A young boy wandering in the mountains was suddenly inspired to become a monk. He went to the Master Hwasan Sunim and told him, "I want to live in the monastery, sir." "Not all people can live as a monk. It is not an easy job." But the boy would not budge. He persisted and finally got the Master’s permission, on the condition that he would do odd jobs around the monastery for three years. This was how his life as a monk began.
Seoam Sunim was born in Youngju, North Gyeongsang Province, in 1914. He started to practice under the guidance of Hwasan Sunim at Seoaksa in Yecheon in 1936. Until the liberation of the country from Japanese colonization in August 1945, he practiced at diverse monasteries in the region of Mt. Geumgang, and one time he taught at Simwonsa in Cheolwon. He then held many important official positions, such as Executive Director of Administration for the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Elders, Head Monk at Bongam Monastery, and then the 8th Supreme Patriarch of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.
Seoam Sunim died at Bongamsa on the 29th of March, 2003, at the age of 87. He had been a monk for sixty-eight years. Before his decease, he assembled about 100 monks and lay people from Taego Seon center and Bongam Monastery and told them, "I have nothing say. If people ask about my Nirvana poem, tell them, 'There was an old man who lived thus and died thus.' That is my Nirvana poem." He then retired to his room and passed away in a sitting position.
Only This; That Is All.
The following is a part of Dharma talks exchanged between the late Supreme Patriarch Seoam and his disciples, collected in the book "Sound without Sound" compiled by the disciples.
Only This; That Is All.
"Sunim, are you sure about the hereafter?"
"Do not be deluded either by coming or going.
There is only 'this;' that is all."
A Dream
"Every perspective is but a dream.
This is the only thing one should realize;
A dream is but a dream."
"What, then, is not a dream?"
"A dream."
"What is the logic in your contradictory statement that
A dream is not a dream?"
"You are carrying around too many bags of this and that,
Of 'a dream' and 'not a dream.'
Aren't they heavy to carry around?"
Sure, I Will Come Back.
One day the Master visited a student of a fellow monk
Who has died, and asked the student:
"Your Master has gone to Heaven
And hasn't come back, hasn't he?
Was there a letter or a phone call from him by any chance?"
"No, Sunim."
"A heartless fellow."
And another student:
"Does that mean that
You will be coming back
When your turn comes around?"
"Sure, I will.
If you promise that you will study hard."
Almighty God, the Creator
One day an attendant asked the Master:
"Is there an almighty God who is the Creator?
"No!"
Another attendant asked the same question:
"Is there an almighty God who is the Creator?"
"Yes, there are as many as eighty-four thousand gods."
"You are now saying, 'Yes.'
Aren't you contradicting yourself, Master?"
"All those gods are the creation of your mind."
Do You Have to Drink the Entire Ocean to Have a Taste of It?
Sunim was coming to Wonjeok Monastery by bus from Seoul. Sitting next to Sunim was a young man who was an adherent of a different religion. He asked Sunim:
"I understand that there are eighty-four thousand Buddhist sutras.
Have you read them all?"
"No, I have not."
"How can you call yourself a Sunim if you have not read them all?"
"Do you have to drink the entire ocean to know the taste of it?"
