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 19 July 2024 during the first day of a two-day visit to Hanoi.
Cooperation between Korean and Vietnamese Buddhists
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim gave his first Dharma Q&A of the day at Van Phuc Pagoda in Hanoi. The city is home to the First Secretariat of the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha Council, so Ven. Pomnyun Sunim planned to visit several temples centered around the secretariat during his stay. Guided by the abbot of Van Phuc Pagoda, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim enetered the pagoda’s main hall, where about about 100 monks and followers awaited.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: South Korea and Vietnam are currently engaging in exchange and cooperation. There are about 200,000 South Koreans living in Vietnam, and about 300,000 Vietnamese living in South Korea. In South Korea, about 100,000 Vietnamese came for marriage, 100,000 came to work, and about 100,000 came to study. This is the second-largest community of foreigners living in South Korea, excluding those of Chinese descent. That’s how much exchange and cooperation is happening between South Korea and Vietnam right now. However, compared to this economic and tourism cooperation, there is still not much exchange in terms of Buddhism. I visit hoping that there will be more exchanges and cooperation between Korean Buddhism and Vietnamese Buddhism in the future.
I was invited by the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha Council and visited Ho Chi Minh City in March 2023. I visited several temples, had conversations with monks, and paid my respects to the chairman of the Buddhist Sangha Council. Then I invited all of them to South Korea, and in October 2023, the chairman and vice chairman of the Buddhist Sangha Council visited South Korea. At that time, we promised to further promote Buddhist exchanges between South Korea and Vietnam and to help each other’s citizens in both countries. There are now four Vietnamese temples in Korea. And there are even more gatherings of Vietnamese Buddhists that take place in Korean temples, although they haven’t established independent temples. So I have pledged to help Vietnamese people in Korea, and the Vietnamese Buddhist Sangha Council has promised to help Korean people living in Vietnam.
I visited Ho Chi Minh City again twice in March and June 2024 to have conversations and exchanges with monks. The Buddhist Sangha Council said that since they have secretariats in Hanoi as well as in Ho Chi Minh City, it would be good to visit Hanoi and have conversations. I’ve visited Hanoi several times to give talks for Koreans living here, but I’ve never visited a Vietnamese temple. So this visit to Van Phuc Pagoda is my first temple visit in Hanoi. I will visit more often in the future. I also hope that many monks will be invited to Korea so that we can have exchanges with each other.
Buddhist propagation
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: I am doing Buddhist propagation a bit differently in South Korea. In South Korea, most Buddhist followers only think about going to temples to pray for blessings, and they think that only monks practice. However, I thought that everyone, including lay followers, should practice. So I guide all members of Jungto Society to practice for an hour every morning before going about their daily lives.
And while Christianity is very enthusiastic about missionary activities, Buddhism often focuses only on self-practice. However, I think this good Dharma of the Buddha should be spread to many people, so I consider propagation very important. And I think that Buddhism should not just stay within temples but should go out into society and engaged in volunteer activities for the benefit of society. So we are doing a lot of work to help poor people. We are providing support not only in South Korea but also in Asian countries in Southeast Asia and Southwest Asia.
As you all know, Korea is divided. There is always a risk of war. So we are also doing peace activities so that South and North Korea can live peacefully. We are also doing humanitarian aid activities to support people in North Korea, transcending ideology.
The biggest problem on Earth right now is the climate crisis, so we are promoting a movement to live frugally with the motto “eat less, wear less, use less.” These days, people think that spending a lot is living well. If this continues, an environmental crisis will come where our descendants will no longer be able to survive. The resources of this world are not just ours. They are resources that our descendants must use for generations to come. We need to use them sparingly so that our descendants can live too. So we are aiming for a life that does not produce waste and are practicing in various ways. We don’t make a lot of food and leave leftovers, but make less and eat a little less than enough. Eating less is also good for health. Also, in the past feudal era, women were discriminated against compared with men. But now we are also campaigning that we should no longer discriminate based on gender, and we should not discriminate against people with disabilities. We are doing these various social activities.
