1.
The Great Master said to many of his disciples,
"As you are the first to come and seek this unique fellowship
and to study my Law for unusual purpose, I have deep affection
for you. What disappoints me about you, however, is that in
your studying you are becoming less sincere in moral training,
and cherish unrighteous thoughts. Some of you do not observe
what I have told you. What if I were to leave you and go off
when you forget your original purpose in coming here and go
against my instructions? You would never see me again. Therefore,
reflect upon yourselves and do not cause me to think in this
way. The state of mind of an enlightened person is hardly understood
by ordinary minds. When one is devoting oneself to doing something,
it would seem one would continue for years, even thousands of
years. But, if one makes up one's mind to forget about it, you
will never hear of that person again."
2.
In January of the twenty-sixth year of Won Buddhism (1941),
the Great Master wrote his Verse of Truth, saying,
"Ancient Masters usually delivered their Verses of Truth
for transmitting Dharma as the last moment approached. However,
I give it to you in advance, and although they gave it in secrecy
to only a few, I give it to all of you openly. However, it will
depend upon your own attitude toward study whether you are to
receive the entire Dharma or not. Therefore, each of you put
forth your best effort to study and you will not regret it afterward."
3.
The year before the Great Master passed into Nirvana, he hurried
to complete the Canon. He often sat up late at night proofreading.
When all was ready for printing he said to his disciples,
"I have not had sufficient time to do a complete job. However,
in this volume the essentials of all my aspirations, and my
doctrines and morality are adequately expressed. Therefore,
follow and learn the teachings in this volume, practice them,
and through the teachings enlighten yourselves so that you may
transmit this Law forever. Someday, this Law will attain world-
wide recognition, and there will be numerous people who will
be deeply moved and revere it."
4.
The Great Master, in the months before he passed into Nirvana,
often gave last-minute instructions to individuals or to groups;
"It is time for me to go to a distant place to rest and
this is the time for you to reflect upon and tighten your own
mind in order not to be negligent in your study in my absence.
This is a period of judgement, and therefore one of shallow
faith will wither away while one of stable faith will produce
good fruits. I give my Dharma to anyone who is faithful, sincere
and public-minded. Do not regret afterward your failure to receive
the Dharma, but take it with you now as nourishment for your
spiritual body."
5.
One day the Great Master said to Song Kyu,
"Since you became my disciple, you have done what I told
you to do without expressing your own opinion. I know this shows
your utmost faith in me. But I am wondering what you will do
if I suddenly leave you. From now on, try to express yourself
and guide the members of the Order by yourself." He continued,
"Recently, the interference of the government is get- ting serious
and it makes my situation difficult; it seems to be hard for
me to stay here any longer. Some will inflict hardships upon
you which will be difficult to withstand. However, as nothing
serious will happen, you needn't worry."
6.
The Great Master said,
"If you continue to make progress in your study, with your
original intention of practicing the Law, you will not fail.
However, as your fundamental abilities develop from lower to
middle level, if, while you pass through the middle level, you
fail to pass to the next level, evil will stir within you, and
you will be unable to develop your fundamental ability. Therefore,
you must do your best to pass the crisis of the middle level.
Symptoms of disease in this middle level are these: First, a
person tires of studying. Once affected with this disease, one
feels nothing but pain and boredom in practicing the Law and
sometimes one's way of thinking and speaking will become inferior
even to worldly people. Second, a person becomes neither thoroughly
enlightened nor entirely unenlightened. As people compliment
one's occasional speeches and writings, one thinks of oneself
as standing above other people and believes only in oneself.
One forgives one's own faults, criticizes one's masters recklessly,
has cunning doubt about Truth and Dharma and clings to one's
own thought. Of all symptoms, this cunning doubt is most apt
to cause one's study in vain, completely destroying one's eternal
great task. Therefore, all masters from ancient times warned
most seriously about this cunning doubt. However, to my regret
I have found many among you who have been afflicted with this
disease. If you do not cure yourselves, you will not only ruin
yourselves but will also become the cause of disaster for our
Order. Make every effort to overcome this barrier. In order
to overcome the symptoms of disease in the middle level of fundamental
ability, give your minds to your master, re- flect upon your
original vows frequently and think about the dangerous consequences
of the pitfalls of the middle level. Once you are released from
this danger, you will reach Buddhahood in a short time, as if
you were travelling by airplane."
7.
In January of the twenty-eighth year of Won Buddhism (1943),
the Great Master made public the newly composed Doctrinal Chart,
and said,
"Even though the essentials of my teachings are included
in this chart, how many people will understand my real teachings?
It does not seem to me that many people can receive my teaching
completely. The reasons are: First, that their minds are attached
to property and sex, and second, that they are attached to fame
and vanity, preventing themselves from concentration on studying.
Therefore, you disciples must choose either this life or a life
of practicing the Law. After you have made a great decision,
your success will come by pursuing that one Path."
8.
At a monastery, the Great Master asked an assembly,
"Throughout the world, from ancient times, who acquired
the greatest ability to deliver a suffering people and through
what kind of study? At the same time, what kind of ability do
you wish to obtain by studying here?"
Several disciples gave answers, and Song To.Sung replied,
"It is all Buddhas of the Three Worlds who have obtained
this ability and become vessels for delivering suffering people.
The study which we are all so anxious to learn is the one that
enables us to obtain Buddha's ability. We will never be lured
to the wicked way, but will always make an effort to find an
answer to the problems of age, illness and death, and to deliver
people from the sea of suffering by following after Buddha's
wisdom and conduct."
The Great Master said,
"Once in a while, people leave even this Order of morality
to pursue outside knowledge. It is regrettable to see some of
my disciples putting more value on these outside studies than
on studying Dharma. Therefore, to solidify your original vow
to study this Law, submit your written oath."
