, tb be working for the new religious order.At night, they reported on the day's work to the Master and dis-cussed what they had learned during the day. The Master gave themguidance with sermons. To this day. the communal life continues andthe body of devotees continues to be the heart of the order.

ln 1935 (20 W. B. E.), a dharma hall. Taegaclrtn [EnlightenmentHalll, was built within the precinct of the Headquarters through jointefforts among all followers.

The symbol of Dharmakaya Briddna. ll-Won-Sang [a circular fig-urel. was enshrined at the altar in the Dharma Hall. Until that time,Sotaesan had not made it official that ll -Won-Sang should be en-shrined, although he occasionally drew a circle to express that towhich he had been enlightened. By enshrining it, Sot'aesan had chosenll-Won-Sang as the symbol of ultimate truth. By enshrining it as the ob-ject of worship and as the standard of moral practice, Sot'aesan hadcompleted the foundation for the new religous order.

Now, Sot'aesan was not simply a peasant's son in an obscure vil-lage, Ror was he merely a founder of Won Buddhism, which was bare-ly established. He looked far ahead to the future of mankind and felt ithis obligation to save all sentient beings suffering in the bitter seas ofmisery. Sot'aesan reflected his enlightened vision on the situation ofthat time and said:

ln accord with advancement of material civilization. human knowledgein general and technology in particular, of scholars, farmers, artisans, andmerchants has improved to a great extent. Subsistence commoditiesare dazzling human eyes and minds with brilliance, making feeble thespirit of those who use such material conveniences. lt is regrettablethat the human spirit, which should be master, is enslaved by the powerof material things. No matter how good a thing is, it can be abused ifthe user's mind is evil. Great skill and extensive knowledge can be harm-ful to the public, and a good environment can turn into a ground of sinand crime if one's mind is vicious. Thus, material conveniences displayedunder heaven, no matter how brilliant they are, can make human lifebetter or worse depending on how the mind functions. lf the mind func-tions rightly, all the results of civilization will be useful to the construc-tion of a paradise; but they will be like a murderous weapon given to arobber if the minds of citizens function wrongly.

Upon examining the situation of the time from various perspec-

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tives Sotaesan established a motto: As material civilization develops,

cultivate spiritual civilization. This is the founding motto of Won Bud-

dhism. Soiaesan called the order The Research Society of BuddhaDharma, and gave reasons for doing so.

I have heard of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism with their scrip-tures; and of newly rising religions with their tenets in the East, and ofWestern religions and ten-ets. I will study their doctrines and check themagainst what I have been awakened to.

Sotaesan surveyed the scriptures of Buddhism, Ch'ondogyo, Chris-

tianity, and others. After reading the Diamond Sutra, Sot'aesan said:

Sakyamuni Buddha is really the sage of all sages. Although I attained thetruin through self-instruction, I have discovered many coincidences be-tween *y 5*n motives for following the religious path_and those ofthe old Buddha, up until the time when I myself attained Enlightenment.

For this reason I will iegard the Buddha as the antecedent of my Lg*.Hence, in the future, upon establishment of the great and perfectreligous order, Buddha Dharma should be the central principle.

Thus, he planned to open a new religious order with Buddha dhar-ma as the central tenet of its doctrine; however, Buddhism needed a

great deal of reformation were it to be followed.

The Buddhist doctrine and system in the past were formulated mainly

for monks who left the world behind, and hence, were in various waysnot fit for life in the mundane world.

Religion is meant to serve mankind. lf, however, the place for worshipis hidden in remote mountain valleys, how can people struggling in the

secular world find leisure hours to learn the teachings? Hence, we arepreparing a new doctrine which can be practiced both by priest? aldiaity. Th-e genealogy of the dharma transmission shall be open to both.The place bf practice for cultivation of self shall be established any-where in accoidance with the needs of laypersons. The Buddhist mass

should be realistic, with no superstition. rules of rites and rituals shall be

made appropriate and useful for daily life. Doctrines and systems shall

be made proper for the times and the general public. The canon and

scriptures shall be published in a language which the general public can

learn easily.

It was in 1943 (28 W. B. E-), 27 years after his great enlighten-ment, and 19 years since the opening of the General Headquarters,that Sotaesan's S2years of life ended. On May 16, l're delivered his last

sermon.

lf a baby grows, it becomes an adult. lf an ordinary man is enlightened,

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he becomes a Buddha. And a disciple becomes a teacher by learning. I

want all of you to cultivate real ability so that you may become tachersof younger generations and proper guides for the great task of deliver-ing all sentient beings and curing the world of illness. The birth anddeath of man kind are like the rotation of four seasons and the repeti-tion of day and night.

Buddha-Bodhisattvas are not deluded by going and coming and henceare free at coming and going. while other sentient beings are deludedand not free. This is the only difference. Corporeal birth and death isthe same for ordinary sentient beings and Buddha-Bodhisattvas.

Do not confine your faith in the person alone; have faith in the Dhar-ma. When the great way of ll-Won becomes conspicuous, this nationwill become the spiritual leader and the origin of new morality. And atruly civilized and unified world will be realized on this earth.

