Recommendation | If Monk Seongcheol Comes Again

Prologue | To that hill
Chasing away time / The lonely path of a pure monk / The mountain of people / The practitioner who was salt himself
Farewell from the Oak Tree

Chapter 1 | Can You Cut Off Your Arm on a Snowy Night?
Gyeongheo passes away and Seongcheol comes / Gyeong without letters / Abandoning death / Entering Daewonsa Temple
My heart did not run away / Haeinsa Temple in winter / Invisible snow falls / Leaving home

Chapter 2 | Standing was the wall, and the flow was the fire
A world without a middle ground / A poor temple / An eye taken away by a son / The theft of Unbuam and Mahayeon
Carrying my mother on my back and seeing Mt. Geumgang / The day is approaching / Odo
The Journey of Bloodline Rising / The Road I Walk Alone / Father Cries

Chapter 3 | Have You Seen the Moon?
The Moon of Ganwol-am / Between Condolences and Greetings / Hangul of Bokcheon-am / Before the Snow Falls
The Two Lotuses of the Twin Lotus Monks / The Bhikkuni Myoeom / The Third Doban Who Speaks Silently
Cheolsu-jwa comes / Eldest daughter Do-kyung dies

Chapter 4 | Bongamsa Temple
When I'm hungry, I eat; when I'm tired, I sleep / Let's live according to the Buddha's teachings / Burning non-Buddhas
Princess's Rules, Old Carved Roads / The Relics of Time / The Immortal Spirit of Determination / Leaving Bongamsa Temple

Chapter 5 | The dawn of Byeokbangsan Mountain is torn apart
Father Buried in the Sea / Cheonjegul Cave / I'm Watching You / Washing Away the War
You bastard, you're a master / A whirlpool of hatred

Chapter 6 | Don't be fooled by a fool like me.
Seongjeonam Temple, 10 years of seclusion / Only by being useless can one achieve the Way / We have imprisoned the world
Even if it means selling the roof tiles of a temple / The first turning of the Dharma Wheel, 'Undalsan Dharma Assembly' / Three thousand bows
Abira Prayer / In the hometown of the law, Gayasan / Deoksan Geosa and Injae Bulsa

Chapter 7 | Water is Fire, and Fire is Water
Pay for the meal / I ask, are you wise inside and out? / 100-day Dharma talk
Don't stay in the middle, let alone the two sides / Science enters Buddhism
Cheongdam, Hyanggok, and Jawoon

Chapter 8 | Dono Donsu
The founder and grandson of Haedong Buddhism / Stabbing Jinul / The "Donjeom Controversy" that Awakened Korean Buddhism
Jinul and Seongcheol / The Disciples Who Received the Circle / Live for Others

Chapter 9 | Don't Deceive Yourself
October 27th Persecution / A mountain is a mountain, and water is water / Do not take sides
Korean legal term / to earn a living

Chapter 10 | Waiting for the Blue-Eyed Leader
The law of the land, a sad illustration / a pink halo / the inscription was strong
The Greatness of the Ordinary / Song of the Byeongjungilyeo

Colon | Nirvana
Good luck with your Zen meditation

In closing
Venerable Toeong Seongcheol
References

From ‘the hermit monk’ to ‘the great teacher of the world’,
The Lion King's Return to Purify the Chaotic World Begins!

A tower of silence built in a turbulent era
Seongcheol Biography, What Does It Say?

『Biography of Seongcheol』 is a book that compiles the life, thoughts, enlightenment, and teachings of Monk Seongcheol (1912-1993), a symbol of Korean Buddhism and a healer of the pain of the times.
Compared to the past, economic growth and social development have achieved remarkable results, but our lives have not become happier or better.
Individuals are losing their self-esteem and wandering due to desire and arrogance, society is becoming more chaotic, and communities are collapsing.
At a time when we need a teacher of our time to heal this spiritual wandering and social breakdown, 『Biography of Seongcheol』 will become a shadowless tower and a sign of passage in these turbulent times.


Kim Taek-geun, the author of 『Biography of Seongcheol』, was personally asked by the late President Kim Dae-jung to write a biography of him, so he took on the task of writing the autobiography as an editorial member of 『Kim Dae-jung's Autobiography』 and completed 『Dawn: A Biography of Kim Dae-jung』.
Author Kim Taek-geun, who has a reputation as a "true reporter" who has represented the pain and suffering of the public while serving as the culture editor and general editor of Kyunghyang Shinmun, president of Kyunghyang.com, and editorial writer, has added emotion and fun to reading 『Biography of Seongcheol』 by organizing the life and teachings of Monk Seongcheol and weaving together Buddhist stories centered on Monk Seongcheol's life and thoughts with the pain of the times in Korea's modern and contemporary history.


