Interesting Paradox about Korean Buddhism

The Official Site of Jogye Korean Buddhist is Celebrating the fiftieth year of having celibate monks, vs. married monks. What I find so interesting about this is that no one else in the world cares about this but a handful of Koreans who wanted to pawn off the decline of Buddhism in Korea on the Japanese. The truth be told is that Buddhism suffered severe persecution under Korean rule for more than eight hundred years. 

It was illegal to be a monk for almost six hundred years and many of them started marrying before the Japanese invaded. It can be said that the Japanese, "Single-handedly" reinstated Buddhism as the "National Religion" 

I am not Korean, I really don't care about all this nonsense, all I know is that my teacher, Zen Master Seung Sahn taught me to understand the truth in this very moment. That is it.

If you want to be married and be a monk, like T'aego or Japan, I do not care. If you want to be celibate, I also do not care. The point is why do you become a monastic and what do you do with that direction once you have accepted it.

These cultural debates, and purity of ideas, might be fine for Korean Nationals, but we in the West could really give a rat's ass.

The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism 50^th Anniversary

The Jogye Order is celebrating its 50^th anniversary on April 11. In ending the Japanese Buddhist tradition of the marriage in monks, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism began in its purification of the Buddhist temples. The instatement of the Supreme Patriarch and the Administration took place during the Order of Assembly at the Main Buddha Hall of the Jorge Order on April 11, 1962. The Jogye Order carries the responsibility of continuing the Korean Buddhist tradition in its 50 year history representing the 1,700 year lineage of Buddhism in Korea.

 

The Jogye Order is holding various events in its 50^th anniversary for the establishment of the firm foundation and the future of Korean Buddhism. The Museum of Korean Buddhist History and Culture has held the exhibition ‘Conversing with the 50 years of the Jogye Order’ between April 4-10. For the exhibit, the Central Archives of the Jogye Order has collected various Buddhist historical records of handwritten correspondences, diaries, records of ascetic practices, awards, photography, and recorded tapes.

 

On April 25^th at 2 p.m., the commenorative seminar of ‘Reflections and Contemporary Tasks in the 50 years of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism’ was held at the Museum of Korean Buddhist History and Culture. The Jonghak Research Centre of the Dongguk University has held the seminar on ‘Korean Buddhism and the Jogye Order’ in the Dahyanggwan Hall on April 28^th at 1 p.m.

 

The Buddhist Council Conference to be held in October is to be a meeting of reconfirming the collective and collaborative efforts in working towards the future. In October to November, the installation of the Bodhisattava statue of the Sixth Patriarch of the Chinese Ch’an Buddhism, Most Ven. Huineng, has been planned. The statue is to be presented by the Guangxizosi Temple of China, the Tonsure Temple of Most Ven. Huineng, in its collaborative work for the Korean and Chinese Buddhist Relations with the agreement of the Jogye Order.

 

The Jogye Order has maintained its traditon throughout the conflicts of the transformative purification period. The Korean Buddhist community, inclusive of all sects, prepares for the next fifty years in its hopes and trust of Korean Buddhism, opening and growing into the world.