At last, on June lst, 1943 (28 W. B. E.), Sotaesan entered Nirvanaleaving his disciples behind. ln recognition of his holy work. Chongsan,his successor, wrote his epitaph as follows:

......Alas.zThe Great Master, Sot'aesan, the sage of all sages throughout vastkalpas, was born and grew up in a poor and remote village. He appre,hended the general principles of matters of fact without learning andwas enlightened to the great way without any teacher's guidance. Liv-ing in turbulent times, he did not hesitate to carry out his mission to de-liver all sentient beings. When he confronted obstinate people, he wasready with an all-round capability to deliver them. Though his appear-ance was like the peak of a great and steep mountain, he was full ofcompassion as warm as the spring breeze. Though he handled daily af-fairs with cheerfulness, magnanimity and vigor he could solve even theminute details of complicated problems for his disciples. Though he re-formed the teachings of old sages, he renovated the gist to stand up.Though he synthesized a myriad of Dharmas into unitary truth, neces-sary differences were explicated clearly. Though he applied the unitarytruth to a myriad of Darmas, its ultimate reality was made ever clear. ln-side, he was based on the supreme principle of profound truth; outside,he manifested the true law of ll-Won through the tiny branches of allmatters and things in ten directions of the universe. he is what is calledTathagata IBuddha] of ten billion nirmanakaya[transformation body]and the greatest of all holy sages in the universe.

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Religious Ethics in a Multi-religious Society

Prof. Yi Hum Yoon

1. Background

Religions in a modern multi-religious society face two mutuallyconflicting demands. On the one hand, religion as an absolute beliefsystem tends to embody its belief in society, thus inevitably imposingexpansionist will. or propagandism, upon others. On the other hand,however, it is simultaneously requested to maintain sound dialoguewith neighboring value systems such as other religions with which itshares the modern society they belong to. Since true dialogue is pos-sible only when one recbgnizes other absolute values. it begins withacceptance of the historical fact that what it believes in is just one ofthe absolute values coexisting in a given society. This means that a

modern religion cannot avoid an antinomy, say, acceptance ofabsoluteness of other'values as well as its own absoluteness. This is

why a modern religion successfully carrying out the historical taskgiven to it depends upon maturity. with which the antinomy is harmo-niously accommodated. Such harmony is so difficult to achieve thatdirection of future human civ"ilization hinges upon the maturity thatcreates the harmony.

When a religion does this task, it cannot avoid anachronistic mi-stakes. For example, with an egocentric interpretation of the historicaltask, a religion regards dialogue as an instrument to win other religionsover, which, with improper understanding of the task, one finds one-self in the mire of confusion between expansionist propagandism andvaluable dialogue. This often leads to either self-deception or self-cen-tered argument without objectivity and persuasiveness.

Put differently. one who rejects inter-religious dialogue seldomknows where modern societies in this century come from and go to. ltbehooves us to wipe out deceptions and fallacies committed underthe name of inter-religious dialogue. lt is time for us to take stock ofwhat we have done through what we call inter-religious dialogue.

Harmonizing conviction of absoluteness of one's own values withaccommodation of its historical relativity amounts to creation of a

new value. A new order derived herefrom is the basis inter-religiousdialogue builds on. This basis is tenuously related to contents of

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thought or value. Rather, it is a context of belief system, or an orderof life itself. This axiom is not derived from a certain thought system,Rather, it is a historical misbion this century has imposed upon themankind.

Today, in any society a religious creed cannot justifiably takeprecedence over all other social values. ln other words, the absoluteauthority of the mediaeval religion is no longer tenable in this time. Re-ligious knowledge has long shifted both its responsibility and authorityto modern sciences and universities where they are produced. Thismeans that expert knowledge is being acknowledged as an integralpart of human conscience and is exp'anding its own territory in history.independent of religious belief. Now, one has to recognize the realitythat religion has become a retative entity even within the realm ofhuman conscience. lnter-religious dialogue will do good only in socie-ties where this reality is fully respected.

The role of modern sciences and intelligence, which have success-fully proven historic relativity of eligion, teach us two important les-sons. First, it verifies nonexistence of objective evidence that provessuperiority of the creed and belief system of one religion to those ofanother. Adherence to "absoluteness" of one s own religion, thus indefiance of the lesson, inevitably constitutes imperialistic expansion-ism. Of course, this problem does not exist in mono-religious societiesor when a certain religion plays predominant social roles. ln multi-reli-gious societies where a variety of different religions are to coexist.such expansionism creates conflicts and plays destructive roles. ln thiscontext, lndo-Pakistan wars, Arab-lsraeli conflicts in the Middle East,terrorism in North lreland. etc.. all from inter-religious enmity in multi-religous settings merit our special attention. Nobody can justifiablydeny that much of social instability and destructiveness in this moderntime stems from imperialistc arrogance and blind self-conviction of reli-gions. This leads us to a second lesson: religions need dialogue.

ln sum, inter-religous dialogue does not matter because it is re-quired by different religionsin multi-religious settings. lt is secular his-tory, one should note, that imposes dialogue upon religions. not viceversa. Secular history requests religions, no matter how absolute eachof them may be. to assume both rights and responsibilites within theframework of the given social norms. Unfortunately, however, historyshows us that most of human efforts for inter-religious dialogue in thepast have failed. This is because they attempted to bring up dialogueout of religious themes. not social ones. With this in mind, now I will

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categorize patterns of inter-religious dialogue and identify problerns in-herent in each pattern of dialogue.

l[ . Patterns of lnter-religious Dialogue

Historically, different motives have categorized inter-religous dia-logue into three patterns: missionary dialogue. dialogue with commonpurposes, and one for coexistence and social order.

