The world of Zen as told by the best essayist, Monk Bogyeong.
The grand history and thought of Zen Buddhism are contained in this one volume!

Theory without practice is empty, practice without theory is blind.
Only through constant effort, backed by deep understanding, can we achieve what we want in life.
The same goes for Buddhist practice.
Without a clear understanding of what I am practicing, why I am practicing, and how I am practicing, I am likely to get lost and wander.
This book illuminates the path for those who wish to embark on a journey of Zen.
It clearly explains how Seon Buddhism was born in the flow of long history, what ideological and practical changes it has undergone, and what the core of Korean Seon Buddhism is today.


'Zen is difficult.' This is what Zen monks and people studying Korean Buddhism all say.
This is a metaphor for the hardships of Zen practice, but it also means that the meaning of Zen is ambiguous and the concept is difficult to grasp.
This book will quench that thirst.
Before you rush to sit down and meditate, open this book first.
Knowing exactly and doing right is the fastest way to get there.

Suffering is inevitable when we are born as humans, and if this is repeated forever within the cycle of reincarnation, existence itself becomes suffering.
Therefore, the question of how to stop reincarnation and achieve eternal liberation has been a defining element of all Indian religions and philosophies since the Upanishadic period.
Ultimately, the problem of liberation becomes established as the highest value of Indian religious philosophy.

--- p.25

The reason why Buddhism cannot exclude the Vedic thought of the Indian tradition is that since it happened on the same soil, the thoughts that were learned will not disappear even if time passes.
However, the Vedic tradition is established with Brahman and Atman as its basic framework and does not give up this claim.
However, Buddhism was silent on metaphysical issues and instead established the fundamental doctrines of the five aggregates, twelve bases, eighteen realms, and twelve links of dependent origination, calling the empirical and phenomenal realm the dharma.
This was a position that explained the laws of existence and the universe from the perspective of causal relationships rather than as fixed entities.

--- p.30~31

The Heart Sutra begins with the statement, “When Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva practiced the Prajna Paramita, he reflected on the emptiness of the five aggregates and was freed from all suffering.”
It is a great awakening to see that the five skandhas are empty.
It is to realize that the study and practice we do is ultimately empty of the five aggregates.
The existence of a country is a compound of the five aggregates, and each of these five elements is further broken down into many elements and explained.
The five aggregates are the five basic categories that explain everything we experience in early Buddhist teachings.
--- p.60

If the West was an individual-centered consciousness, China was moving towards a collective consciousness.
For a group, order is the highest priority.
Without order, the group will collapse.
To truly understand why Chinese society is so obsessed with order, we must understand this process.
That order is the example.
If you don't know the example, you don't know the spirit or culture of the Chinese people.
All the pictures of the history of thought drawn by the Chinese are painted on this canvas called example.

--- p.144~145

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the translation of Buddhist scriptures itself is a process of synergy, as the interpretation of two languages ​​with completely different linguistic structures and cultures is by no means a simple process.
To understand adversity, you must understand the struggle.
And the process is equally important.
It was Xuanxue that provided the framework for such translation during the difficult times.
Xuanxue is the thought that regards the nothingness of Laozi and Zhuangzi as the origin of the world and the foundation of Tao.

--- p.240

Cheontae says that living beings and Buddha are mutually complete, Hwaeom says that the nature of the Tathagata exists, and Seon says that the mind is Buddha, but the basis of all of this is the theory of Buddha-nature.
Zen Buddhism is usually said to be a product of Chinese Buddhism, but Zen Buddhism can actually be said to be the idea of ​​Buddha nature.
To discuss the history of Chinese Buddhism, it is essential to understand the debate over the originality and origin of Buddhism that arose in the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
If we explain Buddha-nature as a cause, Buddha-nature is original, and if we explain Buddha-nature as a result, Buddha-nature is the cause.
The difference in perspective is that the former assumes that Buddha-nature and Buddhahood already exist at the starting stage, while the latter assumes that Buddha-nature can only be manifested once the result of Buddhahood is achieved.

--- p.311

Xuanxue progressed from the theory of nullity, which emphasized nothingness, to the theory of cultivating Confucianism, which revered existence, to the theory of poisonous fire, which rejected existence and non-existence and unified existence and non-existence.
The core issue ultimately boils down to the question of existence and non-existence in all three religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
The person who broke through this solid wall of existence and non-existence was Seungjo, a disciple of Kumarajiva.
He is considered to be the founder of Chinese Prajnaparamita and the one who brought an end to the Buddhism of the past.
And the philosophical discussion of Hyeonhak was also concluded with that.

--- p.320~321

Seon Buddhism advocates the attainment of enlightenment through mindful observation and sudden enlightenment.
Therefore, the idea that one can attain enlightenment immediately through Zen meditation without necessarily relying on scriptures became widespread after the mid-Tang Dynasty.
If it's concise and easy to follow, it's easy to follow, and if it's easy to follow, it lasts a long time.
So, if Zen Buddhism has only one sitting position, there is nothing to envy in the world.
I, who had just become a monk at the age of twenty, was like that too.
I felt that even if the world were to end with just one mistake in human history, I would have no regrets.

--- p.349

Chinese ships originated in India, but are different from Indian ships.
Many of the terms, methods, and contents of Chinese Zen came from India, but they were all newly transformed and developed under the influence of the historical conditions and traditional ideological culture of Chinese society.
Zen Buddhism is also a product of Sinicization of Indian Buddhism, but it did not exist in India in the same way as Zen Buddhism.
Chinese Zen has become a major component of Chinese Buddhism and Chinese culture, attracting increasing attention from people.

--- p.373

Personally, I would like to focus on the fact that the reason Zen Buddhism was able to succeed was because its methodology was clear and it was possible to embody Zen meditation.
In other words, the definition of Ganhwa Seon as contemplating the topic means that Seon has been taken to the next level.
In Korea, the current line is recognized as a simplified line and the simplified line is recognized as a line.
It is difficult to condense meditation or prayer into a single word.
However, it is safe to say that the line has become a living thing by showing the topic.
The point is not that the topic itself makes something possible, but that it can speak concisely about good.
Just as a nation must create a myth to survive, in the Zen Buddhism, the topic is myth, art, and religion.

--- p.471

Daehye suggests that we should not read dead lines, but rather use live lines.
This expression is not a small word for Daehye.
This is a classification of the relationship between masters and disciples that emerged during the development of the Southern School since the Tang and Five Dynasties.
If you answer the question the scholar mentioned directly or leave it open so that the meaning can be understood from the text itself, it becomes a four-paragraph essay.
Instead, it is better to avoid giving a direct answer to the student's question and answer with an answer that is the opposite of what was said or with an unexpected statement.
In fact, it has no particular meaning in itself, but it is installed as a symbolic substitute to arouse suspicion by hiding the meaning.

--- p.473