Buddhist Assembly and Dharma Talk

Only by Knowing the Roots of Emotions Can We Achieve a Wholesome State of Mind

— Most Ven. Jinwoo's Seon Meditation Academy for Leaders, Part 4 —

1. The Root of Suffering and the Buddha’s Path

The Buddha renounced the world to end suffering, and he succeeded when he attained enlightenment. Throughout human history, there have been many religious thinkers and philosophers, but only the Buddha overcame suffering completely. The patriarchs who carried on the Buddha's Dharma — from Bodhidharma down to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng — also fully awakened their minds to truth. Their realization is known as “Leaving suffering behind and attaining bliss.” They were completely free of suffering. As I have already explained, the cause of our suffering and pain is pleasure itself. However, the relationship between suffering and pleasure is difficult to grasp from our own experience. If it were easy to understand, we would not be suffering the way we are.

From a Buddhist perspective, all objects, beings, and realities perceived through the six sense faculties are merely phenomena. If we do not see these phenomena as they truly are, we have no choice but to spend our days being dragged around by them. Our emotions are pulled this way and that by what we see and hear. Breaking this cycle is the path to enlightenment, the way to eliminate suffering.

We should see everything as it really is. However, when we superimpose our emotions on what we see and hear, we create errors. By laying subjective judgments and feelings on top of phenomena, we keep making mistakes. This is commonly referred to as discrimination. It becomes karma and turns into a ‘game of emotions.’ Whenever a pleasant emotion arises, an unpleasant one is bound to follow, and this becomes our karma. Furthermore, when emotions are amplified and grow out of control, a causal pattern of extreme liking and disliking takes shape. I say this with caution, but the more cheerful, bright, and high-spirited a person is, the more severe their symptoms of depression can become. Therefore, to escape the causality of karma, we must accurately understand the root of phenomena and existence.

2. Phenomena and Discrimination — How Emotion Becomes Karma

I personally think that all Western philosophers are Buddhists. When I read their books as a child, I did not understand any of it. However, having gained some understanding of the Buddha's Dharma, I immediately grasped their meaning. Essentially, they discuss the same things that the Buddha taught. These philosophers examine phenomena and human cognition through the same lens that Buddhism uses. We perceive objects through the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — that is, through the six sense faculties. If it were only the eyes and the visible object (the six sense objects), we would simply see and hear things as they are. However, when the six consciousnesses come into play, subjective perception arises, and as soon as it takes hold, we begin to make comparisons. 

The most important thing is knowing whether my mind is at peace or not. What we call causality is the endless cycle of this mass of emotions—a combination of my karma, discrimination, and feelings fused together as pain and pleasure. If we do not learn to control our emotions and eliminate this mass by eradicating karma, we will continue to experience cycles of good and bad wherever and whenever we are. Ultimately, suffering will never cease.

Someone once asked why we should bother making an effort when pleasure and pain are constantly changing. Without even making a conscious decision, the emotional cycle of cause and effect—known as pleasure and pain—compels us to set goals and take action to achieve them.  In the end, it is desire that drives us to reach a goal, and we use the word ‘effort’ as an excuse for it. Since striving is considered as a normal social behavior, are our attempts to get free of causality just another excuse? In fact, practicing Seon meditation also involves making an effort, an effort we make for our own benefit. Whatever we do - whether creating art or running a business - we do it for our own sake. Seon meditation is no different.

Have we ever seen anyone who lives purely according to their own will? When we stumble and fall while walking, we do not intend to fall. It happens because the causes and conditions of phenomena align. Very little of it is brought about by our own will. Since everything in this world is interconnected through causes and conditions, what we can actually do amounts to only a tiny fraction. Our satisfaction is always relative.

