ZEN MESTEREK ZEN MASTERS
« Zen főoldal
« vissza a Terebess Online nyitólapjára

용성진종 / 龍城震鍾 Yongseong Jinjong (1864-1940)

(Magyar átírás:) Jongszong Csindzsong

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yongseong

Yongseong Jinjong (1864 ~ 1940)
https://web.archive.org/web/20120725164650/http://buddhism.org/board/read.cgi?board=SeonMasters&nnew=2&y_number=38

His dharma name was Yongseong and his ordination name was Jinjong.

Career
Master Yongseong was born in Namwon, North Jeolla-do Province. He began studying the Chinese classics at the age of six, and by the age of eight he could even write poetry, exhibiting exemplary literary skill. At the age of thirteen, he had a dream that he had received a dharma transmission from the Buddha, and then some time later when by chance he came upon some monastery, he discovered that the enshrined Buddha there looked exactly like the Buddha he had seen in his dream. After that incident, he stayed at the monastery wanting to live there, but his parents persuaded him to return home. At the age of fifteen, he ordained at Geungnagam Hermitage at Haeinsa Monastery on Mt. Gayasan.

Following his ordination, he learned the practice of Buddha recitation from Master Suwol and as he was continuing with his memorization of the daebiju (the dharani of Gwanseeum Bodhisattva), he had an awakening experience after six days of deep Seon meditation practice at the Dosoram Hermitage at Bogwangsa Monastery in Yangju. However, feeling himself that this awakening was insufficient, he continued further by taking on the investigation of the “MU” hwadu. Finally, in 1884, at the age of twenty, he broke through his mass of doubt and awakened to the fact that emptiness and form were not two. Following this, during a period of intense practice he again had a great awakening while reading the Jeondeungnok (The Record of the Transmission of the Lamp) in the Samiram Hermitage at Songgwangsa Monastery.

After this great awakening, the Master went to Sangseonam Hermitage in Mt. Jirisan where he practiced both Seon and Gyo (doctrinal study) with voracity, teaching Seon meditation to other monks and also reading various sutras, including the Awakening of Mahayana Faith, the Lotus Sutra, and the Flower Adornment Sutra. In addition, while cultivating the perfection of effort (virya paramita), he engaged in discourse on the nature of truth with masters such as Hyewol, Mangong and others, gradually expanding his own awakening. Regardless of where he went, his presence made it as if a Seon assembly was being held and the spirit of Seon flourished.

In 1907, at the age of 43, the Master headed for China. To a Chinese monk who arrogantly praised the superiority of Chinese Buddhism and disparaged Korean Buddhism, he replied, "Is the Sun and the Moon in the sky your country's alone? Buddhist dharma is a public truth of the world, so how can the public truth of the world be limited to China?" In this way, he defended the legitimacy of Korean Buddhism.

In 1910, he was invited to the position of Head Master of Chilburam Meditation Hall (Seonwon) in Mt. Jirisan, guiding and encouraging many monastics. He composed the first work that analyzed and criticized the teachings of Christianity from a Korean Buddhist perspective, Gwiwon Jeongjong (Correct Teachings Returning to the Origin). As a response to the growing strength of Christianity in Korea, which was more organized and successful in its outreach efforts, he set out on an effort to write books systematizing Buddhist doctrines and tenets, as well as translating sutras written in Classical Chinese into Korean native script (hangeul).

In 1911, he went to Seoul for the propagation of urban Buddhism. The following year, he established a Seon Center in Daesa-dong to lead a modernized propagation movement, and then later, he founded Daegaksa Temple in Seoul's Bongik-dong where he offered Buddhist instruction to the general public.

In 1919, during the March 1st Independence Movement against the Japanese colonial regime, together with Master Manhae, he served as a representative of the Buddhist community among the 33 national representatives, devoting themselves to the work of restoring the nation and serving as an encouragement to all Buddhists to join in the patriotic movement. As a result, he was apprehended by the Japanese police, put on trial, and endured three years of hardship in prison. Even after his release, he was put under constant surveillance by the Japanese authorities. During his three year confinement, upon seeing that another prisoner had a Bible that had been translated into the Korean script, he came to again recognize the necessity of translating the Buddhist scriptures into vernacular Korean. Thus, after his release from prison, he formed the "Tripitaka Translation Group" (Samjang Yeokhoe) and immersed himself in the work of translation, for the purpose of propagating Buddhism to the public. In addition, while serving as Head Master of the 10,000 days Meditation Hall (Manil Seonwon) at Naewonsa Monastery in Yangsan, he translated the 80 volumes of the Flower Garland Sutra, an effort regarded as an epoch-making accomplishment in the Korean translation of the Buddhist sutras.