Missionary dialogue consists of (1) dialogue with passive objec-tives such as to soothe unnecessary friction with aboriginal or otherreligions, and (2) one with active objectives such as to convert believ-ers of other religions through localization of the dialogue. Examples ofthe second pattern of dialogue include inter-religious dialogue throughvoluntary participation, dialogue in which religions are forced to partic-ipate to fulfill certain national policies, and one through which religionsjointly pursue societal peace and stability.

Strictly speaking, missionary dialogue is de facto monologue, or a

conciliatory activity that camouflages a superiority complex. lt is byno means real dialogue to show generosity for the purpose of silenc-ing resistance f rom aboriginal culture of other religions. Likewise, "lo-calization of dialogue pursued as an effective missionary tool is notdialogue in the real sense. either. Rather, it is a conciliatory tactic. Dia-logue should be mutual by its nature, and it has meaning only whenone recognizes the existence of the other side and respects what theother side believes in. Therefore, missionary dialogue, no matter howit is painted or dressed up, is likely to expand disguised with generosi-ty and conciliatory gestures.

Meanwhile inter-religious dialogue with common purposes relieson voluntary participation by various religions, and thus, involves mu-tual understanding and communication. The 1919 lndependence Move-ment of Korea well depicts the importance of voluntary participationin such dialogue. lnter-religious dialogue with common purposes takesplace without voluntary participation when government requests reli-gions to cooperate with one another for implementation of nationalpolicies. lnter-religious dialogue of this category tends to terminatewhen government changes its policies, as has been true in many ex-ample cases.

The third category, inter-religious dialogue for societal peace andorder takes place with or without voluntary participation and usuallygoes with in depth dialogue among religions. ln many cases. strong

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motives lead to in-depth discussion which in turn increases durabilityof the inter-religious dialogues. Nevertheless, this does not guaranteedurability of dialogue, either. This is so because, despite motives be-hind the dialogue, religions are not equipped with clear logic and objec-tive prerequiste to multilatera! cooperation among believers with dif-ferent values. History clearly shows that numerous inter-religious dia-logue movements have repeated vicissitude and discontinuity, thusrising and perishing parallel with what the social upheavals require.

lnter-religious dialogue for societal peace and order is not differentfrom one with common purposes in that both jointly deal with socialproblems. They differ. however, in that the former offers strong mo-tives to reflect on logics, objectives, and methods of dialogue. ln otherwords, this type of dialogue inevitably rquests each religion to tran-scend its own values and demands cooperative efforts to seek order-ly relations among different religions. This is to create a sound order inmulti-religious societies, that is, pluralist values. Pluralistic valuesshould be the lynchpin of inter-religious dialogue as wetl as its trudmotive.

The Great Master said, "My teaching mehtods may be.ex-plained in two ways: first, like a tree my teaching goes from theleaves and branches and finally reaches down to the roots; andsecond, also like a tree it starts from the roots and extends upto the leaves and brandches. The purpose is to train people inthe Law adequate to the fundamental ability of each person.

From "On Doctrine" ofThe Scripture of Won Buddhism

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Meeting between Western and Eastern Religions

Prof. Wi Jo Kang

Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. who taught Eastern Heligions andEthics at Oxford University in England and served his country of lndiaas both Vice-president and President, wrote in his book Eastern Reli-gions and Western Thought:

The world has found itself as one body. But physical unity and econom-ic interdeperdence are not by themselves sufficient to create a univer-sal human community. For this we require a human consciousness ofcommunily, a sense of personal relationship among men. Yet to our dis-may we find that the world is today divided and afflicted by formidableevils.

He wrote this in 1939 in the beginning of the Second World War,more than a half-century later, how pertinent his words are and rele-vant to our world today.

ln spite of the talks about the end of the cold war and the NewWorld Order, we are. in these days witnessing seemingly perpetua!conflicts in the Near East, unrest in Eastern Europe and continuing divi-sion of the two Koreas. We are still in the midst of the world "afflict-ed by formidable evils" of division and conflicts. We agree with SirRadhakrishnan who also said in the book: "The supreme task of ourgeneration is to give a soul to the growing world consciousness. "

All religious strive for the establishment of ideal human communityand each religion has its own well-established concept of human com-munity. Yet, often a community which experienced development byone religion is exclusive and hostile toward a community of anotherreligion.

ln lslam, the center of Muslim life is the community, called ummah.When Muhammad established the first Muslim community in Medina,religious and secular affairs were closely integrated. Muhammad wasthus the secular head of this new community as well as its religiousleader. The first mosque, the house of prayer. was not only the centerof religious life but also the hub of educational, military, economic, andpolitical affairs of the people who believed and submitted their totallife to Allah. This community was further bonded together and sus-tained by the life, but was also the hub of educational, military, eco-

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nomic, and political affairs of the people who believed and submi-ttedtheir total life to Allah. This community was further bonded tog-etherand sustained by the "Five Pillars" of religious duties, performed bythe members of their community. By the performance of required reli-gious duties, Muslims express their solidarity and loyalty to eachother. Thus the Muslim community is characterized "bY a high degreeof personal intimacy, emotional depth, moral commitment, social cohe-sion. and continuity in time." The unity in the Muslim community is

based on belief in Allah and respect for Muhammad, not on national or-igins, geographical areas, kinship, or organizations. The foundation ofthe Muslim community is ISLAM, submission and surrender to the willof one true Allah. ln this community of Muslims, "the people who sur-render to Allah," there dwells righteousness and decency of life.

