Barley in the Field Dances to the Tune Played by the Flute without Holes!

Master Jungbong Seongpa, daejongsa

Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

Haksidangyeo chohakseon 學詩當如初學禪

Miochapyeon chambangje 未悟且遍參諸方

Ijo-opa jeongbeopan 一朝悟罷正法眼

Sinsunyeomchul gaeseongjang 信手拈出皆成章

Learning to be a poet is like learning Seon practice for the first time.

If you have not yet awakened to the truth, you must seek guidance far and wide.

Once your eyes are open,

Poetry will manifest wherever your hands move!

Members of the monastic sangha entering the 3-month summer retreat!

You will dedicate yourself for three summer months solely to the practice of Seon, without leaving the mountain monastery. 

Focus only on shattering hwadu, as if you were a cat chasing a mouse, or a man whose hair is on fire. Then, even the extreme heat during the Dog Days of summer will feel cool. This is the only way to repay the blessings we have received from the Buddha, the patriarchs, and the patrons.     

A pure sangha is formed when the monastery is well prepared, and the community of monks is harmoniously united in performing their duties and devoting every second to meditation. Thanks to generous donations from lay patrons, all the necessary causes and conditions for spiritual practice are fully in place.

Any practitioner dedicated to eradicating the karma of ignorance and attaining full enlightenment must learn to cut through it all with a single stroke, as an entangled skein cannot be teased apart thread by thread. When a practitioner vigorously investigates hwadu, the truth of non-self reveals itself, and the mind becomes as pure as the sky. Then, the mysterious and subtle acts embodied by all Buddhas and patriarchs will naturally manifest.    

Okyomangye songyosan 屋繞灣溪松繞山

Ggyesangakjae baekungan 溪山卻在白雲間

Imgyebangjang uisanjwa 臨溪放杖依山坐

Gyejosanhwa gongahan 溪鳥山花共我閑

A valley surrounds the house amid a mountain of pine trees,

The mountain and the valley lie between white clouds.

I lay down my staff in the valley and sit down, leaning against the mountain.

The birds in the valley and the flowers on the mountain rest with me.