The problem lies in one thing only: the aggregate of feelings, the mass of emotions, which is often called the mood. Moods, both good and bad, are constantly coming and going, cycling through samsara. Everything else is merely conditioned, and the Buddha said that even those conditions are empty. Space and time exist independently of my will. Ultimately, what we call ‘my will’ is nothing more than sentience - perception of pleasure and pain. Everything else simply vanishes. It is empty. All things arise and cease to arise through dependent origination. The more we are deceived by what we call ‘phenomena’, the more our karma accumulates. Even the ‘effort’ I spoke of earlier cannot be wholly qualified as such. Although we commonly say that we strive to benefit ourselves and others, from the perspective of dependent origination, this striving is merely a result of causal conditions. There is no need to rely on it and create further suffering.

The Buddha said that conditioned phenomena are empty. Those who have realized this truth do not feel even a speck of annoyance or distress, no matter what happens. This state can be described as the unity of the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses. Distinctions between good and bad, positive and negative, good and evil, right and wrong, and proper and improper are extremely subjective. We must not make hasty judgements or jump to conclusions. If uneasy states of mind pile up and become entrenched, they will be stored in the subconscious — the alaya-vijnana or storehouse consciousness — and carry over into the next life. As these states of mind build upon one another endlessly, this process is described as “infinitely layered.” The butterfly effect can also be seen as a result of this endless chain of causal conditions.  

The concept of ‘emptiness,’ as the Buddha termed it, can be described in many different ways. Ultimately, however, it comes down to the question of whether we can eliminate the mass of feelings known as pain and pleasure. If these feelings are removed, time and space cease to exist. Since there is no need to define phenomena, discrimination also ceases, and a state of peace is attained. This is called enlightenment. To reach this state, we must practice Seon meditation. So, how exactly do we practice it?

3. The Wisdom of Letting Go and the Practice of Seon Meditation

I will illustrate this with a famous Seon dialogue known as “Let It Go,” which involves Master Zhaozhou. When one of his disciples visited him and said, “I came empty-handed,” the master replied, “Let it go.” When the disciple replied, “I have nothing to let go of,” the master said, “Then hold on to it.” When the disciple initially said, “I came empty-handed,” he was expressing a complex state of mind, encompassing feelings of guilt and concerns about arriving without a gift. Master Zhaozhou was telling the disciple to let go of that state of mind, but he failed to understand the master’s teaching. In other words, we must not be overly swayed by the phenomena of seeing and hearing. As we live our lives, various events—such as birth, aging, sickness, and death—occur, as do all kinds of incidents. While we should distinguish between this and that, we must not judge them by attaching emotional weight. From a Buddhist perspective, since phenomena are constantly changing and in motion, nothing remains constant, and nothing has a fixed, inherent nature. Therefore, even the concept of “self” is pulled along by the four self-views: the view of self, the view of others, the view of sentient beings, and the view of a lifespan. However, if we understand this clearly, we can attain the peaceful state of nirvana. This is all part of the Seon meditation process.

I will briefly discuss the views of Western scholars. The term ‘philosophy’ is a translation of the Greek word ‘philosophia,’ which originally meant the cultivation of the soul—that is, the pursuit of wisdom. The Eastern word for religion is a translation of a Buddhist term found in the Lankavatara Sutra that means ‘the fundamental teaching.’ A Japanese translator who is credited with coining the Eastern equivalent of ‘philosophia’ borrowed a Buddhist term to represent the Western word for religion. In English, ‘religion’ means being bound to God, so its translation in the East has a different meaning. While some argue that Buddhism should be viewed as a branch of philosophy rather than an equivalent to Western religions, others consider Buddhism a true religion. Unlike Western religions, which rely solely on enlightenment derived from belief in God’s existence, Buddhism encompasses both reliance on God and one’s own intellectual understanding. In my view, Nietzsche is the most Buddhist of all Western philosophers. In his essay The Eternal Recurrence, he wrote that all events repeat themselves infinitely. This is reincarnation. We have no choice but to accept phenomena to which we are inevitably bound by fate and avoid creating more karma by clinging to the emotions that arise within us—this is letting go.  In the end, suffering remains. Does everyone not wish to know how to eliminate this suffering? The only thing that matters is understanding the true reality of suffering and the Four Noble Truths, its origin, how to eliminate it, and the path to follow to be free from karma and fully realize the Buddha-nature. 

