Dharma Talk to Mark B.E. 2566 Buddha’s Birthday

As he opens the dawn of Truth and shows us the reality as is, here and now,
The sun and the moon illuminate the heavenly virtues,
Mountains and forests shine a green light on the majestic Dharma-realm.

The most subtle and marvelous mind radiates the primordial light throughout,
Breaking down shackles, breaking open the gate beyond life and death,
Furnishing beings with the ways to truly see and truly hear.

Today is the anniversary of the Buddha’s birth.

No matter what door we open in the worlds of all ten directions,
We cannot locate the Buddha.
The Buddha abides everywhere, yet
We cannot find a trace of him.

Nothing is born or destroyed, nothing comes or goes.
Yet, wherever flowers bloom, birds sing and streams flow,
The Buddha abides in every corner of the Dharma-realm.
When sentient beings are mired in suffering,
He unfailingly manifests as a compassion incarnate, yet
Disappears into emptiness when all thoughts come to perfect stillness.

The Buddha is always found by our side when we suffer,0
Equipped with the Great Wow to save us all and
The Great loving-kindness and compassion,
Unconditioned and grounded in the wisdom of emptiness.

The virtuous aspiration to save the world ever expands,
The virtuous deeds to benefit beings ever deepen,
As our hearts are kindled with the Great Compassion of the Buddha,
One heart after another.

Sentient beings are all bound by ignorance, yet
Such ignorance is the very foundation of the Path,
While afflictions plaguing all beings are what constitutes living Buddhas.

Like the poor woman who lighted a lamp and offered it to the Buddha,
Liberating the light in the hearts of all sentient beings
That illuminates the heaven and earth,
The true nature, the reality,

We Buddhists must strive to illuminate the world
With the virtuous light of our true nature,
Which is tathagata itself, Thus-Come-One.

On the Buddha’s Birthday, B.E. 2566 (2022)

Jungbong Seongpa

Supreme Patriarch
The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism