Dharma Talk on the Buddha’s Enlightenment Day

Hyōbong Hangnŭl (1888~1966)

Prior to becoming a monk Sŏn Master Hyōbong was appointed as a Judge by the Japanese Occupying forces; however, he left his position after sentencing several Korean independence fighters to death according to the Japanese Law he was supposed to uphold. He told no one of this decision; he just left and survived by selling toffee in rural villages. He later ordained under Sŏktu Sunim as a monk in the Jogye Order. Applying himself with lionhearted devotion, he earned the nickname of “stone mortar master.” Sŏn Master Hyōbong served as the head of the Jogye Order in Korea in this later life.

Hyōbong Sŏnsa was a Dharma Brother of Kōbong Sŏnsa and spent time teaching Seung Sahn Sŏnsa in his early days as a monk. Hyōbong was highly respected by all the monks in Korea for his steadfast devotion to the Dharma. Hyōbong’s only Dharma Heir was Kusan Sŏnsa who taught many Westerners at his temple in Korea.

December 8, 1948, at Haein-sa monastery

Ascending the dharma platform and taking his seat, Hyōbong Sŏnsa said, “Over the last two thousand five hundred years, there have been many who criticized the Buddha but few who praised him; the only one in the past who did so was Chán Master Yunmen; however, today this mountain monk is about to praise the Buddha.”

He recited this poem:

What thought did he needlessly arouse
about entering the snowy mountains?
Sitting quietly for six years,
what did he accomplish?
It is said that he awakened to the Dao
at the sight of the morning star,
but what is the Dao
and what also is awakening?

“The Buddha is a crazy thief who has sullied the pure and clear dharma realm, as well as a sinner who has fallen into the sea of the suffering of birth and death. The reason I say this is because the dharma realm is originally pure, clear, and impartial; so why did he speak of the distinctions between the six destinies of rebirth? All sentient beings enter supreme nirvana, so why did he speak about the dharma of transmigrating through birth and death, which prompts sentient beings to arouse doubts in their own minds!”

He recited another poem:

Taking seven steps
in the four cardinal direction
began the Buddha’s transgressions,
attaining Nirvana in the twin Sala grove
ended his transgressions.
His transgressions have been
irredeemable since the distant past,
where will he be able to repent?
He paused for a while and then said,
Today, this mountain monk
will repent on the Buddha’s behalf
before this assembly.
Will the assembly accept it
and forgive him?
He paused again for a moment and said,
the transgressive karmic fruit
of the Buddha have now vanished.

He continued, “Generally speaking, if practitioners who are cultivating the Way simply calm their restless minds moment (kşana) by moment, right away they will be connected to the Buddhas and patriarchs. Does the assembly in fact know the Buddhas and patriarchs? That which, right before your very eyes, hears the dharma is in fact the Buddhas and patriarchs, but practitioners of the Way often resist believing it. Hence, if one seeks [the Buddhas and patriarchs] outside oneself, he will not attain it in the end.”

The three worlds
are like a burning house
where one cannot abide for long,
The evil spirit of impermanence,
moment after moment,
never stops
Without discriminating
between noble and humble,
young or old.

“In order to avoid the invasion of this evil spirit, more than anything one must first find the Buddha. Where is the Buddha? This assembly’s one thought of pure and clear radiance is exactly the Dharma-body Buddha (Dharmakaya-Buddha) in your ancestral dharma hall; one thought of this body being free from discrimination is exactly the reward-body of the Buddha (Sambhogakaya-Buddha) in your ancestral dharma hall; one thought of acting with the wisdom that is free from contaminants is exactly the Transformation-body Buddha (Nirmanakaya-Buddha) in your ancestral dharma hall.”

“Commentators consider these three Buddhas to be the most precise standards, but this mountain monk’s view is different. In my view, they are like wanderers who have left their homes; the numinous enlightenment and sublime enlightenment (of the Buddhas) are like a person in bondage; ‘voice-hearers’ [sravakas] and ‘solitary realizers’ [pratyekabuddhas] are like turds in an outhouse; bodhi and nirvana are like a blind man’s mirror. Because ordinary practitioners do not awaken to the emptiness of the three asamkhyeyakalpas [infinite eons], they are subject to such obstructions, but this is not the case with the true sages. At the moment a thought arises, there never is a thought present: They eat and put on their clothes as they may, come and go as they may, and sit or lie down as they may; at any time or place, they manifest themselves in only one way. Furthermore, they do not even have a thought of seeking the Buddha. Therefore, if you try to seek the Buddha, you only become entangled by the Buddha; if you try to seek the patriarchs, you become entangled by the patriarchs. Seeking is nothing but suffering, which is worse than if one had not sought anything at all.”

He recited a poem:

Whatever thoughts
one may have,
Make it difficult
to become a person
of no-affairs.
If one suddenly forgets
all things at once,
There will be
no final eight days
in the last month of the year.

He raised his staff, struck the platform once, and said: Today, there are many in this dharma assembly who have been listening to the dharma, but only one person among them will gain benefit. I ask you, who is this person? KATZ!

He then descended from the dharma platform.