Hyon Gak Sunim abandons Korean Buddhism

[Kaishin]

A well-known American teacher in the lineage of Seung Sahn Sunim has turned his back to the Korean Zen institution, calling it corrupt, money obsessed and xenophobic.

http://m.koreatimes.co.kr/phone/news/view.jsp?req_newsidx=210700

Hopefully this will raise awareness in some small way of institutional problems and help avoid lionizing eastern teachers/traditions as more authentic just because of their heritage. He is a pretty popular teacher, especially in Europe.

-satToday

[Jundo]

Hmmm. I do not have first hand experience with the Jogye sect in Korea, but I wrote this a couple of years ago when a little film about Rev. Hyon Gak was posted by someone, and I guess it is still true ...

I just came back from Korea. Most Zen in Korea (Christianity is much more widespread in South Korea than Buddhism, by the way) is a Rinzai/Linji Tradition centered on Koan Zazen, as was Master Seung Sahn and the Kwan Um School. In turn, the Kwan Um school is very different in some important ways from maintream Korean Zen, with much more of an emphasis on lay folks sitting Zazen and some other things. (I was also surprised to see at the end of the film that Hyun Gak Sunim has now left the Kwan Um formally. I wonder about his reasons, and I think he did not really go far). And all is somewhat different from Soto Zen in Japan, in the West and here at Treeleaf. As I always say ...

... Precisely the same, yet often quite different. Sometimes very very different, but just just the same.

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...highlight=hyun

Korean society, like Japanese society, can be very insular. When I was in Korea most recently, a couple of years ago, I was watching the Zen tv channel on the cable (yes, there is a 24 hour Zen tv channel in Korea) run by the Jogye order, the big Buddhist church there. I saw a couple of programs featuring Rev. Hyon Guk (I believe) and some other non-Korean monks delivering talks. Not sure the content (it was in Korean). But I am sure that foreign monks do not fit into their system too smoothly, as it is very traditional and ethnocentric.

They have also had problems with money issues and some corruption. Please recall that the Jogye order, more than anything, is the major Buddhist church in Korea, and like any church (think about the history of the Catholic Church!) it can have people in it who are there for less than spiritual reasons ...

By the way, contrary to what some may think, Korea is not a primarily Buddhist country. It is primarily Christian, and the Buddhist church was weakened and under attack from Confucian and other opponents for centuries. It is a minority religion in Korea.

Last month, the country's main Jogye Order was hit by scandal after video footage showed several of its monks drinking, smoking and gambling in a hotel bedroom.
It was a PR disaster for South Korea's ancient national religion, already struggling to remain relevant in the face of thriving Christianity and capitalism.
Allegations of un-Buddhist-like behaviour - gambling, corruption, even paying for sex - have circled the Joyge Order, fuelled by internal divisions over the organisation's leadership.

...

"The public should not allow the cupidity of a very few monks tarnish the reputations of the thousands of Jogye Order monks and nuns who are fully committed to their vocations and serious about their practice and conduct. I have known scores of Jogye monks and nuns over 40 years and I have never come across a single one who is anything like the monks shown in the video," [Buddhist historian and Zen priest Robert] Buswell said.

Since monks from other countries have not recently caught international media attention through misbehavior, could the recent incident suggest that Korean Buddhist monks are more prone to corruption than others?

"There is nothing in Korean Buddhism per se that makes it more prone than any other religious order to corruption." Buswell said. "But monastic orders are of course social organizations and, like any organization that accommodates all types of people, it inevitably includes good apples and bad. The question is how to respond when such unsalutary types of conduct are uncovered," Buswell said.

Government data show that around 12 million Koreans [out of total population of about 50 million] are Buddhists. Among the 25 Buddhist orders in the country, Jogye is the largest, running major temples nationwide.

Some experts, said that it is important to understand the reasons behind the repeated occurrences of corruption scandals involving Buddhist monks.

"On a fundamental level, this scandal is reflection of the power struggle among different factions among monks at the administrative level of the Jogye Order," Chun Ock-bae, director of the Korea Institute of Buddhist English Translation, said in a telephone interview. "These troublemakers represent only a tiny fraction of the monk population."

Some critics have raised questions over the financial clarity of some major temples involved in the scandal like the Jogye Temple in central Seoul. There is no way of monitoring how the donations from believers are spent at temples.

