Excerpt from The Principles of Mind Training for Everyday Life by Venerable Juksanim (Head Dharma Master of Won Buddhism USA)
To live with a sound mind means being able to clearly discern, in every action, what to take up and what to set aside, a practice known in Won Buddhism as chwi sa (choice in action). When we use our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (our six senses), we should adopt what is wholesome and let go of what is unwholesome. This is called choice in action: the practice of choosing what is right and forsaking what is wrong.
When there is no specific task at hand, we simply maintain a sound mind; when there is a task to do, we carry it out while keeping that sound mind. In both, we must remember one thing: our senses and actions occur only in the present moment. Human beings live only in the present, not in the past and not in the future, but here and now. Therefore, mind practice is not done in the past nor in the future, but only in the present. Using our body and mind in the present with sound judgment is the way to live while always being mindful.
In Won Buddhism, this mindful awareness is cultivated and examined through the Mindfulness and Unmindfulness Comparative Method (yumu nyeom), a practice introduced by Founding Master Sotaesan. In this study of mindfulness and unmindfulness, any action carried out with the attentive mind of discernment, choosing what should and should not be done, is called mindfulness. Any action taken without this attentive discernment is called unmindfulness.
At first, one checks oneself based on whether or not one maintained the mindful attention of discernment, regardless of whether things turned out well or poorly. But as the practice deepens, the Founding Master instructed that the standard should be whether the outcome itself was good or not. The core of the Won Buddhist Daily Diary practice, which is written at the end of each day to reflect on one’s mindfulness or unmindfulness, study progress, and any violations of the Precepts, centers on this mindfulness and unmindfulness examination.
Sotaesan taught the study method of “sound, thought, and choice,” which unites the Threefold Practice into one:
- • First, stop and be fully present (cultivating the spirit).
- • Then, in that stillness, consider carefully what should be done (inquiry into human affairs and universal principles).
- • Finally, decide and put that decision into action (choice in action).
At first, this is done in three steps. The important point, however, is that in order to have sound thoughts, the mind must first come to a stop. Mind cultivation begins with stopping. Later, when you become well acquainted with the practice of the Threefold Study, you will realize that sound, thought, and choice are one.
In Won Buddhism, there is The Essential Dharmas of Daily Practice. In the first passage of the Practice section of the Scripture of the Founding Master, which explains this method well, the Founding Master said:
The purpose of having you recite the essential dharmas of daily practice in the morning and evening is not simply to recite the words. Rather, it is to help you grasp their meaning in your hearts and assess it in your minds, reviewing them generally once a day, and more specifically examining them each time you are faced with sensory conditions. You must assess and check your mind over and over to see whether or not your mind ground is disturbed, deluded, or subject to wrongdoing; whether or not you have been making active progress in belief, zeal, questioning, and dedication; whether or not you have been living in gratitude, living a life of self power, readily learning, readily teaching, and benefiting others. You must do this until ultimately you reach a state in which the mind needs no checking. It is said that a person’s mind is so extremely subtle that it exists when you take hold of it but disappears when you let it go. How then can a person cultivate the mind without checking it? Therefore, in order that you may realize this checking mind, I have established Items of Heedfulness in Daily Applications and Items of Heedfulness Regarding Temple Visits, and also established the Dharma of Keeping a Diary to examine thoroughly whether one has followed these instructions well. Thus, I have provided perfectly precise guidance regarding your methods of practice. I urge all of you to practice diligently according to this dharma, and to accomplish the great task of transcending the ordinary and entering sagehood as quickly as possible.
Within this method is contained the entire way of living with a sound and complete mind. When first beginning the practice, it is important to decide on specific points you will check throughout the day. At the start, it is also helpful to set fixed times for this self check. For example, you might decide: “At 7 a.m., I will make sure to gather my mind.” Then again at 12 noon, you check your mind once more. Next, at 4 p.m., you check again, and finally at 9 p.m., you check once more. Gradually, keeping to about four set times a day, you observe whether or not you actually gathered your mind at those times.