In 1925, at the age of 61, he established the "Supreme Enlightenment Foundation" (Daegakgyo) at Daegaksa in Seoul, beginning new Buddhist and Public Education movements. A movement to arouse self-awareness in each of his fellow countrymen that they are truthful beings who possess infinite possibilities and wisdom, this activity was grounded in the idea of putting into practice the Mahayana Bodhisattva path of serving others and serving one's self.

Following this, he went to Longjing in Manchuria where he cleared the land in the Mt. Baegunsan to both manage the Hwagwawon, where he established a "Supreme Enlightenment Foundation", and spread the “Seon and Agriculture, Combined” (seonnong ilchi) movement. As a means of bringing about the economic independence of Buddhist temples, this movement especially emphasized agricultural cultivation and development alongside Seon meditation; the Master personally grabbed a hoe to join in the labor. In addition, to concentrate the activity of Buddhist propagation, together with Master Hanyeong he published the “Buddha Day” (Buril) magazine and inaugurated the practice of holding Buddhist services every Sunday. Furthermore, they brought about the complete translation and standardization of Buddhist rituals and recitations into vernacular Korean, and authored the “Chanbulga,” a series of odes to the virtues of the Buddha that could be sung in Korean.

Living with an unmatched intensity during these difficult times, Master Yongseong left to us a diversity of lifetime achievements, including his defense of traditional Buddhism, his reform and popularization of Buddhism, the simultaneous practice of Seon and Vinaya, the implementation of the Agricultural Seon movement, as well as the idea of “Supreme Enlightenment” and the advocacy of “Supreme Enlightenment Foundation” movements. Finally in 1940, at the age of 76, after 61 years in the sangha, he entered Nirvana. Among his disciples were Masters Dongsan Hyeil, Goam, Jaun, Deongheon, Gobong and others.

Writings
The Master's written work includes twenty-one volumes, including the Gwiwon Jeongjong (Correct Teachings Returning to the Origin), Gakhae Illyun (The Sea of Enlightenment and the Circle of the Sun), Seonmun Yoji (Essential Teachings of Seon Buddhism), and others. He also produced a 22 volume work of translations and commentaries including the Suneungeomgyeong Seonhan Yeonui (Commentaries on the Suramgama-sutra in Korean) and his published essays which amounted to nine volumes, including Manil chamseon gyeolsahoe changnipgi (The Story of Establishing the 10,000 Days Seon Community), Hwalgu chamseon manil gyeolsa barwonmun (Dedication for the 10,000 Days Live Phrase Seon Meditation), Beomgye saenghwal-e daehan geonbaekseo (Admonition for the Keeping of the Precepts), and others.

Doctrinal Distinction
To bring about the popularization and reform of Buddhism, Master Yongseong strove endlessly to find and implement the dynamic path of Buddhism, embodied in the idea of daegak “supreme enlightenment.”

Because the thinking of daegak as emphasized by Master Yongseong was advocated through the idea of jagak gakta, that the self-awakening to one's fundamental nature and the awakening of others are not two separate things, the combined notions of awakening to bongak (original enlightenment), sigak (initial enlightenment), and gugyeonggak (ultimate enlightenment) comprised the idea referred to as daegak (supreme enlightenment). Based on self-enlightenment (gak), it can be said that “Buddha” is nothing other than daegak and “Buddhism” is nothing other than the “teaching of daegak.”

Master Yongeong's thinking of daegak was an individualized and powerful Buddhist teaching that matched the spiritual capability rooted within each sentient being who lived and breathed just as he. His method was similar to treating patients with medicines that suit their disease, or how the Buddha always modified his dharma sermons to communicate the truth in accordance with the interpretive capabilities of his audience.

