Preparing for the New Spring Amidst the Cold Winds of Winter!

His Eminence Jungbong Seongpa, deajongsa

Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

Each bare branch brims with fervor as it prepares for the new spring, and barley sprouts crouching on the frozen ground defy the cold wind. Their zeal matches the resolve of the monks and nuns in ardent practice. 

Though cold winds blow and snowstorms rage, the plants of Yeongchuksan Mountain prepare vigorously for spring's arrival.

As monks and nuns observe the three-month winter retreat within the meditation halls of the monastery, behind closed mountain gates, the fervor of hwadu investigation fills the air. Soon, the hwadu will shatter, and countless heroes will emerge triumphant. Their calm demeanor extinguishes the fiery flames of delusion; their great hearts embrace the weary shoulders of sentient beings; and they bestow the nectar of compassion upon those groaning under conflict and strife.

Like the majestic Mount Yeongchuk-san reflected in Lake Bogyeong-ho, when we realize through practice the true nature of mind, originally pure and endowed with all virtues, and pray for the happiness of sentient beings, the impure land transforms into the Pure Land, crisis turns into opportunity, and disease and war will naturally vanish. When the ceaseless conflicts and strife in this world are purified with the pure mind, we shall see that the self and others are not fundamentally different, and that all are precious friends on the path aiding our practice.

Where afflictions cease, wisdom transcending the realm of phenomena manifests; where vows are supreme, a foundation for the happiness of all beings is established.

Weary from the long night of meditation,

Brewing tea, I feel boundless grace.

One cup sweeps away the dark clouds of confusion,

Piercing cold clears every thought, leaving nothing behind.