The Muslim community is therefore characterized by a strongsense of justice. and justice is often expressed in supporting the gen-

eral welfare of all its members. Therefore, Muslims consider it part oftheir religious and secular duty to Protect the welfare of the membersof the community.

lf it becomes necessary to fulfill their responsibility, the membersof the Muslim community do so willingly. The UMMAH is sacred and

any actions essential to protect it are among the highest and mosthonorable duties. For Muslims, there is no place of belonging more im-portant than the UMMAH, where the life of lslam. the surrender toGod, really happens.

ln Hinduism, the sense of unity and oneness of human communityis expressed in the doctrine of Vedanta, the system of philosophy de-rived from the Vedas. Vedas teach that all existing things derive theirentity from a universal soul called Brahman Each existing thing. includ-ing each human, has an individual soul called atman. Brahman and

atman, however, are not Separate entities but one. Only human igno-

rance sees them differently; the "enlightened one" knows the unity'The upanishads, the Sacred Scripture of the sixth century B. C., ex-plains the unity of all things in the form of dialogue between a fatherand his son.

Place this salt in water, and then wait on me in the morning. The son did

as he was commanded. The father said to him: "Bring me the salt,

which you placed in the water last night." The son having looked for it,found it not, for, of course, it was melted. The fathel said: "Taste itfrom the surface of the water. How is it?" The son replied, "lt is salt."

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"Taste it from the bottom. How is it?" The son replied, "lt is salt." Thefather said, "Throw it away and then wait on me. He did so; but saltexists forever. Then the father said, "Here also, in the body, forsooth,you do not perceive the truth, my son; but there indeed it is. That whichis the subtle essence. in it all that exists has its self. lt is the truth./ "

So the truth, like salt in water, is unseen; yet ih" trrth is every-where. One can taste the salt from the surface or bottom or center ofthe water. As salt dissolves in all water. so truth permeates all thingsand therefore nothing exists apart from the origin of all existence. Forthe Hindu this origin of all existence is Brahman.

With this emphasis on oneness and unity, the Hindu community,like the Muslim community, does not distinguish between the spiritualand material, or the religious and the secular realities of human commu-nity. However, in the Muslim community, the commercial and politicalaspects of life play important roles; in the Hindu community spiritual-ism dominates. Thus, the structure of Hindu community life, centeredaround the priestly class of Brahmins, leads to priests becoming thedominant members of the Hindu society.

During the early years of the Hindu community's formation, politi-cal leaders and military generals dominated society. Later, by the endof the sixth century B. C., the generals and administrators formed theKshatriya,s caste, which is subordinate to the Brahmins. Then the con-quered native people of the -land, the Dravidians, bdcame Shudrats,those who would be on the bottom of the social stratification, or out-castes. Between the kshatriyas and Shudras. farmers, merchants, andcommon people formed the 'Vaishyas caste.

According to Hindus, the caste system provides a place and timeof belonging for all human beings in their temporary worldly existence.Since individuals in the natural world derive their existence from theultimate reality of the universal soul, Brahmin, each individual humanbeing-as an Atman is a part of Brahman-is therefore a part of the en-tire human family and the universal soul. As each existence is depen-dent on every other in the natural world. so in human community allhuman beings are interdependent and united as one.

Each caste social group is to fulfill its good karma (action) withinthe boundary of the caste. so that in a later stage of life or samsara(reincarnation) a soul can be born into a higher living being. Castemembers, therefore, perform their karma as a kind of religious duty inthe "giveness of their caste. This ongoing activity witnesses to the

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fact that the human community consists of many individuals. groups,and castes, all of whom are united ultimately with one another as par-takers of the ultimate reality, Brahman.

ln spite of the Hindu tradition's strong emphasis on the unity ofeverything. including all of humanity, there is rigid separation and dis-crimination among the castes in lndian society. This kind of separationleads to discrimination and mistreatment, and even violence, despitethe professed acceptance of the Hindu doctrine of ahimsa (nonr,. I-cnce)

To Buddhism, the ideal human community is the community ofBuddhas, the enlighiened ones, who are liberated from clinging to theworld. Clinging to the world causes suffering, and suffering inflictssickness into human community. Therefore, for human community tobe healthy, the members of the community must free thrmselves fromclinging to the world. Further they must achieve a state of nirvanawhich literally means "extinguishing fire. " Human lif e is surrounded bythe fire of urges, selfish desires, and material clinging which causessuffering. To eliminate this suffering and achieve the state of nirvanaone must be released from the condition of worldly existence.

