The Korean Seon (Zen) master Venerable Pomnyun Sunim (법륜스님) wears many hats: Buddhist monk, teacher, author, environmentalist, and social activist, to name a few.* As a widely respected Dharma teacher and a tireless socially engaged activist in his native South Korea, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim has founded numerous Dharma-based organizations, initiatives, and projects that are active across the world. Among them, Jungto Society, a volunteer-based community founded on the Buddhist teachings and expressing equality, simple living, and sustainability, is dedicated to addressing modern social issues that lead to suffering, including environmental degradation, poverty, and conflict.
This column, shared by Jungto Society, presents a series of highlights from Ven. Pomnyun Sunim’s writings, teachings, public talks, and regular live-streamed Dharma Q+A sessions, which are accessible across the globe.
The following teachings were given on 15 July 2024 at the JAAGO Foundation, run by Dr. Korvi Rakshand, who received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for providing free educational services to underprivileged children in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Introduction to JAAGO Banani School for underprivileged children
As Ven. Pomnyun Sunim arrived at JAAGO Banani School, located in the Korail slum of Dhaka, he was greeted by children with placards and presented with a bouquet of flowers. Guided by the principal, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim toured the school, visiting the nursery classroom on the first floor, and then the first-grade classroom, where the teacher was asking the children about their dreams.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Korea was very poor 50 years ago. When I was in elementary school, it was very difficult to make a living. We didn’t have school uniforms. But no matter how poor we were, all children studied. I grew up in the countryside, but I studied hard. Because I continued to study despite difficulties, I was able to come here today to meet you.
I originally wanted to become a scientist, but when I was in the first year of high school, there was a temple next to the school, and I became a monk following that monk. Now, based on the principle that “every child should learn at the right time,” I’m helping children around the world to study. I’m also working on peace movements so that people can live peacefully without fighting. I hope you all study hard and play important roles in society. Can you promise?
The children promised to study hard.
The school tour continued to the kindergarten classroom. The teacher explained how children living in rural areas could attend classes using online technology: “JAAGO’s online schools in rural areas operate in the same way as regular schools, with teachers conducting classes using video-conferencing technology from the JAAGO center in Dhaka. Students watch lectures on a large screen while interacting with the teacher. Trained volunteers help and monitor students onsite.
“JAAGO’s goal is to use digital technology to solve the education problems of poor students and the shortage of qualified teachers. JAAGO, which started with one classroom and 17 students in a slum, has grown into an organization with 206 classrooms, providing education to 4,500 students.”
After greeting the students, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim held a conversation with the teachers, who explained how JAAGO Banani School operates.
JAAGO Banani School: This building houses grades 1–4. Due to limited space, grades 5–10 study in another building. Although it’s a slum area, the rent is very expensive. Student recruitment takes place for three months from September to November. It takes three months to review qualifications.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Can you tell me approximately how many students are in this area?
JAAGO Banani School: We can’t accommodate even one per cent of the poor students in this area. This is a Muslim area, and this is the largest school operated by the JAAGO Foundation. We can accommodate 45 students in the morning and 45 in the afternoon for each grade, totaling 90 students. As JAAGO Foundation becomes more famous, our biggest concern is that too many students are flocking to us. The number of slum children who want to study is growing exponentially.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Aren’t there any government-run schools here?
JAAGO Banani School: There are government-run schools. However, government schools only provide free education, and students have to bear the cost of uniforms and textbooks. Most children struggling with living expenses end up dropping out. But JAAGO Banani School provides everything free of charge for poor children. We bring in qualified teachers to teach. Some graduates have even gone to study in Europe on full scholarships.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Since not all children in the poverty-stricken area can attend this school, there must be eligibility criteria?
JAAGO Banani School: We visit homes to check how many children there are, and verify the parents’ ID cards and birth certificates. We confirm eligibility through interviews with parents. There are four meetings a year between parents and the school. This is to inform parents about educational methods and to understand the current status of students. We also conduct classes for parents to teach them how to take care of their children. This is because parents’ awareness of education is very low. Most classrooms use digital technology to conduct online education. When taking exams, onsite teachers guide students on what to do. It’s a collaborative approach between onsite teachers and online teachers.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim then moved to the EMK Center operated by the JAAGO Foundation as a space for youth movements. JAAGO’s successful engagement activities have led to expansion into other areas, one of which is the “Volunteer for Bangladesh” program (VBD) established in 2011. This program is a youth-led community-engagement campaign that involves young people in positive social change. VBD has grown into a movement of 50,000 youth leaders. The EMK Center hosts meetings on various topics such as women’s rights, children’s rights, climate change, and democracy. They have also conducted a “Safe Haven Project” to support the physical and mental well-being of children in Rohingya refugee camps.
Meeting with Ramon Magsaysay Award Winner Dr. Korvi Rakshand
Arriving at the EMK Center, Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Dr. Korvi Rakshand greeted Ven. Pomnyun Sunim with a bright smile. The two sat and talked for an hour.