The epochal circumstances of Japanese colonization that brought an end to the Joseon Dynasty perhaps cut more deeply into the heart of Master Yongseong than anyone else, and he strove to make the 2500 year-old teachings of the Buddha relevant to the long-suffering Korean people, struggling under the Japanese colonial regime. As a result, he abandoned the life of “Buddhism in the mountains,” presenting for the first time an alternate model propagating Buddhism within an urban setting. Moreover, he perceived the obstacles for the public to approach Buddhism, due to the fact that ordinary Buddhist believers faced great difficulties in understanding the Buddhist sutras written in classical Chinese, he also began the immense undertaking of translating the sutras into Korean script (hangeul). The result of this undertaking was that numerous sutras were written in the vernacular, including the Diamond Sutra, the Flower Garland Sutra and others, and in this way he supplied a shortcut by which the public could more easily come into contact with the wisdom of Buddhism. This translation project was not his only propagation effort, as he also introduced the modern method of setting the framework for Buddhism's economic independence through the establishment and management of urban propagation groups.

In addition, within his practice, he gave weight to both the Vinaya and the practice methods of the "observing the hwadu" (Ganhwa) Method of Seon meditation, and through setting an example of exhaustive practice, he showed a path of guidance to those who sought the dharma.
Even under the sharp gleaming edge of the Japanese blade, poised as it was to annihilate Korean national culture, the unyielding strength of the Master, who always stood at the forefront of efforts to propagate of Buddhism to the public, was a result of the power of his practice and activities that literally put his life at stake. As a monk who had already transcended the boundaries of life and death, he was able to overcome each and every fear without hesitation.

The Fundamental Mind of Supreme Enlightenment (Daegak)

What is the meaning behind Buddhism being called daegak (Supreme Enlightenment)?
I shall analyze this in two explanations. First, the things we commonly comprehend as the biggest things around us are the sky, the earth, the sea, the air, and the like. But what we call “big” in Buddhism are not those things. When we refer to the "bigness" of the original and natural mind in Buddhism, it is not big in the sense that the sky, the earth, sea or air can be compared with it; in fact, is it so big that nothing can become a thing that can be contrasted with it. Enlightenment is not something that can be stated, like "I am enlightened" or "I am becoming enlightened." Therefore, it is impossible to teach the fundamental mind of enlightenment with words or writings, or to show it with any concrete shape.

Even though the air is full of electric currents and the sea is full of salt, it's impossible to listen to the electric current in the air with our ears, or see the salinity of the sea with our eyes. Likewise, though there is definitely an essential nature of Supreme Enlightenment (daegak), since it doesn't have any specific name or form, you cannot see it with your eyes, hear it with your ears, or think about it with your mind.

Though it is said this essential nature of Supreme Enlightenment originally doesn't exist because it has no name or form, it doesn't mean that is really nonexistent. Because there's nothing, neither is it mind, nor Buddha, Dharma, or Sangha, nor is it a ghost, nor is it any thing, nor the sky or the earth. At the same time it is both immensely big, immensely small, immensely empty, immensely spiritual, immensely firm and strong, but immensely soft at the same time, so it's not analyzable through thinking.

Though this nature has no name or form, it links the past and the present, surrounds the universe, exists as a subject of the sky, the earth, and humans. As a king of all the laws, it is so big and broad that there's nothing comparable; so lofty that there is no equal. Also, it has been even before the heaven and earth, so there is no beginning, and it will exist even after the end of days, so there is no ending. This big and round essential nature of enlightenment shows that heaven and earth and the self have the same root and the universe and the self are the same body.

This nature is equal in every body. Just because some are sages, it doesn't mean they have more of this nature than ordinary men. Also, since there is no becoming, dying, any particular shape, or name for this nature, when it's in the sky it becomes a part of the sky, in the earth it becomes a part of the earth, and in humans it becomes a part of humans. This is the fundamental mind of attaining divine enlightenment.

Second, attaining divine enlightenment for oneself, then guiding other people to the way of enlightenment, are not two things but one, so it is called the final enlightenment. Every person is pure and undefiled just where s/he is, and it shows that the enlightenment itself is always there, inside of them. Even though enlightenment always exists inside of them, if s/he doesn't realize it, s/he is ordinary. Even though they realize it's there, if they don't strive, they also are ordinary. Why is that?