"Buddhist temples are different from Cathedrals in that they exercise direct power over their finances." Chun said.

There is also the question of the proper qualification of some of the monks who joined the order in the 1980s, when Korea was undergoing political turmoil. That generation of monks is now leading the order.

The Jogye leadership has faced harsh criticism since the scandal. Ven. Jaseung, president of the order, issued a written apology. But the public remains unconvinced that the order is serious in rooting out corruption.

"Some of the older monks in the leadership of the order had been ordained despite a lack of proper qualifications and moral standards," Kim Eung-cheol, a professor at the Joong-Ang Sangha University, was quoted as saying in a local daily Thursday.

More here ...

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/05/117_111208.html

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Kaishin]

Thank you for the additional detail, Jundo!

[Kokuu]

That is sad to hear, Kaishin. I worked with a teacher from the Kwan Um school and respected him a lot, as I do the few teachings of Seung Sahn that I have read.

It sounds as if the home institution needs to have a sort out of its financial regulation if only to weed out the individuals and centres that are discrediting the vast majority with their actions.

Gassho
Kokuu
#sattoday

[Jishin]

Got any stock?

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Jundo]

Hmmmm. Well, I invest in shares of Shikantaza ... always appreciating, yet no loss or gain.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Jishin]

[emoji3]

Gasho, Jishin, _/st\_

[Risho]

Hahahaha

[Mp]

Hmmmm. Well, I invest in shares of Shikantaza ... always appreciating, yet no loss or gain.

Gassho, J

SatToday

Nice. =)

Gassho
Shingen

s@today


Sent from my mobile, cause I am out & about! =)

[Jundo]

A good time to remind myself and all of us of the Precept " Do not criticize the errors and faults of monks and lay Buddhists ".

My Teacher Nishijima Roshi described the Precept this way ...

This is a precept pointing out that we should not be too critical or self-righteous when our Buddhist brothers and sisters, struggling as best they can to engage in Buddhist practice through the activities of their daily lives, stumble or fall off the path. In its wider meaning, it means to seek to avoid speaking of the faults of anyone in a way not helpful to that person, or in a way meant simply to praise oneself by comparison.

http://www.treeleaf.org/forums/showt...ults-of-Others

That said, there is nothing wrong ... and it be necessary and perfectly justified ... to constructively critique and criticize even other Buddhists in certain cases (for example, abusive or harmful acts, institutional hypocrisies or unfairness as Rev. Hyon Gak believes he is doing regarding the Korean Zen Church). It is just that the Precept on "Not Criticizing Others" reminds all of us that we must stay constructive and free of mere self-superiority and the like. It is too easy for criticism of another's faults to turn into blindness of our own, and so must be very cautious and humble in doing so.

It is a fine line.

Gassho, Jundo

SatToday

[Tai Shi]

Hi Jundo and all I'd like to ask how much is proper to give as a contribution. I already give a monthly small amount. Certainly I might give a little more, and how much is appropriate?

Tai Shi
std
Gassho bowing.

[Tai Shi]

Although there is some question. I know that Jundo says any or none when it comes to money given by this group. and the precept against criticism of others certainly applies! So I myself give a little to help with advanced technology. I really thank all of you, for Treeleaf Zendo is dear to me!

Taishi
std
Gassho and deep bows!

[Jundo]

Although there is some question. I know that Jundo says any or none when it comes to money given by this group. and the precept against criticism of others certainly applies! So I myself give a little to help with advanced technology. I really thank all of you, for Treeleaf Zendo is dear to me!

Taishi
std
Gassho and deep bows!

Hi Taishi,

Any amount or no amount is fine, as you feel. Nothing is asked or required, and all is given freely.

If someone does feel like some donation, we have a link here. Uses of any donations are explained.

http://www.treeleaf.org/donations-to-treeleaf-sangha/

However, completely up to each person and their feelings, and there is no donation asked.

We are dear to each other here.

Gassho, J

SatToday

[Ishin]

No criticism here, but this saddens me.

Gassho
Ishin
#Sat Today

[Ishin]

I have been pondering this and I wonder, other than "leaving the Korean school", what Sunim plans to do or is doing now?

Gassho
Ishin
# Sat Today