Dharma Talk Summary

May 23, 2010

Talk Given by Hae Doh Sunim

15 Minutes

 

Dhammapada Reading : Chapter 14 “The Awakened”

The person whose victory is not diminished,

Whose victory no one in the world can touch,

That one is awakened, of limitless sphere, trackless.

By what path would you lead that one?

The person for whom there is

No ensnaring, entangling craving

To lead him anywhere at all,

That one is awakened, of limitless sphere, trackless.

By what path would you lead that one?

They are wise who pursue meditation,

Delighting in the calm of renunciation.

Even the radiant ones long for those

Who are fully awakened, the mindful.

Difficult is the attainment of a human birth.

Difficult is the life of mortals.

Difficult is the hearing of the good way.

Difficult is the appearance of those who have awakened.

The refraining from all that is harmful,

The undertaking of what is skillful,

The cleansing of one’s mind---

This is the teaching of the awakened.

Enduring patience is the highest austerity. (Emphasized in talk)

The awakened ones say that unbinding is supreme.

A person who injures has certainly not begun to practice;

One who harms others is not a seeker.

Not abusing, not harming,

Restraint in line with the discipline,

Moderation in eating and seclusion in dwelling,

Exertion in meditation as well---

This is the teaching of the awakened.

The Dhammapada: Verses on The Way Glenn Wallis

 

Hae Doh Sumin began the Dharma talk by posing a question to the women in the audience asking them to imagine what it would be like to be 40 years old, pregnant for the first time, while sharing a husband with your sister. This was the predicament that Queen Maya, mother of the Buddha, found herself in.  Queen Maya was probably scared and rightly so, after dying only a week after giving birth to Siddhartha. His stepmother, who later became a major supporter of the sangha and one of the first female monks, raised Young Siddhartha.

Hae Doh Sunim next told a personal story about his surprising and somewhat unexpected pregnancy with his former wife, Myo Sung. While they were both overwhelmed and amazed by nature and the possibilities they were warned by their doctor that the baby could be possibly born with Down syndrome since they were both older. They both agreed to accept whatever they got, healthy or otherwise and would not abort. In Buddhism, life begins at conception.

Next, he told the story of his experience adopting a baby with his first wife 29 years ago. He told how it was a 2 ½ year process and the trials they were put through before being allowed to adopt. Their only request was that the baby is under 1 year old and they did not give any preference for race or gender, accepting what they were given.

 

Hae Doh Sunim recently received an email from a man asking him to introduce himself to the man’s children to teach them about meditation after they tried several different places and found walking meditation and chanting to be “silly” and “laughable”.  He basically wanted to design a religion that fit his lifestyle and pick and choose which parts he deemed suitable.

 

For many of us, Buddhism is not our birth religion but our adopted religion. Like adopting children or having them naturally, there should be no different feelings. When you adopt a religion you should adopt everything and should try to live by the “vinaya” (rules). In Buddhism there exist the Tripitaka (three baskets). The Vinaya Pitaka are a set of monastic rules, but still rules all Buddhist can try to follow, the Sutta Pitaka, which are the Sutras and teachings, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka, the philosophical underpinnings.

 

Luke wrote Jesus saying; “From everyone who has been given much, much more will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even much more will be asked.”

 

“If you’re going to call yourself something; Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Wiccan, it doesn’t matter, as long as you manifest it and commit whole heartedly.”

“Today is Buddha’s Birthday. Buddhism is all about dying to the self, dying to your ego, letting go of small mind and becoming part of big mind. Are you willing to die? Like Queen Maya died? Are you willing to die? Are you willing to give it up for liberation? If you are, I would also wish you not only a happy birthday, but also a happy death day.”