The way to achieve nirvana varies according to the differentbranches of Buddhism. However, all branches of Buddhism agree onthe model of human community. This is the example of Samgha, Ihemonastic community. Those Buddhists who participate in the monas-tic life of Samgha strive to eliminate the sufferings of human life andto help others attain the goal of the state of nirvana.

ln the Southern Buddhist tradition, often called Theravada or Hina-yana Buddhism, great emphasis is put on the life in samgha, that is, a

monastic community. With its observance of Vinay a. the rules ofSamgha, these monastic communities become the centers and idealmodels of human community. The life of samgha as the ideal form ofhuman community, prohibits the destruction of any form of life, steal-ing, unchastity, lying, the use of intoxicating drinks. eating betweenmeals, attending secular entertainment, the use of jewelry, the use ofluxurious beds, and selfish handing of money.

The main part of life in samgha is the practice of contemplativemeditation, through which the attitudes of the members of the com-munity are moved toward feelings of loving kindness. sympathy withall living beings, and compassion to all without partiality. The membersof Samgha are equal, although they recognize seniority and degress otspiritual achievement. ln any case, no one is superior to another or

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partial to another. Administrative decisions are made through a demo-cratic process in which supposedly all members participate. Punish-ment for minor violations of community rules is often carried out col-lectively.

The Mahay ana Buddhists also believe thal samgha, representingthe assembly of Buddhists who have liberated themselves from cling-ing to the world and sin is the source of Buddhist truth. This is effec-tively the case whether Buddhists live in a monastic community oroutside of it. ln samgha. the nature of human community and moral lifeis both learned and taught. Thus, in Mahayana countries samgha playsa vital role as the "enlightened community," the center of the humancommunity. This encourages everyone to strive for enlightenment inBuddhist truth. Thus, in the life of alt Buddhists, learning about the na-ture of human life as suffering and sharing compassion to lighten suf-fering are important elements. Samgha becomes the model of idealhuman community where peace and compassion are shared by allpeople. Regardless of the branch of Buddhism to which one belongs,Buddhist communities do not depart from their basic characteristic ofhelping to deliver humanity from suffering through exercising the lifeof compassion to others.

However, contrary to the emphasis on having "compassion forthe welfare of all living things," many Buddhists discriminate againsthalf of the human race, i. e., the female members of the human com-munity. Although Buddhism rejected the caste system of Hinduismand recognized the equality and importance of individual rights, oftenthe female members of Buddhist communities are looked down uponand suffer discrimination.

Judaism and Christianity, which dominate religious life in Europeand North America, also have ideal views on a universal human com-munity. Both religions teach that the world is created by one Creatorin God's image. The two traditions also share the common patriarchallineage of Abraham. God promised to bless Abraham's decsendants.But this God's blessing was not to be limited to Abraham. nor to hisfamily, nor to the nation of lsrael. lt was God's promise to bless all na-tions and families on earth. for the God of Abraham was God of theentire world. God promised to lsrael "l will give you as a light to thenations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. "

Faithful Christians, like Jews, believe that God is God of all peopleand nations. God's love manifested in the life and teachings of JesusChrist was meant for all members of the human community. The es-

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sential nature of Christian community is to be the assembly of all peo-ple which transcends nationalities, ethnic boundaries, languages andcultures. Therefore, members of the Christian community are no long-er strangers and sojourners, but... fellow citizens with the saints andmembers of the same household of God. " As fellow citizens in thesame community, church members are to enjoy the grace of Godwithout any discrimination or social distinction.

However, both Jewish and Christian communities are often per-ceived to be exclusive. Especially after the Babylonian exile in the 6thcentury B. C.. Judaism became ethno-centric, provincial. ln spite ofthe Hebrew Bible's universal appeal, Judaism remains the ethnic reli-gion of the Jewish people. Christianity. too, is often identified withethno-centric religious life among North Americans. White Europeansand the identity of churches such as the Polish Catholic, ScottishPresbyterian, or German Lutheran are far greater than the catholicityand ecumenicity of the church. Worst of all, these white European de-scendants living in North America often ignore the inclusive nature ofthe church, and fail to invite other ethnic groups to share fellowship inhuman community. While Africa and Asia have been the focus of in-tense missionary activity, generally speaking, Asians and Africans inNorth America are not welcomed into American church fellowships.Asian-American seminary graduates, for example, have a hard timefinding places to serve in white congregations.

Seeing this dark side of the reality of divisions and conflicts withinreligions and human community, one finds a ray of light and is attract-ed to the teachings of Sotaesan for the establishment of a peaceful,universal human community. However, the f ollowers of Sotaesan,too, may not practice his teachings faithfully, just as many of the fol-lowers of other religious ideals do not.

ln his religious reform movement. Sotaesan tried to eliminate manyof the differences between religions. He wanted religions to be exam-ples of reconciliation and harmony. To achieve this. he thought toeliminate religious images as objects of worship. Thus. he rejected theBuddha's image as an object of worship. Sotaesan taught: "Buddha's

image is only the imitation of Gautama Buddha's body and that reli-gious truth should not be conf ined to the image of a man. " He thenwanted to express religious truth in the form of Won, which literallymeans a circle. According to the followers of Sotaesan, Won signifies:"...the universal cosmic entity which permeates all things in the world.Everything in the universe shares the characteristics of everything

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else; all share the truth of Buddha mind. This ultimate truth is in all

things and all that exists is [4/onln this sharing of the truth, Sotaesan emphasized the practice of

religious life within the reality of practical daily life. Religious life doesnot require worship in the temples of a particular deity. Since all

human beings of this world are manifestations of the truth. Sotaesantaught that all human beings must be respected or worshipped in theservice of all humankind.

