Writings of Korean Seon Masters | Opening the Eye
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Dharma messages by Ven. SongChol, Korean Jogye Zen Master and Patriarch
Translated by Brian Barry
Korean Buddhist thought maintains the belief that meditation is an effective means to reaching enlightenment. Monk Song Chol is one of the meditation promoters with his famous question of "Who Am I"? If you keep on asking that question over and over, according to him, you will be able to attain "the eye that sees everything clearly" and reach the level to realize that "Mountains are mountains and water is water," another famous phrase coined by the great master. Song Chol is also famous for his practice of asceticism. The objects he left when he died in 1993 at age 82 were only a ragged robe, a pair of glasses and some books. While living as a monk for 59 years, he gave many teachings and this book is a collection of his major ideas from his sermons and press interviews.
Ven. Sonchol’s teachings resonate more with each passing day.
Ven. Songchol personified the Zen dedication to being possessionless, leaving behind only a set of patchwork robes, a pair of glasses, a small library of books, and some great Dharma messages. His words today provide a beacon of light to this age of confusion, aimlessness and wandering.
The eye of the heart has to become as clear as a mirror and brighter than the sun and moon together. And we can achieve that not from without but from within, by rediscovering our clear, bright, spotless original self.