Since the mass of feelings made up of likings and dislikings stems from accumulations in our alaya-vijnana (store consciousness), we are inevitably caught in the cycle of reincarnation and repetition, even at this very moment. We do whatever we can to get rid of unpleasant feelings immediately. When life goes well, we succeed, and our desires are fulfilled, we feel happy. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. There is always a price to pay. Just as birth is followed by death, the same applies to emotions. If you experience joy, the corresponding karma will inevitably arise, just as the sun rises after sunset, or the tides ebb and flow. We wonder if a good mood can be sustained. Ultimately, it comes down to a single question: how should I deal with this mass of emotions—my suffering and happiness? The answer is simple, yet impenetrable, like “a silver mountain and an iron wall,” making it difficult to break through.

4. The Goal of Enlightenment — A Life Free from Suffering

Although they use different words, Western philosophers and other thinkers have explained that phenomena arise through our own karmic consciousness, much like the Buddhist teaching that all things are created by the mind alone. Things appear as they do because of our perception. Within that perception, we keep producing our own pain and pleasure. This is precisely reincarnation, or samsara. We split the self into two fabricated parts and make the mistake of treating one of them as if it were not us. I keep telling you that suffering emerges from the gap this creates.

Quantum mechanics is the field that has physically proven the relationship between phenomena and our perception of them. According to quantum mechanics, phenomena change the very moment they are observed. This concept is similar to Buddhist theory. While something may appear stationary to the naked eye, from the atomic perspective, it is in constant motion and endless flux. Since it changes the instant it is observed, it cannot be observed. Therefore, once the subjective element of ‘observation’ enters the picture, it is bound to be perceived incorrectly. We must avoid defining and judging phenomena subjectively. When subjectivity enters, errors inevitably arise.

Although some religions and philosophies have focused solely on applying these concepts to external phenomena, the suffering we experience today is no different from what was experienced a million years ago. This will continue to be the case in the future, even as science advances and new civilizations emerge through the fifth or sixth industrial revolutions. Eliminating suffering will remain a separate issue. In summary, if we cannot eliminate suffering, what else matters? Humans are bound to run into the emotion of suffering. Throughout human history, only the enlightened patriarchs have completely transcended pain and pleasure since the Buddha’s time. Therefore, we must follow their example and strive diligently. We must practice Seon meditation to liberate ourselves from suffering.

Today, I’d like to introduce the “Shall Pass” meditation, building on the “Anytime” meditation from last time. Even the most difficult moments will eventually pass. Sometimes, we look back on past events and wonder why we could not have endured that at the time. Everything passes in the end, but we must process our emotional baggage. Even if the body ceases to exist, the emotional baggage—known as karma—does not disappear. No matter what form we are reborn in, these emotional residues cling to us and force us to continue the cycle of rebirth. To break this cycle, we must eliminate this mass of feelings. First, pause and reflect on the fact that everything shall pass. Then, through Seon meditation, try to strip away these emotional layers one by one.

Next is the “Shadow” meditation. All phenomena arise from the mind. Everything originates within us, and we are the ones observing ourselves. If we dislike someone, it means that there is a karmic imprint of dislike within us. This is what manifests as a phenomenon, which is what “all phenomena arise from the mind” means. Since our own karmic imprints cause our suffering and pain, we should be able to endure anything by turning our attention inward. Only then can we eliminate suffering and find peace. If we realize that we were born with nothing and accept that nothing was ever truly ours to begin with, we can easily let go. However, the moment we set goals and limits for ourselves and believe that we must achieve or avoid them, life becomes so hard and painful that it feels as if we might die. Therefore, if we always view everything as “my shadow,” we can let go.