The Buddha’s teaching for all people
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: I think the Buddha’s teachings should not be limited to a few, but should be applied to all to help people live happily. Especially these days, young people are moving away from religion, so we are also conducting activities to help solve their anguish while talking with young people. These days, young people find it difficult to come to gatherings. We are connecting online so that they can study the Dharma from where they are. We have opened all Buddhist university programs online. We guide people to make one room in their house into a personal Dharma hall and practice in their daily lives. Now we don’t need to create large Dharma centers anymore. There are many people living alone in Korea these days. So we make it possible for them to meditate by connecting online from their homes. We are also promoting the movement “let’s make the house we live into a place of practice.” And we are utilizing various modern technologies to spread the Buddha’s teachings more easily and widely. Moving away from doctrine-centered approaches, we receive questions about the difficulties, anguish, and stress that people experience in their lives, and help solve those difficulties through dialogue.
I am older than you and have been active for a long time, so I would like to share my experiences if they are needed for your propagation activities. If you have any difficulties in studying Buddhism, practicing, and propagating, let’s talk about them, whatever they may be.
Then Ven. Pomnyun Sunim took questions.
What preparations can we make for a gradual decline in Buddhist followers in Vietnam?
Q: There’s no problem now, but in the future, Vietnamese Buddhism may see a decrease in the number of monks and Buddhist followers, just like in Korea. What preparations should we make now to prevent this?
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: I recently attended the opening ceremony of a female student dormitory at the Royal University of Buddhism in Cambodia. The interpreter was a priest. The priest said that Vietnam is the country with the highest number of people becoming priests in the world. In Vietnam, not only are there many people becoming monks, but there are also many becoming priests. This phenomenon has emerged as Vietnam has developed. In Korea too, 20 years ago, there were many people becoming monks and priests. But that number has decreased tremendously. The reason why there are many people becoming monks in Vietnam now is not because Buddhism is doing well; it’s a phenomenon of overall social change. There are also more people becoming priests. Don’t be mistaken that it’s because Buddhism is doing well.
Now, as the economy grows in Vietnam, large temples are being built and the lives of monks living in the temples are becoming comfortable. Then they turn a blind eye to helping the poor and keep investing in building temples. So temples become more and more luxurious. Monks also become extravagant and wealthy. This may seem like a good thing temporarily, but in the long run it can lead to disaster. If monks ride in good cars and live wealthy lives, people may not say anything outwardly, but inwardly they’ll feel resistance. Young people especially feel a lot of resistance. Older people may think, “We should give the best of everything to monks,” but young people don’t think that way.
So I think that instead of building temples, we should start creating propagation halls near industrial complexes and schools. This is my suggestion based on South Korea’s experience. When I was young, I appealed to the Korean Buddhist community several times about this issue, but I was ignored. As a result, Korean Buddhism has now lost its way in Korean society. Just comparing the number of religious believers, Christians have become much more numerous and are absolutely dominant among social leaders. Politicians, administrative officials, these leaders mostly believe in Catholicism or Protestantism.
Q: Thank you.
The Q&A session lasted for an hour and a half, ending with a grateful round of applause.
Compassion for those in need
Because of internal circumstances in Vietnam, the planned public Dharma Q&A for Korean expatriates was to be conducted via live stream. Originally, a large-scale in-person Dharma Q&A had been planned, but due to internal circumstances in Vietnam, the event had to be canceled. Since small gatherings were permitted, only those who had requested questions were allowed to attend.
With about 770 people who had pre-registered for the Dharma talk connecting via YouTube, and about 60 people seated in person, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim smiled and gave his opening remarks.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: Dear Korean expatriates in Hanoi, we were planning to have all of you participate in person, to see your faces, make eye contact, and have conversations, but due to circumstances, I’m now seeing you through video. Only some people, mainly those with questions, are participating in person at the venue.
First, I’m very sorry that we couldn’t proceed as planned. Life doesn’t always go the way we want it to. Sometimes loved ones suddenly die, sometimes we suddenly lose our property, but compared with those things, not being able to give a lecture as planned today is not a big problem. In fact, isn’t it more comfortable to listen to the lecture on YouTube at home? You can stretch your legs and even eat snacks while listening. (Laughter)
If you only stay in Korea, you might have a lot of complaints about Korea, but if you travel around many countries in the world, is Korea a good country or not?