Dr. Korvi Rakshand: The reason I came up with online classes was to provide educational opportunities to poor children as well. It’s very difficult to bring qualified teachers to rural areas because they are far from the city. However, by introducing online technology, we were able to connect qualified teachers with children. Especially in the deep mountains where indigenous people live, it was too difficult to have offline classes, but with online technology, we could easily solve this problem.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: I also give online Dharma talks. I sit in the broadcasting studio and give a Dharma talk, and Jungto Society members from all over the world connect online to listen. They also ask questions online.(Laughs)
Yesterday in Sylhet, I met Ravi Kannan, who treats cancer patients. When parents are sick and can’t engage in economic activities, their children end up dropping out of school. So I suggested starting a program to provide basic education for the children of patients. I asked if it would be good to prepare a program in connection with the JAAGO school, and Ravi Kannan also thought it was a great idea. If so, I will support the classrooms, school supplies, and other necessities needed to run the program.
Dr. Korvi Rakshand: I think that’s an excellent suggestion.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Currently, there are a million people living in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. More than half of them are children and youth. However, these children are unable to receive any education. The Bangladesh government doesn’t allow classes to be taught in Bengali because they hope the Rohingya refugees will not settle in this country but return to Myanmar. English classes could be an option, but there aren’t many people in the refugee camp who can speak English. However, given the situation in Myanmar, it’s unlikely that the refugees will be able to return to their homeland in a short time. Meanwhile, the children will continue to grow, but there are no plans for their education.
So I came to meet you with the idea that it would be good to solve the education problem for children in Rohingya refugee camps by connecting them online. I will provide the necessary support, so please research how we can provide educational opportunities to children in Rohingya refugee camps by connecting them online. It would be great if we could get permission from the Bangladesh government to provide educational opportunities for them as well. Let’s find a way together somehow.
Dr. Korvi Rakshand: Yes, we will research this as well.
Insights on youth leadership
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim then moved to Kennedy Hall, where about a hundred young people had gathered to listen to Sunim’s Dharma talk. The lecture topic requested by the JAAGO Foundation was “Insights on Youth Leadership.” Ven. Pomnyun Sunim took the stage amid loud applause, and began his talk.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: I established JTS, an organization to eradicate hunger, disease, and illiteracy, and started my first project for the untouchables in India. After that, I continued to build schools for indigenous and Muslim children in conflict areas of Mindanao in the Philippines.
In Mindanao, there’s the New People’s Army, a communist rebel group, which is in conflict with the government, and there’s also the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim armed group, which is in conflict with the government. As a result, several wars have occurred, and many people have died. Although peace agreements have been signed between the Philippine government and these groups, it’s just a ceasefire, and the conflict hasn’t been fully resolved yet.
In such conflict areas, it’s not easy to dispatch teachers due to safety issues. However, I met with Moro Islamic Liberation Front leaders and persuaded them that even if adults fight each other, we should cooperate on children’s education. I requested that JTS would provide the necessary infrastructure for children to receive an education if they could guarantee the safety of teachers in Muslim areas. We couldn’t send teachers to indigenous villages either because of communist rebels. But now, many children are able to study in schools. These days, we’re building one school for children with disabilities in each area to provide educational opportunities for children with disabilities as well.
Because I have been working with the goal that all children should learn in a timely manner, I was deeply moved when I heard that Dr. Korvi Rakshand was providing educational opportunities to poor children in Bangladesh. In particular, the online education method using the latest digital technology can be applied to the schools I built in untouchable villages in India, so I really wanted to meet the doctor. It’s very difficult to find teachers in remote villages in India. This is because qualified teachers who have graduated from university don’t want to come to rural areas. The security is also not safe. However, the doctor’s online education method can be implemented anywhere as long as internet connection is available, which gave me great inspiration. So I visited here to meet the doctor and learn more about this system.
For the countless children still without access to education
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: From what I understand, it began with one classroom of 17 students and has grown to provide educational opportunities for 4,500 students. There are still many more children in this world who lack access to education. Therefore, we must work together to further expand this approach.
What saddens me most is the fact that children in the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar are not receiving any education at all. I hope that the JAGGO Foundation’s education program can provide a new solution to this problem as well. Currently, there are many Myanmar refugees not only in Bangladesh but also in Thailand. If we could introduce this educational system to the refugee camps along the Thai border, we could provide educational opportunities to even more children.
I heard that Dr. Korvi Rakshand, after studying abroad in the UK and on the path to a promising career, realized that sharing his talents with poor children and giving them hope was more meaningful than living for personal gain. This led him to establish the JAGGO Foundation. I, too, believe that sharing one’s talents with others is the path to living a happier life.
For example, if I have some money and buy good food and tea, I would certainly feel satisfied. However, what if I could share that money with hungry people, allowing many to escape hunger? What if, instead of buying new clothes, I could share that money with many people, helping them escape nakedness? I think it’s a matter of choice whether to pursue the path of fulfilling my own desires or to share my talents with those in need and find happiness together. What kind of life do you want to live? I believe you are already participating in the latter path.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim then opended the floor to questions. Activists from the JAGGO Foundation shared various concerns.
What can we do to overcome the climate crisis and achieve equality?