If you continue in this way for a month or two or even three, you will eventually find that without deliberate effort, your mind automatically gathers at those times. At that point, you can begin choosing specific tasks and resolve, “When I do this task, I will gather my mind in this way.” When this becomes automatic, you then proceed to gather your mind whenever you encounter any situation in daily life.
In this way, you live each day gathering your mind, and in the evening you review your practice. This is the Won Buddhist daily training method for always maintaining a wholesome mind in daily life, and the act of recording it is the practice of keeping the daily diary.
So then, what is it that we should check?
To practice mind cultivation, we must know this clearly. It is to examine whether or not there has been disturbance in the true mind, our mind ground. Here, the state of a mind free from disturbance is of utmost importance.
However, another important point is that the standard for what constitutes disturbance can differ depending on a person’s disposition and level of ability, their spiritual capacity. It can also vary according to one’s experiences in meditation and Seon practice. For this reason, it is necessary to regularly participate in the training center’s formal fixed-term training programs in order to gain a deep experience of Seon. This is precisely why the Won Buddhist fixed-term training system exists.
Those who have such experiences will, when encountering a sensory condition, consistently measure their present state against the deeper state they once experienced, which in turn enriches and expands their practice. Without such experience, one ends up making comparisons against a shallow standard. This can result in a situation where discrimination is used to measure discrimination, where the discerning mind is itself being judged by a similarly limited discerning mind. In such a case, fundamental transformation in practice is difficult to achieve.
Without depth, one may spend two or three years repeating the cycle of checking oneself, committing the same faults, checking again, and committing them again, living in this repetitive pattern. For this reason, we must cultivate greater depth of mind. To do so, one must devote effort in the direction of that depth by participating in the training center’s fixed-term retreats and by dedicating oneself to daily practice morning and evening. Then, one day, on deeply experiencing Seon, the very way the mind functions will change, and even one’s outward demeanor will be transformed.
Here, there is another important point.
One might think that it is enough to simply practice meditation or seated Seon diligently while sitting still. However, in Won Buddhism, the most essential principle of practice is Timeless Seon and Placeless Seon, doing meditation without being bound by time or place. This means that one should maintain mindful awareness not only during morning and evening seated meditation, chanting, or prayer, but also while living and working throughout the day.
When we practice in this way, we can free ourselves from the cycle of making a mess, cleaning it up, making a mess again, cleaning it again, and repeating this over and over. A person who is good at cleaning is someone who knows how to keep things in order all along. The key is to put things back in place right away, each time. Mind cultivation works in exactly the same way.
This is the way of a Timeless Seon and Placeless Seon practitioner, living while keeping the mind in order at all times and in all places. Living in this way will bring good results in the tasks you set out to do, and it will also improve your relationships with others.
Even so, as we go through life, dust will inevitably appear.
Even if you close the door and sit alone in stillness, when you look at the floor you will find dust has settled. This is because there is always some dust that falls from your own body. For this reason, it is necessary to clean from time to time.
Mind cultivation is exactly the same. As human beings, we live together within society, so it is not enough to simply clean on our own. For example, suppose a deeply shocking incident is reported on TV. The first time you see it, you are stunned and think, “How could a person do such a thing?” But if incidents like this keep occurring and you see and hear about them repeatedly, you eventually become numb to them. Without even realizing it, your consciousness has been polluted. Later, you may even come to think such things are just natural occurrences. This is a sign that the mind has become seriously contaminated.
We live in such a society today. This is why we must be vigilant in keeping our minds in order, and why we should strive for a world in which everyone practices mind cultivation together. Through this vigilant mind, we can become people who are useful to the world, and through our religious faith, people who bring benefit to the world. This is what the Founding Master Sotaesan and all the sages have long aspired to.
References
Venerable Juksan. Trans. by Grace Song. 2024. Ilsangŭi salmŭl wihan maŭm kongbuŭi wŏlli The Principles of Mind Training for Everyday Life. Seoul: Sorisan.
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