Q: It’s a good country.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: It’s not just a good country, it’s a country that many people dream of. Even children in Bhutan know about Korea. A person who runs a school in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, recently won the Ramon Magsaysay Award. When I visited that school recently, even first graders knew about Korea. Some children said they watched Korean dramas, some said they liked BTS and Blackpink—even the children in the slums of Bangladesh knew things that I don’t know well. Korea’s reputation is tremendous in South Asia now. When I went to Ho Chi Minh City, even the monks said “kimchi” while taking photos. That’s how much Korea has become a country that people aspire to.
Nevertheless, we still haven’t resolved the conflict between South and North Korea, and we’re living in danger that war could break out at any time as confrontations intensifies. Also, our North Korean compatriots are suffering from various economic difficulties. Before COVID-19, although there was conflict between South and North Korea, we could continue to help North Korean residents, help refugees, and settle refugees in South Korea. But now all activities have been suspended. In China, border surveillance is very strict, and North Korea absolutely prohibits the import of external goods, so we can’t provide any support now. It’s also difficult to support refugees. As a consequence, every time I go to help people in other countries, I always feel sad because we can’t help our own compatriots who are close by while coming far away to help people from other countries. However, we must accept the fact that things in the world don’t always go as we want.
My wish to help others hurts my parents’ hearts
Then the Dharma Q&A began, running for two hours.
Q: I’ve been in Vietnam for three years now and, naturally, because I don’t have friends and spend a lot of time alone, I began to think about how I should live. At some point, when I looked back at myself, I realized I was living like a very well-fed pig. Then, as I went around doing a lot of volunteer work in Vietnam, I started to think that I wanted to live an altruistic life. As that feeling grew stronger, I now want to dedicate my life to living for others, not just doing volunteer work as a hobby.
I’ve submitted my resignation to the company I work for, and will work until next week. I think if I create a small charity, I’ll be able to live happily. After working for nearly eight years, I’m about to take my first step out of the workplace. It’s very scary and I’ve burned my bridges. I’ve given away everything to those in need, leaving only the minimum amount needed to help others.
However, my parents are having a very hard time. My mother now understands a little, but my father seems to be having a difficult time. As the eldest son, I’m still single, and he seems to be worried about how I’m going to manage without getting married or having children. He shed tears in front of me for the first time, and now he’s cut off contact for about three months. The more I help others, the more I seem to be driving a nail into my father’s heart. So my heart is very troubled. What choice should I make?”
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim: It would be better to just return to the ordinary life that your father wants. With that level of determination, it’s difficult to sustain activities to help others for long. I entered the temple at 17. As a parent, which is more heartbreaking: a son entering a temple or living alone outside and doing volunteer work?
Usually, when a son enters a temple, the mother comes to the temple and says, “Do you want to see me die? If you don’t leave the temple now, I’ll take poison and die,” or, “How can you save all sentient beings when you can’t even save your parents from suffering?” This is something even the Buddha experienced. When the Buddha said he wanted to renounce the world, his parents strongly opposed it. In the end, he left after getting married and having a child.
From a worldly perspective, he was supposed to be the next king to succeed the country, but he left it behind. If the husband had died, the wife could have remarried, but because he became a practitioner while alive, it was difficult for the wife to remarry. From the perspective of the Buddha’s son, it’s as if his father left home after giving birth to him. From the perspective of human ethics, the Buddha was extremely unfilial. But why do we say that the Buddha is great?
A mother’s passing is her own life as an adult. Me choosing my own path is my life. If children always have to obey their parents, how can they be free individuals rather than slaves to their parents? Whether slaves to a king, a master, or parents, they are all slaves. If you can’t make decisions about your own life, you’re a slave.
The questioner seems to think they’ve made some grand decision, but from my perspective, their attitude as the master of their own life is unclear. That’s why I said from the beginning that they should just go back.
The questioner shouldn’t steal their father’s property, get rid of household items, or cause their father to be cursed. However, they’re not hitting their parents, stealing from others, sexually harassing anyone, committing fraud, using abusive language, or causing trouble while drunk. What’s wrong with living your own life? There’s no reason to think “I’ve sinned” just because someone opposes your path and you can’t follow their wishes. If a woman liked me and clung to me saying, “Let’s get married,” and, “How can you save all sentient beings when you can’t even save one woman?” should I get married? The questioner is having absurd thoughts right now. They’re making excuses.