Even if something is gold, if it is not tempered several times, it cannot become pure gold. But after it becomes pure gold there is no change. Attaining the true mind through striving is like becoming pure gold. This is called actualizing enlightenment.

The original enlightenment (Buddhahood) and actualizing enlightenment are not two things, so it is the final enlightenment, and if somebody realizes everything mentioned above, now they can be said to have attained divine enlightenment.

The Way to Investigate the Hwadu

One student once asked,
"You told us to investigate and doubt the hwadu, but how should we investigate it?"

Yongseong answered,
"A person suddenly lost a treasure he had carefully carried on his person and cherished for a long time. At first, he didn't know he had lost his valuable thing, but one day he felt with his hands where he usually carried the treasure and noticed it missing. Thus, he wondered in suspicion and doubt where the treasure was. Your investigation into the hwadu should be like this.

Another person picked up a strange object from the ground near dawn, before sunlight had fully illuminated the world. Although he examined it closely, it was yet too dark to see clearly, so he was not sure what to make of it; stuck in a boundary between knowing and not knowing what it is, he is full of suspicion and doubt. The manner of one who investigates the hwadu is like this.

When you investigate the hwadu, it is sometimes like trying to force a donkey to drink, sometimes defilements arise like hot fire, sometimes the mind doesn't move at all as if it were a solid block of ice, sometimes it goes as well as a sailing boat in a favorable wind. But, whether your studying goes well or not, do not bear thoughts of joy or dissappointment at it; you ought to think only of your hwadu.

Also, do not take up practice for the clear and calm that arises when you sit; nor should you take exercise, speech, movement, or being calm as your practice. Do not practice with your mind like the thin air, nor should you make your mind like a wall; for studying with these attitudes is a heretical path that lead to emptiness and ruin, and the people who study thusly are dead even though they still breathe.

Therefore instead focus your investigation and doubt on this one thing that you don't fully understand. If you study hard with a consistently focused mind, the state of sight and hearing naturally become calm; forgetting both the thing and the self, the mountains, rivers, and the great earth dissappear, and the empty space melts down. When you reach this state, you will naturally destroy ignorance [chiltong, literally, pitch-black container]."
Another student asked Yongseong, "How can I get rid of the delusions that keep appearing to me?"

Yongseong answered,
"Whether delusions arise or not, leave them alone and do not try to get rid of them. Delusions have a tendency to arise all the more when you try to get rid of them. For example, when a cow tries to run away, if you draw the rein firmly toward you, the cow follows you by its own will. Like this, if you investigate the hwadu without being bothered whether a delusion arises or not, the delusion will disappear by itself.

Also, do not try to get rid of delusions using the hwadu; if delusions overcome you even though you focus only on the hwadu, immediately let go of the hwadu and relax your mind to its natural state. Then, if you resume the investigation, your mind will be new and clean.

When you investigate the hwadu, question it clearly with an always relaxed and comfortable mind and body. If you start on the hwadu in a hurry, because the mind that arises from bodily desire is shaken; you will feel pressure on your chest and have a headache, and bleed from your nose. These symptoms occur because your mind was too hurried.

On the other hand, if you are off your guard, you are likely to lose your hwadu. Neither should you investigate the hwadu too excessively and tensely, nor should you be too lax. If the strings of a lute are too loose, its sound is not right, and also it the strings of a lute are too tight, its sound is also not right; thus studying is the same way.

Figuratively speaking, it is as if when someone wanders into the deep mountains, when all of a sudden the mountain and river comes to an end. Facing this situation, if you set one foot forward with the strength to courageously sever your ties, you will be able to see a new world where the flowers are bright and the blossoms are emerald.

While all the other studies of the world are investigated with an analytical, categorizing mind that tries to know all things, this study consists of the questioning and investigation with a focused mind of this one thing that you do not know. If you try to approach this study with a categorizing and analyzing mind, you will be unable to know anything even after 10,000 years of questioning. When you investigate the hwadu, you should not seek fun in it, but rather keep an unceasing attitude, like a mosquito sitting on a cow made of iron. For if the mosquito breaks through the iron cow with life and limb in abandon, even its body will dive straight in.
Only investigate and doubt the hwadu with a focused mind, never bearing a mind of knowing or a mind of seeking. Like when the warm spring comes back, flowers bloom and leaves spread out, so when your study ripens you will naturally seek and know."

