​

Dharma Talk for the New Year

戊戌年大韓佛敎曹溪宗宗正新年賀禮法語

Musullyeon Daehanbulgyo Jogyejong Jongjeong Sinnyeon Haryebeopeo

Supreme Patriarch Jinje has given a dharma talk to celebrate the Year of the Golden Dog.

靑山綠水毘盧身Cheongsannoksubirosin.

海上波濤廣長舌Haesangpadogwangjangseol.

千聖萬祖今何在Cheonseongmanjogeumhajae?

拄杖頭上放毫光Jujangdusangbanghogwang.

The water that passes through the green mountains is the Dharmakaya-Buddha, the spirit and wisdom of Vairocana.

The waves uponthe sea are the words of Buddha, bottomless and immense.

A thousand saints and ten thousand spiritual patriarchs! Where are you?

A thin white urna, or curl,at the top of a dharma staff radiates the great pervading light of the universe. 

Ever since Buddhism’s transmission to the Korea Peninsula 1,700 years ago, it has been the cultural foundation of the people of Korea. Whenever the country faced a crisis, this belief has guided the people and the nation.

Whether one worshiped 1,700 years ago or today, dharma, the Buddha’s teaching, has remained unchanged. In order to realize peace and unification for the Korean Peninsula, the last remaining divided country in the 21^st century; to eradicate conflicts, confrontations, disputes and wars all around the world; and to bring about peace on earth byreconciling and creating harmony for all of humanity, we, as individuals,must dedicate ourselves to zealous efforts in practicing through meditation. We must each seekour true self, through thehwadu, orkey phrase of: “Who was I, before I was born to my parents?”

One day, Seon Master Fengxue Yanzhao (F風穴延沼, 896–973), a disciple of Nanyuan Huiyong, entered his lecture hall and proposed this question:

“In ancient times, the heart-seal of a spiritual patriarch was inthe shape of an iron cow. Walking is like staying in the seal, and staying is like destroying the seal. If you neither walk nor stay, then, is the sealintact, or is there any seal at all?”

Seon MasterFengxue Yanzhao, a great writer, has informed monastic complexes around the world of the tradition of the Buddha and the Buddhas of three time periods, as well as successive generations of patriarchs. He was able to take iron and transform it into gold, and transform gold back into iron,by observing closely the boundary ofevery phenomenon or objectin themind,with the eye and treasure of the true law.

So, when all is said and done, how can wisdom be explained in just a short phrase? 

鴛鴦繡了從君看Wonangsuryojonggungan,

莫把金針度與人Makpageumchimdoyeoin.

Embroidering a mandarin duck is like pursuing yourself; nonetheless, the golden needle that is acquired can’t simply be given to anyone.

The New Morning of the Year of Golden Dog

By Supreme Patriarch Jinje of the Jogye Order of Korea Buddhism