The idea of volunteering to help others isn’t that great either. Volunteering for others means sacrificing yourself for others, and when people make sacrifices they always want others to recognize their sacrifice. If no one acknowledges what you’ve done, you may later feel regret and that life is meaningless, thinking, “Did I do something crazy?”
If I have a thousand dollars and use it to eat delicious food at a restaurant, drink good alcohol at a bar, and hang out with friends, there’s a joy in that. The satisfaction gained from fulfilling my desires is expressed as pleasure. But it might be more rewarding for me to share food with 100 hungry people. It might be more rewarding for me to buy clothes for 100 people without clothes than to buy one expensive outfit for myself. This feeling of fulfillment from helping others is expressed as satisfaction. There are these two types of happiness for humans.
The pleasure from fulfilling desires is only momentary. You might regret it later or feel empty. But the feeling of satisfaction lasts for a long time even as time passes. Will you seek satisfaction by fulfilling desires? Or will you live doing rewarding things? This is a matter of choice. However, to stay on the latter path for a long time, you must not be swayed by whether or not people recognize your work, or by what people say. If you follow that path for the sake of others, you will inevitably feel betrayed or regret later. That’s why it’s dangerous.
The Buddha’s teaching is, first, to do things that help others rather than pursuing your own interests. Second, that this is actually the path for yourself. If you have this perspective, you won’t suffer later. In the Diamond Sutra, this is expressed as “giving without attachment to form.” It’s like giving a glass of water to someone who is thirsty without expecting anything in return. If you do this, you won’t suffer later.
Usually, when people help others, they always expect something. They might not expect money, but they expect praise or some kind of recognition. If that reward doesn’t come, they inevitably feel betrayed or regret. So if you want to go down the path of helping others, you need to let go of the thought that you’re doing it for others. You should have the perspective of: “How will I live my life? I find this kind of life more rewarding.”
Because I mainly travel by low-cost airlines and stay in simple accommodation, people often say I’m admirable or a bit stingy. But when I do relief work in poor areas, I’m not really affected by such evaluations. In those places, even $10 can support children, and $100 can help many people. If I buy a low-cost airline ticket that requires one more transfer, I can save $300 compared to a direct flight. Whether I rest after arriving early or rest at the airport in between, isn’t it the same? If I save like that, I can help a few more poor children, so why not do it?
It’s the same with accommodation. There might be a difference on that evening between a $100 room and a $10 room, but looking back later, there’s not much difference. When you look back after a year, does it matter how nice the room you stayed in was? Not at all. With meals too, there might be a difference now between eating bulgogi or ramen for dinner tonight, but looking back after a year, it’s hard to even remember what you ate today.
If you have these experiences a few times, you can understand what’s important in life. If I live frugally and save just a little, I can benefit more people and make changes in their lives.
That’s why I live this way. Not because I’m living this way for poor children, but because I myself prefer helping them. Without this perspective, you keep falling into self-contradiction. Some religious people tell others to help the poor, and they teach using the example of the Buddha sleeping under a tree. When it’s revealed that these people live in nice houses or have a lot of wealth, people criticize them. But I rather pity them. How much must they suffer, trapped in their own contradictions? Also, because they have something to hide from others, they always live watching others’ reactions.
You all like to buy and wear nice, expensive clothes, right? But when you’re wearing such clothes, can you sit anywhere on the street if your legs hurt? You can’t because you’re afraid of ruining your clothes. So it’s better to wear moderate clothes. If you take public transportation or drive a moderate car, you can stop anywhere and buy something to eat when you’re hungry. But if you drive a luxurious car, it’s difficult to park anywhere and buy street food when you’re hungry. You can’t do that because you have to maintain your dignity. Like this, wearing expensive clothes and driving expensive cars isn’t always good; it can actually make your life inconvenient.
Why should we live bound by such things? And why should we care about others’ opinions? When this point is somewhat settled, you can live comfortably while volunteering. If not, there’s a high possibility you’ll regret it before long.
The questioner choked up saying that their father was heartbroken, but with that level of resolve it’s difficult to live a lifetime helping others. That’s why I said it would be better to just go back. If you want to live helping others, you should at least clearly have the perspective that, “I live this way because it’s good for me.”
