Jungbong Seongpa, daejongsa,

Supreme Patriarch, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

[Dharma Talk to Mark Buddha’s Birthday in B.E. 2569 (2025)]

  Woleunjungbong geoseonyu (月隱中峰擧扇喩) 

  Pungsiktaeheo dongsuhunji (風息太虛動樹訓)

When the moon hides behind the mountain,

Lift the fan to illustrate.

When the wind rests in the sky,

Shake the tree to elucidate.

When Sakyamuni Buddha was born in Lumbini, he took seven steps, and with each step, a lotus flower blossomed. He pointed to the heavens with one hand and to the earth with the other, saying, “Under the heavens, I alone am honored.”

In the Lotus Sutra, which contains Sakyamuni Buddha’s first teaching, he said, “There is no difference between mind, Buddhas, and sentient beings,” and encouraged us all to live as innate buddhas.

If we all recognize this dignity of being and use it well, we can all live happily and make this world a paradise. Therefore, it is a wise Buddhist who recognizes the Buddhahood inherent in each of us and aspires to create and complete his or her own Buddha Land, just as the aspirations of Bhiksu Dharmakarathe, one of the previous incarnations of Amitabha Buddha, led to the creation of Sukhavati, the Western Pure Land.

However, we are not able to see the world through the eyes of the Buddha, beyond the limits of our own vision and capabilities, and not free from the limitations and conditions of “I.” So it is very important to liberate ourselves from these conditions.

When we live through the world with the eyes of a Buddha, lotus flowers rise in every step we take, and every action we take becomes the infinite Dharma. The birdsong and the sound of the breeze transform into supreme music, the clouds drifting by unfold into picturesque images, and every wildflower in the field reveals a majestic Dharma seat from which the infinite Truth emanates.

If we take the Bodhisattva vow and aspire never to be deceived by any illusion and never to reject a single sentient being, we are indeed wise Buddhists, praised by the Buddha and admired by Indra and the heavenly guardians. Sakyamuni Buddha demonstrated this Truth in the form of the rain of flowers and the rising of lotuses in Lumbini.

 Miridosol iganwonggung (未離兜率 已降王宮)

 Michulmotae doinipil (未出母胎 度人已畢)

Sakyamuni Buddha had already left the Tusita Heaven, even before he left the palace,

He had already completed saving all beings before he came out of the womb.