『Biography of Seongcheol』, created through abundant photographs and thorough research
Made with the 'Seolpan' of the ten general people who gathered their hearts

In Buddhist tradition, there is a system of providing funds for the expenses of a Buddhist service by monks and believers.
It means gathering the utmost sincerity of countless people.
It is a beautiful Buddhist tradition to perform small acts of devotion, such as decorating the Buddhist altar for a Buddhist service and offering tea, and to act as the master of one's own affairs.
By incorporating these traditions, we were able to enable both Buddhists and the public to participate in the work of publishing a biography of Monk Seongcheol.
This is the funding for the publication of 『Biography of Seongcheol』.
Because the teachings of Monk Seongcheol are essential to all people beyond the Buddhist community.

『Biography of Seongcheol』 is a new compilation of content that was serialized for 75 weeks in the Buddhist media [Beopbo Shinmun].
It caused a huge stir, garnering around 10,000 views per episode during its serialization.
Even though 23 years have passed since the death of Monk Seongcheol, the fact that he is still respected and loved by Buddhists and the public is proof that his teachings and deeds were truly great and clear.
At the end of 『Biography of Seongcheol』, which was created through thorough research and abundant photographs, author Kim Taek-geun confessed that it was foolish of a mere scholar ignorant of Buddhism to try to describe the life of a great monk using words, like trying to burn down Mount Sumeru with fireflies. He left a humble review saying that since he had used words to describe the Zen monk Seongcheol, he was begging people to please look at Seongcheol.


A clean practitioner in a rag
Who is Monk Seongcheol?

Monk Seongcheol is a representative figure of 20th-century Korean Buddhism and is revered by many as the ‘Buddha who came to us.’
In January 1981, he was elected the 7th Patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and became known to many people for his Buddhist saying, “A mountain is a mountain, and water is water.”


In 1936, at the age of twenty-five, he received the Buddhist name 'Seongcheol' from the monk Dongsan, a Zen master of the time, and began his path of training.
He surprised the world with his eight years of Jangjwabulwa and ten years of Donggubulchul, and with his unique ideas and charisma, he became the head of the Jogye Order and opened a new horizon for the Buddhist world of this land.


On November 4, 1993, he entered nirvana at the age of 58 and 82 at the Haeinsa Temple Toeseoldang Hall, urging him to study until the end.
The true and simple teachings of the great monk Seongcheol, who said, “Let us look at ourselves properly,” “Let us pray for others,” and “Let us help others secretly,” still echo in Gayasan Mountain today, resonating from eternity to eternity.

Enlightenment and Teachings, Bongamsa Temple's Declaration, and Korean Buddhism
The life and thoughts of Monk Seongcheol

Born in 1912, Monk Seongcheol was a monk who lived through turbulent times for our nation, including the Japanese colonial period, the Korean War, military dictatorship, and democratization.
Even through a period of confusion and devastation, he lived as a mountain monk, devoted solely to practice.
Even during the times of great and small upheaval within Buddhism, such as the purification of Japanese Buddhism, the establishment of Korean Buddhism, the October 27th Persecution, the Don-o-don-su controversy, the practical Buddhism movement, and the democratization of Buddhism, the monk remained faithful to his position as a mountain monk and became a strong supporter of Korean Buddhism.
The monk's dire warning was that only through diligent practice can one attain enlightenment, and that this is the only solution and answer to the chaotic times.


Monk Seongcheol walked the lonely path of a pure monk and wore rags his entire life.
Through the Bongamsa Temple association of ‘Let’s live according to the Buddha’s teachings,’ we discovered the old paths taken by our ancestors.
Anyone who came to see Monk Seongcheol was ordered to bow three thousand times.
He told them to leave their hats and bundles of money on the pine tree and just climb up.
Monk Seongcheol said, “Don’t look at yourself, look at Buddha.”
And so he lived in the mountains his whole life.
Being in the mountains meant being thousands of miles away.
People only found out after they left.
The precepts and regulations, including the Buddhist rituals created at Bongamsa Temple, are not only practices of that time, but are still vividly alive in Korean Buddhism today.
The practice of Bongamsa Temple's asceticism was an old law and became a new path.


The life and teachings of a mountain ascetic
Let's continue our lives here and now

We have to endure and persevere to survive, but it is a difficult time to survive.
Is there no teacher in this age who can shed light on hope? Is there a teacher in my life who will harshly rebuke me for my mistakes? Perhaps we ask ourselves these questions, waiting for a true teacher and searching for the light of hope.
Although Monk Seongcheol was a practitioner who always stayed in the mountains, his teachings gave hope and light to all living beings, Buddhists, and the people who lived together in the past.
He was a teacher of monks and Buddhists, and a teacher of the people, because he lived his daily life solely according to the Buddha's teachings without deceiving himself.
Through 『Biography of Seongcheol』, he is throwing the sound of pure and clear bamboo rain into this greedy and selfish era.


We cry out that our lives are miserable.
The cause of the misfortune is clear.
Because lies, hypocrisy, inequality, and illegality are rampant.
Through the life, thoughts, enlightenment, and teachings of Monk Seongcheol, we will be able to realize the value of living a life true to ourselves and taking refuge in the Dharma.
Because I can be true to myself and find a way to be happy with my neighbors.
This is why 『Biography of Seongcheol』 is absolutely necessary in this day and age.