From the Susimjeongno (The Right Path to Cultivating the Mind)

Yong Song's kongans
by Zen Master Seung Sahn
In: The Whole World is a Single Flower: 365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life
Tuttle, 1993.

210. Ten Mu Sicknesses

Zen Master Yong Song received a visit from Zen Master Ko Am, and asked his guest, "In Joju's Mu kong-an there are ten kinds of sickness. How do you not get sick?"

"I'm only walking on the edge of the sword," Ko Am replied.

 

1. What are the ten Mu sicknesses?

2. Walking on the edge of the sword." What does this mean?

 

COMMENTARY: Go ask a cow. You will get a beautiful answer.

 

 

211. Lion's Den

Zen Master Yong Song asked Zen Master Ko Am, "What is the meaning of the Buddha's picking up a flower and showing it to Mahakashyapa?"

Zen Master Ko Am answered, "In the lion's den there are no other animals."

 

1. What is the meaning of the Buddha's picking up a flower and showing it to Mahakashyapa?

2. Why are there no other animals in the lion's den?

 

COMMENTARY: Mistake, mistake, mistake. If you attain the Buddha's mistake, you will attain the Buddha's flower.

 

 

212. The Sky Is High, the Ground Is Thick

Zen Master Yong Song once asked Zen Master Ko Am, "The Sixth Patriarch said, 'The flag is not moving, the wind is not moving. Your mind is moving.' What does this mean?"

Zen Master Ko Am stood up, bowed three times and answered, "The sky is high, the ground is thick."

 

1. If you were Zen Master Ko Am, how would you answer?

2. What is the meaning of "The sky is high, the ground is thick"?

 

COMMENTARY: Hear a sound, fall down. See something, lose your life.

 

 

213. Dharma Transmission

Ko Am asked Zen Master Yong Song, "What is your family teaching tradition?"

Zen Master Yong Song, holding a Zen stick, hit the table three times and said, "What is your family teaching tradition?" Ko Am took the stick and hit the table three times. Then Yong Song said, "Moonlight for 10,000 years," and gave him inga and transmission. Then he wrote this poem for Ko Am:

Transmission Poem

The Buddha and eminent teachers originally don't know;

Shaking my head, I also don't know.

Un Mun's cake is round.

Chinju's mu is long.

 

1. Are Zen Master Yong Song's tradition and Zen Master Ko Am's tradition the same or different?

2. What is the meaning of "Moonlight for 10,000 years"?

3. How big is Un Mun's cake?

4. How long is Chinju's mu?

 

COMMENTARY: Yong Song and Ko Am hug each other and fall down into an old well.

 

 

214. What Is One Thing?

Zen Master Yong Song once gave a Dharma speech, in which he said, "Everyone has one thing. This one thing swallowed heaven, earth, and everything. If you want to find it, it's already far away. If you put it down, it's always in front of you. Brighter than the sun and darker than black ink, it always abides under your palm. Have you found it?"

 

1. How did one thing swallow everything?

2. What is the meaning of "If you want to find it, it's already far away. If you put it down, it's always in front of you"?

3. What is the meaning of "Brighter than the sun and darker than black ink"?

4. Have you found it under your palm?

 

COMMENTARY: If the Sixth Patriarch were there, he would have hit Yong Song right in the face.

 

 

227. First Word

Zen Master Jun Kang visited Zen Master Yong Song and was asked, "What is the first word?"

"Yes!"

"No!" Yong Song replied.

Jun Kang clapped his hands and laughed.

Yong Song again said, "No!"

"I ask you, then, what is the first word?"

"Jun Kang!"

"Yes!" Jun Kang replied.

"That is the first word," Yong Song said.

 

1. What is the first word?

2. What is the last word?

 

COMMENTARY: If you open your mouth, the first word and last word both appear. If you close your mouth, they both disappear. Without any mouth, the first and last word are already clear.

PDF: Egyetlen szál virág az egész világ
365 buddhista, keresztény, taoista és zen példázat és kóan / [Szung Szán zen mester kérdéseivel és kommentárjaival, ... Stephen Mitchell előszavával];
[ford. Szigeti György]. [Budapest] : Farkas Lőrinc Imre Kiadó, 1997, XVII, 260 p.