Q: I’m very interested in solving social problems. However, it seems there’s little an individual can do to solve the climate crisis and eliminate class and gender discrimination. What can an individual do to practice environmental protection and achieve equality?
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: The climate crisis is becoming more serious day by day. Right now, we’re only seeing signs, but in 10 or 20 years, we’ll all feel it on our skin, and it will make life difficult.
For example, the amount of snow accumulated in the Himalayas is gradually decreasing. More than 30 per cent of glaciers have already melted. As a result, water levels in surrounding rivers are also gradually decreasing. This means that all the waterways built to match the current river levels will dry up, turning the surrounding farmland into wasteland. You may have seen in the news that there was a major flood in Pakistan last year. When I went there, everything was underwater. When I returned after the water receded, it had turned into a wasteland. I asked the residents why they weren’t farming on such flat land. They said there was no water. They explained that for the past 30 years, the river levels have been gradually decreasing, causing the waterways to dry up. From what I’ve heard, in Bangladesh too, as river levels have dropped, seawater has flowed back along the rivers, increasing the salt concentration in the surrounding farmland to the point where farming is no longer possible.
The climate crisis is not an individual problem, nor is it a problem of one country; it’s a problem for all of humanity. Nevertheless, we still haven’t escaped from the consumerist attitude that believes living well means producing more and consuming more. To fundamentally solve the climate crisis, individuals need to reduce their consumption. We need to find ways to be happy while reducing our consumption.
The issue of equality is the same. Look at nature. There are black dogs, white dogs, yellow dogs, but there’s no discrimination when they become friends. But don’t humans discriminate based on skin color? Dogs don’t discriminate between male and female dogs. But don’t humans practice gender discrimination? This kind of discrimination is not natural.
Truth is rooted in naturalness. Truth is about improving unequal relationships to make them equal. Let’s consider someone who smokes. Originally, they didn’t smoke. But for someone who has developed the habit of smoking, quitting is very difficult. Not smoking is very easy for a non-smoker, but it’s extremely difficult for someone who has developed the habit. Why is this? It’s because of habit.
The same applies to gender and class discrimination. Such discrimination doesn’t exist in nature. However, like the habit of smoking; these discriminatory habits have been ingrained in our bodies and minds for the past 3,000 years, making change difficult. While overcoming such discrimination is challenging, we must strive to do so. It would be good to accept the difficulty as reality while maintaining the perspective that we will overcome this and move step by step towards equality.”
Q: Thank you.
How can we avoid stress?
Q: We have many activists in our foundation. Some face pressure from their families, asking why they earn so little despite graduating from good universities. Others feel intimidated when compared to their friends. How can we continue our activities vigorously without experiencing stress?
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: The suicide rate among young people in Korea is high, and the main reason is excessive competition. Even when getting married, people are reluctant if their partner’s job or family background isn’t good. They also hesitate to have children. They experience tremendous stress thinking, “I must raise my child as well as others do.”
I have visited various universities in Korea and had many conversations to reduce students’ stress. The reason for stress is constant comparison with others. The biggest causes of stress are feelings of inferiority: “I’m not as good as others,” and superiority: “I’m better than others.” All people are equal. If you live according to your own talents without comparing yourself to others, you’ll experience much less stress.
Let me give you an example. Here we have a watch, a cup, and a water bottle. If you compare the watch and the cup, which is bigger?
Q: The cup is larger.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: How does the cup compare to the water bottle?
Q: The cup is small.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Now, let’s just look at this cup. Is this cup big or small?
Q: It depends on what we compare it to.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: However, when we live under the same conditions for a long time, our minds become fixed with the perception that the cup is large. Conversely, if we live under opposite conditions for a long time, our minds become fixed with the perception that the cup is small. So we mistakenly think, “I perceive this cup as small because it is actually small.” Some people think they perceive this cup as large because it is actually large. But this cup is neither big nor small. The idea that this cup is big or small doesn’t exist in the cup itself; it’s just our perception.
All of you are like this cup. You just are. You are neither big nor small. You are neither right nor wrong. You are neither beautiful nor ugly. You don’t intrinsically possess those attributes. However, when people perceive you, you can be perceived as anything. Therefore, you don’t need to be bound by what others say, like “big,” “small,” “expensive,” or “cheap.” They are just perceiving it that way. If they say it’s big, you can understand, “Ah, that person thinks it’s big.” If they say it’s small, you can understand, “Ah, that person thinks it’s small.” No words are right or wrong. Each one of you is a complete being just as you are now. So you should know your own preciousness. You shouldn’t keep comparing yourself to others and thinking, “I’m better” or “I’m worse.”
Q: Thank you so much!
After the Dharma Q&A, the JAGGO Foundation presented a commemorative plaque to Ven. Pomnyun Sunim for his visit. Ven. Pomnyun Sunim gave a donation to the JAGGO Foundation, noting, “Please buy necessary school supplies and sports equipment for the students.”
* Buddhist Monk Ven. Pomnyun Sunim Awarded the 37th Niwano Peace Prize (BDG)
See more
Pomnyun
Jungto Society
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