This life of reverence for humans in human community is exer-cised in service t'o others and in the protection of other people'srights. Once, Sotaesan heard an old couple saying that their daughter-in-law had a shrewish disposition. To correct this, they wanted tooffer prayer services and of ferings to the Buddha image. ThenSotaesan said to the couple. "Don't you know that tO offer Buddhistservice to the living Buddha is more effective than to offer service tothe Buddha image?" The couple asked, "Where is the living Buddha?"The Master answered. "At your home. Your daughter-in-law is the liv-ing Buddha. Serve her, and treat her as a living Buddha. "

ln regard to respeiting humanity as an object of worship in the lifeof human community. Sotaesan taught his followers to seek the life ofhonor, not cursing or condemning others. he said,

Try not to curse or condemn anyone behind his back. Since there is an

invisible stream of communication of spirit through the universe, if youhave cursed or condemned a person even once in his absence, commu-nication takes place and the seed of mutual conflict is sown. Likewise,if you have thought well of a person and praised him even once with-out his knowledge, communication takes place and the seed of mutualprosperity is sown. These seeds will in time bear bad or good fruitrespectively. An earthworm and a centipede have a spirit of mutual

conflict, and, therefore, if their skins were burned together, we couldclearly observe that the two spirits world repel each other until one ofthem retreats. This shows us that the spirits of mutual conflict or ac-cord respond to each other unfailingly.

He further taught that the life of harmony in human community isnot to injure or alienate one another. He said:

There are three most dreadful sins in the world: the first is injuring oth-ers by declaring that they have committed sins, merely from one s ownsuppositions; the second is alienating intimate acquaintances out ofenvy; and the last is misleading innocent peopole with evil wisdom. One

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who continually commits these sins, in retribution may become blind,

dumb, or mentally insane.

A life of harmony can'be achieved. according to Sotaesan, be-cause all human beings and all existing things are dependent on eachother. Sotaesan describes this relationship as "indebtedness" to oth-ers. On this point he wrote:

lf one attempts to know easily how one is indebted to the Grace ofBrethren, one should consider whether it is possible to live in a place

where are no human beings, no birds or beasts, no trees or grass; thenone will realize that life without them is impossible. lf one cannot livewithout the help of these brethren, without relying upon them, and

without their supplies, what could be a greater Grace?

Due to the indebtedness of one's life to others, one individual is toserve others for the collective well-being of human community. Again,Sotaesan taught:

The world is composed of the weak and the strong. lf the weak andthe strong live in harmony and practice their way, an eternal world ofpeace will be established. Otherwise, they will all suffer from disastersand there will be no lasting peace in the world.

How pertinent these teachings are in our world of conflict and di-vision. I would like to urge the followers of Sotaesan to perform faith-fully their religious duties to achieve such a peace in the world. Espe-

cially in this land of Korea, the land of Sotaesan s birth, which has suf-fered division for over 4Syears as the result of the Cold War, the fol-lowers of Sotaesan can play a significant role in achieving nationalreconciliation and reunification. Seeing the example of Sotaesan's fol-lowers. all the followers of different religious traditions may be in-

spired to follow faithfully their religious ideals of building a peacefuluniversal human community, in which meetings between Western and

Eastern religions can take place.

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GRADATION OF DHARMA RANKS

ln Won Buddhism, six stages of moral practice are suggested andapplied to all believers, whose levels of moral discipline are graded atregular times in accordance with 'Gradation of Dharma Ranks' of theCanon of Won Buddhism. The Prime Master Daesan of Won Buddhismspells out every phrase of it as follows:

| . The Grade of Common Faith

When one enters the order, one departs for the Buddha stage.A. This is the first step taken by the one with a sincere wish to

realize Buddhahood; one has entered, like enlisting in the army,the gate of Won Buddhists discipline to become a Bodhisattva-Buddha, observing the Ten precepts for Common Faith.

B. At this statge the beginner receives a dharma name and TenPrecepts f or Common Faith. being either male. f emale, old,young, viltuous, base, high, low, literate, or illiterate.

I[ . The Grade of Outstanding Faith

The one at this level is determined to reach the level ofBuddhahood and has a firm faith in the correct doctrine.

A. One at this level is interested and delighted in carrying out self-discipline and this moral cultivation, so that nothing can replacethe firm faith in reaching the Buddha level. One finds it joyful tokeep the Twenty Precepts; SucceSS of one's goal to realizeBuddhahood is determined at this stage.

B. The position of Tathagata s great enlightenment is no doubtvery lofty; however, when a firm faith in the truthful doctrinehas set in the mind of the enthusiast, a ceremony for the reat-ization of a sagehood takes place in the dharma realm. lf thesincere faith and aspiration to reach the Buddha stage be as

thorough as to pierce heaven, a higher stage can be reachedwithout a hard and desperate battle in one's mind.

f[. The Grade of Battlefield between Good ldharma]and Evillmara)

One at this stage experiences hard fighting of good against evil

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while one disciplines oneself deep in mind.A. The one at tnis stage understands the main points of the doc-

trine. No element of evil lmara] will escape one s detection atthis stage of self-discipline deep in mind. The desperate battleoccurs during the period of one s training against the evilguarded against by the thirty precepts; thus this stage createsthe moment of crisis against which the enthusiast should notbe off guard.

