Walk the Pinnacle of Vairocana

H.E. Jongbong Seongpa, daejongsa, Supreme Patriarch
The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

有相有求俱是妄 Yusangyugu gusimang
無形無見墮偏枯 Muhyeongmugyeon tapyeongo
堂堂密密何曾間 Dangdangmilmil hageunggan
一道寒光爍太虛 Ildohangwang saktaeheo

Saying phenomena exist and pursuing them is delusional,
While saying no phenomena or view exists signals a lack of wisdom.
The bracing ray of light shines in the infinite space,
So dignified and complete that no crack whatsoever arises.

Sangha members who are about to enter the summer retreat!

Both obsessing with existence and no existence constitute a wrong view. Everything will manifest as one taste without exception only when one manages to avoid being trapped by either.

There is the right view, and there is the wrong view. There is existence on one hand, and the cessation of existence on the other. They are not the same, yet both are wrong in that it sickens the mind.

Fists unfurl to become palms, and the sky is always blue everywhere when clouds dissipate.

Monastic sangha secludes themselves in retreat in the summer and winter as taught by the Buddha himself. By immersing ourselves in intense practice amid the protection afforded by the sacred community, we are making sure that the lineage of the Buddha will stay unbroken and the purity of the sangha be sustained. That is why Indra, the king of heaven himself praises the retreat enterers, heavenly guardians celebrate the occasion, and the virtuous lay faithfuls offer pious generosity to facilitate it. Make sure not to waste this precious opportunity to resolve this Great Matter. Practice most ardently, single-handedly focusing your mind only on resolving the hwadu, and one day, you will surely experience liberation, free from all fetters.

Holding onto a tree branch dangling off of a thousand-foot cliff is nothing to be proud of. Only when you let go of that branch, you can call yourself a hero. Let go of all concepts of right or wrong, and aversion or attachment. Just focus on shattering the hwadu so that the fully realized Buddha, our original mind, along with all the wisdom and virtues that will arise naturally with it, will manifest itself.

Do you wish to unravel the hopeless tangles of a knotted skein?
Just cut right through with the sword of no-thought.

終日忙忙 那事無妨 Jongjong mangmang nasamubang
不求解脫 不樂天堂 Bulguhaetal bulakcheondang.
但能一念歸無念 Danneungilnyeom gwimunyeom
高步毘盧頂上行 Gobo birojeongsang

So busy doing this and that all day, yet hampered by none.
Seek no liberation or the pleasures of heaven.
Only keep going back to that one thought, the thought of no-thought.
You will walk the pinnacle of Vairocana.