In compliance with his request, all the disciples submitted
their written oath and consecrated themselves to ceaseless study
of Dharma.
9.
The Great Master said,
"Since establishing this religious Order twenty-Eight years
ago, my teaching method has been too interpretative. I am not
concerned about the person of higher fundamental ability. But
I am concerned for those of middle and lower fundamental ability
who are becoming cunning as foxes, regarding Dharma as too easy
for serious study, and who are thus unable to attain the real
Truth. This is really my great concern. Hereafter, it will be
required that people practice the Threefold Learnings as they
receive the interpretations of the Law."
10.
The Great Master said,
"Through many former lives I have established many Orders.
Compared with those Orders, this one is the largest. Therefore
the first nine disciples of this Order will be followed by numerous
others who will dedicate themselves to this Order."
11.
The Great Master said,
"I have been teaching you for a long time. Yet it is regrettable
that I make the following three observations: First, some of
you talk about the profound Truth but very few express it through
your actions and are not enlightened to the real state of Truth,
Second, some of you use the naked eye to see, but very few use
the eye of the mind. Third, some of you can see only Buddha's
incarnated body, but very few accurately see Buddha's Dharma."
12.
The Great Master said,
"In our Order there are three difficulties for those who
practice the Law. First, it is difficult to understand the state
of the absolute Truth of Il-Won. Second, it is difficult to
practice the Truth of Il-Won in our daily living, both in Motion
and in Quietness. Third, it is difficult to explain the Truth
of Il-Won to the general public by using simple methods so that
they may be enlightened to the Truth. But one of moral training,
who with all sincerity and with strong determination seeks to
do one's best, will overcome all these difficulties. To those
who are not willing to do this, or who discontinue doing it,
everything will always be difficult, no matter how easy it may
really be."
13.
The Great Master said, "Foolish people are not aware of the
benefits from the rain and dew of Heaven and Earth; ordinary
people do not recognize the virtues of the sages. As a result,
people are neither aware of the benefit of rain until they suffer
from drought, nor do they know the benefit of the Dharma of
a sage until they are left without a sage."
14.
On May 16, in the twenty-eighth year of Won Buddhism, the Great
Master, at a regular Dharma meeting, preached to the assembly.
"I met several children on my way to this Dharma Hall.
They were playing in a grove. Seeing me, one of them made a
signal and the others all stood up and bowed. It was all very
orderly. This is also a sign of their growth. Human beings,
when they are very young, don't fully understand their relationship
with their parents and families and understand still less their
obligation toward them. But as they grow and develop, they come
to recognize relationships, degrees of kinship and their obligations
toward others. Likewise, when those of moral training are still
immature, they are not aware of the principles of becoming Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas, of ordinary people and all sentient beings,
of the relationship between themselves and all beings in the
universe, or of the principle of their own birth and death.
Therefore, the process of grow- th in practicing the Law can
be compared to the process of a child's growth.
Like children growing into adulthood, ordinary' people come
to be enlightened to Buddhahood, and disciples, through learning,
become teachers. You disciples, strive diligently to acquire
the ability to teach those who follow after you, and become
great leaders in order to perform the great task of delivering
all beings and curing the afflicted world. In the Yin Fu Sutra
it is said that 'Birth is the cause of death and death is the
cause of birth.' Birth and death are like the rotation of the
four seasons and the repetition of day and night. All things
in the universe operate on this principle of Truth. Buddhas
and Bodhisattvas are not ignorant about birth and death, but
are free from them, while ordinary beings are not only ignorant
about birth and death but are also restrained by them. This
is the only difference between Buddhas and ordinary people.
There is no difference in the physical birth and death of Buddhas
and ordinary people. Therefore, do not believe in only physical
Buddha, but believe in his Dharma. Make an effort to acquire
a genuine power not to be deluded by, but to be free from, the
changes of birth and death. Going to temples for a regular Dharma
meeting may be compared to going to market. It will be worth
going to market if we can get something we need or can sell
something to others, thereby making our life better. When you
attend the meeting therefore, share your thoughts with others,
that they may benefit. At the same time, ask any question the
answer to which might enlighten you, and pay particular attention
to attending the temple with reason and purpose- Birth and death
is a great question and everything changes very fast. How can
we be indifferent to this?"
15.
The Great Master said, "Mission, education and charity are the
objectives of our works. These three activities should have
equal emphasis in order to bring about harmony in our works."
16.
The Great Master said,
"The Threefold Learnings, Eight Articles and Four Graces,
which are the great principles of my fundamental doctrine of
Ir-Won, should never be changed anywhere or at any time. In
some cases, according to the times and the area, the remaining
minor points or systems can be changed."
17.
The Great Master said,
"In past times, religious Orders, governments and individuals
governed people under the principle of discrimination. In the
coming world, however, if prejudice and discrimination exist,
there will be no harmony among ordinary people. Therefore, in
our Orders, we will not discriminate between laity and monks,
men and women, or between age and youth, in paying our respects
to those who attain Enlightenment and who deserve to be treated
as holders of the Sacred Rank of the Great Enlightened Tathagata.
Even in our birthday celebrations, funeral ceremonies or other
events, attention should not center on individuals, but on all
members who have worked to establish our Order. All have a right
to share in both the grief and pleasure of our Order."
18.
The Great Master said,
"It is important that you write and preach my Dharma in
order to transmit my Law to future generations. But it is more
important to practice it and become enlightened to it so that
it may never cease. Then your merit will be beyond measure."
19.
The Great Master said,
"The master who first creates Dharma and the disciples
who dedicate them- selves to the Dharma and its transmission
to coming generations, and the next generations who themselves
respect the Dharma and practice it are a trinity. The merit
of each of them is equal."
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