B. Sometimes the enthusiast surrenders to the demons; but thedemons cannot hide in one s mind. Although rt is of fairly highprobability that one may fall into the pit of lntermediate Capaci-ty, one may get out of this trap if one has a teacher or a com-rade to whom one can confess without keeping anything back.Thus. one must follow the teacher who can lead one s faith to-ward the realization of the Buddhahood.

f[. The Position of Dharma s Subjugation of evil Lmaraf

One's six roots at this stage function right as they operate in ac-cordance with dharma as all evil dispositions of the mind hdve beensubdued.

A. The one at this stage has a thorough mastery of the doctrineand has no doubt about the principles of Self-nature [meta-physical first principles of the universel. As the good ldharma)has won the victory over demons lmara) and one has com-pleted one s own emancipation not only from all sufferings butfrom life and death itself, one has finished the self-deliverance,attaining to the initial sagehood qualified to be a master ofthose in need of deliverance.

B. The Thirty Precepts are no more disturbing to the one at thisstage than a sword is harmful to a sane adult. Nevertheless,one still disciplines oneself lest one s tail should be caught andconstantly does one s best to deliver all living beings by keep-ing one s own mind-precepts. There are cases, though veryrare, in which one with superior capacity leaps and reaches theBuddha stage if the latter hides his tail [traces].

Y. The Position of Leaving Home

The functions of six roots manifest virtue; the whole universe is

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one s own home.The one at this stage grasps the gist of all religions of the past

and has a thorough mastery of the doctrines of all religions of thepresent. One can prescribe moral principles for hurnan beings to fol-iow. For the well-being of all living beings one would neither hesitateto undergo any kind of suffering nor be remorseful after having gone

though the jaws of death. Thus. one cultivates the household affairsof tne whole world only with the mind of Truth and altruism, and withpleasure. The one at this stage has a harmonious mind and harmonious

spiritual energy. and harmonizes other human beings everywhere. The

one at this stage is characterized by the ability of never-receding tavivar-tika] transforming everything with virtues.

!f . The Position ol Tathagata with Great Enlightenment

The one at this stage is omnipotent. omniscient. and omnibenevo-lent, and perfectly free.

A. The one at this'stage is enlightened to the truth of perfection

and equality, which is manifested in action; his or her characterid full of myriad abilities and virtues so that there is no obstruc-tion in his or her actions. The one at this stage fras the abilityto 'enlighten one'S own or Someone else's wisdOm again whendarkened, and has the ability to have blessings return whengone so that one is endowed with blessings and wisdom forone's lives of the three ages. The one at this stage also has the

ability to rekindle the Buddha-sun and has the authority and

competency to roll anew lhe dharma wheel when stopped.B. This position is reached when the one at the position of Leav-

ing Home attains to the sufficient proficiency-

{l[. Concluding Remarks

This doctrine [Won Buddhism] aims at bringing up a thousand

Buddhas and ten thousand Bodhisattvas. lt aims at delivering all living

beings and curing the world of spiritual illness.This can be accomplished since this doctrine is such a great way

that it leads one to the integrated practice of Threefold Learning and

lets principles and facts keep pace with each other. Thus this doctrineis the greatest way that can be found in the past or in the future.

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30 WON BUDDHISM

NEWS CORNER

1. lVon Buddhism Participated in the 17th World JamboreeThe 17th World Jamboree opened at Mt. Sorak National Park in

Kangwon-dg,Korea, Aug. 8-16, 1991. Under the thems, "Many Lands,one world,' many world younsters got together to understand oneanother's customs and culture.

organizers of the 17th world Jamboree drew up jamboree pro-grams, in which scouts from different races and religions could bemixed in each of 17 subcamps.

Won Buddhism held Dharma meetings at the Won Buddhist Hall, es-tablished during the week-long events, singing the Won Buddhisthymn "The Truth is One" and presenting Won Buddhist Scout Badgesand neck-tie pins to the scouts. Religious leaders from eight religiorisgot together to exchange ideas for world peace, cutting across all reli-gious, ideological and cultural boundaries.

2. The 4th ACRP Meeting HeIdThe representatives of Won Buddhism joined the 4th Asian Confer-

ence on Religion and Peace (ACRP) meeting at Katmandu. Nepal, Oct.25 to Nov. 2, 1991. Under the theme "Asian Religions towards the21th Century," over 320 religious leaders representing 23 countriesgathered at the meeting" lt marked the first time in the ACRP historythat delegates from North Korea participated in the meeting. Rev.PalKhn Chon was elected an executive member.

3. Won Buddhism lhtroduced on Korean TV, HawaiiRev. Pal Khn Chon, Vice President of lnternational Affairs of

Wonkwang University, made an appearance orr the newly-establishedKorean TV channel in Hawaii, introducing the doctrines, activities. pur-pose, ets., of Won Buddhism on Jan. 17, 1992. The Hawaii-based TVcompany is the only one of its kind broadcasting in Korean languagethroughout the U. S. A..

4. Transmitted "Goods of Graces "to SudanThe Won Buddhist Women's Service Party of the

Committes For Transmitting Graces were dispatchedJuly 29 to Aug. 10, 1 991.