In the time of the Buddha, there was a country called Varanasi. In the richest household in Varanasi, there was an only son named Yasa. In modern terms, we could call it a chaebol family. Yasa, the only son of this family, met the Buddha and became a monk. His father searched for his missing son and finally learned that his son had become a monk.
Worried, Yasa’s father went to find his son, saying: “Even if many young people in this world become monks, you can’t. How can someone like you, who grew up luxuriously in a rich household, live in fields teeming with poisonous insects and wild beasts? Your mother is also pleading with tears. Let’s quickly return home.”
Then Yasa replied: “Father, look at my face. Don’t I look more comfortable now than when I was enjoying pleasures at home?”
Only then did Yasa’s father realize, looking at his son’s face, that it had become much clearer and brighter than before.
Yasa continued: “Why should I return to that place of suffering, leaving this good place?”
Yasa’s father worried about his son’s clothes, bedding, food, and so on, while Yasa talked about happiness. his father was left speechless. Eventually, at Yasa’s urging, his father listened to the Buddha’s words and attained enlightenment. He didn’t become a monk but lived as a lay practitioner for the rest of his life.
In the Buddha’s time, Kapilavastu was a small kingdom ruled by the Shakya clan. The Buddha’s father was the king of that place, and the Buddha was the crown prince who would become the next king. But when the Buddha became a monk, his father, King Suddhodana, always lived in anxiety. Then one day, he heard the news that his son had attained enlightenment and become a great teacher.
The Buddha returned to his hometown to teach the Dharma, and many people attained enlightenment. Even servants in the palace attained enlightenment, to the extent that many people were enlightened, but King Suddhodana, the Buddha’s father, was not at all. So many people were puzzled. King Suddhodana was the most respected person in Kapilavastu and they thought that surely such a king could attain enlightenment with just one word from the Buddha. But although many people had attained enlightenment, King Suddhodana could not.
One day, a disciple asked the Buddha: “Why doesn’t King Suddhodana attain enlightenment even after hearing the Dharma?”
The Buddha smiled and said: “King Suddhodana only has a son, not a buddha.”
Looking at King Suddhodana’s image recorded in the scriptures, there are only stories of him always worrying about his son. King Suddhodana only worried about what the Buddha ate, what clothes he wore, where he slept. Like this, to King Suddhodana, the Buddha only appeared as a son. He never lent an ear to the Buddha’s teachings. How could King Suddhodana attain enlightenment?
Parents are good protectors when children are young. But when they become adults, parents mostly become big obstacles to their future. If love is putting 10 logs on the fire in a cold winter, in a hot summer, love is not lighting a fire. If you put 10 logs on the fire in a hot summer, it would be too hot to bear. We torment our children with such overprotection.
When children are young, they should be cared for warmly, and when they grow a bit and reach puberty, they should be watched quietly. We should give them opportunities to accumulate experience through trial and error on their own. They need to experience dating, regret, and falling down directly. Only then will they develop independence when they become adults.
If parents block these opportunities, children will end up not knowing how to do anything on their own. These days, some parents arrange marriages for their children, find houses for them, find jobs for them. When grandchildren are born, they even take care of those children. They receive the consequences of raising them like that for their entire lives until they die.
In that sense, the questioner’s parents seem to see the questioner as a child. They are worried about their child. If they felt that their child was very dignified and mature in all aspects, including their behavior at home and in work life, they wouldn’t have reacted like that. But because they don’t trust you, they keep saying such things. If you had shown them that you clean when you go to your parents’ house, comfort them, and take care of various things, they would have felt reassured, thinking, “Now you can take care of yourself.” But the image you’ve shown them so far is not trustworthy, so they keep saying such things.
However, there’s no need to blame your parents, nor do you need to be bound by such words. You can accept it as, “Parents can think that way. I understand well,” and live your own life. If you keep thinking, “Am I being unfilial?” because of your parents, it proves that you haven’t yet become an adult.
Q: Thank you. I understand well.
After the Dharma talk ended Sunim took a commemorative photo with the volunteers who had worked to prepare for the lecture and expressed his gratitude.
* Buddhist Monk Ven. Pomnyun Sunim Awarded the 37th Niwano Peace Prize (BDG)
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