They called Shuelmal Abusal. the Minister of Social

Central Prmotionto Sudna, Africa,

Welfare, deliver-

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WON BWDHISM 31

ing US $ 30,000 fo relief funds and "Goods of Graces" collected byWon Buddhism followers.

5. The Closing Ceremony of 100 Day Prayer at Mt. paekdu on theoccasion of the 76th Pobinjol(Bloody Fingerprint's Day), Won Bud-dhists f rom all the parishes started 100-day special prayer to followthe lofty spirits of the Nine Disiciples of Won Buddhism, praying forunification of Korean peninsula from May 14, 1991. The representa-tives fo Won Buddhism gathered at Mt. Paekdu. the spiritual mountainof the Korean people, closing the 100 days long prayer.

f -<x<>r<>l<:rc>l<:r{<)t<>t<:i<r{<=<>t<;i<:rt<:r{<>t<:i{<:i<>t<)l<>rc>t<rrc)t<)r<>t<tt<x<trc=<t*=<#vil The Great Master said, "Even the most intimate sons and t* daughters will not accept advice f rom their parents if the parents

f;t themselves do not follow their own advice. Even one partner in *t a coupte that is intimately close must practice sometning ii6t tfr l,:l"i?:,":xg[r ::::'1'^'^p.TT:: 11g:*,]l:l"l"l1 l-" lir: I

From "The path of Humanity " ofThe Scripture of Won Buddhism

* tice .first oneself, what one would teach, is the best way tox teach others.x

v)tE)l<),E>{<>l<>{<>l<t'l<>l<),l<>t<}l<)rl<rr{<r{<>{<>l<i{<>t<:r,l<>l<>r<tt<:,{<il<:i<>r<

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32 WON BADDHISM

A Notice from Chairperson ofWCRP/ACRP Women's Wing

Since being named the chairperson of the World,tAsian Confer-ence on Religion and Peace, Women's Wing. at the Kathmandu GeneralConference. it has been my aim to produce a newsletter for the pur-pose of sharing information among all those who work for the com-mon goals of the organization. So far, my appeals to individual chap-ters for reports of their activies have not been terribly fruitful, withone refreshing exception.

Mrs. Rehana Anees. Joint Secretary of the Pakistan Chapter ofthe Women's Wing has submitted the following news which both in-spires our gratitude for her and her members diligence, and encouragesus to continue our appeal for similar items, which will continue to ap-pear in Won Buddhism Magazine until the time when providence accu-mulates sufficent news to render practical a separate independentpublication. Here, in her own words. is the report of Mrs. Anees Paki-stan Chapter:REPORT..

We send heartiest congratulations on your being elected as theChairperson of Women's Wing WCRP,/ACRP with hope that in yourguidance and leadership we will work for the best of interests of hu-manity in bringing Peace, Love and Unity among people of all religions.

The Pakistan Chapter has been working very effectively in thepast years and hence we have definite plans for the year 1992. ltbeing the year of the environment we have begun our efforts to workon the "Green Project" and "Save Environment". This is a school-to-school programme in which children are made aware of the hazards ofpollution, unhygienic conditions, dangers of druges and love for plants.

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WON BADDHISM 33

tt is a programme mainly based on war against pollution. We also had aPoster Painting Exhibition on the topic. with 300 posters beingadmired by our eminent guests.

The WCRP Women's Wing Pakistan Chapter aim is to keep chil-dren active and busy in different creative activities so that they maychannelize their energies. We hope to have another function on"Peace" in November,'92. Atong with these programmes, we are arsoworking to combat drug abuse. I have personally taken up the duty ofcounseling drug addicted patients and their families every week.

As lncharge.of the Wonmns Wing, lfeel great responsibility in ful-filling the resolutions we made in the Nepal Conference. I hope youlvill appreciate my humble efforts and guide me for future ptans. Yourguidance will be a source of encouragentent and eniightenment. t be-lieve in being sincere to my works as "There is no greater delight thanto be conscious of sincerity on self-examination. "

I do indeed appreciate the efforr, o, ,;t.-i?,::i,TfiJ;Til:;you will respond to her report of them by intensifying your ownworks, and reporting them to us as you have, so that alt our readersmay be as inspired and encouraged by them as we are.

PKC

1200

The women priests of the Central Promotion Committee of TransmittingGraces of Won Bjuddhism met with Mr. Shuelmal Abusal, the Minister ofSocial Welfare, delivering U. S. $ 30,000 and Goods of Grace collectedby Won Buddhist followers. July 30, 1991. A Won Buddhist representa-tive visited a refugee's carnp.

The Scene of Dharma meeting for the scouts of the 17th World Jambo-ree, 1 991

1201

President Lognov of Moscow State University paid a courtesy call tothe Prime Master of Won Buddhism, lri, Jan. 1,1992

The front view of the newly established(Nov. 9,'lggl) CentralChungdoTranining Center of Won Buddhism, lri

The 3rd Exhibition fo Won Buddhist Artists' Association was held atChonpuk Gallery, Chonju, Sept. 28 to Oct. 3, 1991.

The founding members of the Foundation of Won Buddhism, Moscow,posed for the camera. Nov. 25. 1991.