[any Question of All Life] People Talk behind My Back

Ven. Beopryun! I am often blamed - Pardon me? - People around me blame me a lot - Blamed? - Yes If they bleme me in front of me, I can ask them what makes them blame me However, they talk behind my back. I firmly believe they do but I don't have any supporting evidence In this case, what should I do? A man has been gossipping from the dawn of history Be indifferent to them. It is the best you can do People even talk behind Buddha's back And if you go to a pub, you will easily see people gossiping about president Park Geun-hye All men do talk behind others' back Just few people does not I used to let it slide because they themselves are just saying their say However, as it continues, I feel that my ears are full of it That's becuase you are over-sensitive I felt fine in the beginning, but now I'm about to criticize them Then, you may criticize them, too But, I can't say that out loud Then, you can blame them in a closed room where there is no one I remember that you said people have to interact not unconditionally but relatively While considering things relatively, I began to discriminate them I also remember you said people shouldn't discriminate things I wonder what the difference is between relativity and discrimination Well, you somehow like to rack your brain, don't you? Here is a cup People over there can't see it, can they? Here are three items including this microphone Is this cup taller or shorter than the microphone? - Please answer quickly. We don't have much time - Shorter - Is this cup taller or shorter than the microphone? - Taller Is the cup taller than the microphone? - No, it is shorter - What did you say? - Shorter Oh come on, gather yourself before answering Is the cup taller or smaller than the microphone? The subject is this cup It is shorter - Taller or shorter than the lid? - Taller - Taller or shorter than the microphone? - Shorter - Taller or shorter than the lid? - Taller - Then, is this cup tall or short? - I don't know Don't you know whether it is tall or short? How old are you? There is no yardstick for judgement It is not that you don't know, is it? Is it tall or short? I don't know You shouldn't say you don't know. You should answer it is neither tall nor short I'm saying, adopting 'your words' When asked about whether tall or short, you should, in your words, say, "I can't say it is tall or short." That is, "It is neither tall nor short." In Chinese, 非大非小, which literally means, 'neither tall nor short' It is the real state of this cup If it is always with this microphone, we say it is short And, if we repeatedly say, "It's short." "It's short." "It's short." over and over again We will eventually think, by force of habit, 'It's short." without giving much thought It is short not because its true state is short but because it is cognized as something short If it is with this lid, it is cognized as something tall It is tall or short not because of its everlasting substantiality but because of your cognition In this sense, it is said that 'All things are created by the mind alone.' I'm not trying to tell you that it is very big It is defined to be tall or short by how you cognize it If you repeatedly cognize it as something tall, you will mistakenly think that it is tall by nature and that you recognize it as something tall because it is tall Or, you think you recognize it as something short because it is short In Buddhism, it is said that the conception (whose image has been drawn into the mind) is constructed (in Korean, 상을 지었다) You have conceived of it as being tall or short, which means that a subjective perception is mistakenly thought to be an objective conception You may say, "it is short because it is short." But, in Diamond Sutra, it is explained as 'it is neither tall nor short.' As the question is, "Is it tall or short?" the answer is, adopting the same language, "It is neither tall or short." In the Heart Sutra, the answer is, "It in its own-being is empty (in Korean, 공)." In Seon Buddhism (in Korean, 선), "It is just what it is." or "It is one substance." In the Diamond Sutra, we ask, "Is it tall or short?" and answer "It is neither tall nor short." We ask, "Is it heavy or light?" and answer, "It is neither heavy nor light." We ask, "Is it new or old?" and answer "It is neither new or old." In the Heart Sutra, that is, in the philosophical term, We ask, "Is it tall or short." and answer, "It in its own-being is empty." We ask, "Is it heavy or light." and answer, "It in its own-being is empty." In Seon Buddhism, we ask, "It is tall or short." and answer, "It is just what it is." We ask, "Is it heavy or light." and answer, "It is juat what it is." I'm telling you this to let you know that you shouldn't be led by how others say This is called the factual appearance, that is, the real state And, we perceive it as being tall or short If you mistakenly think you recognize it as being tall not due to your perception but due to its real state, you are developing a conception Then, you will become obssessed with it Even if you try not to, you will be obssessed because the conception is objective to you It is just said to be tall or short. It is neither tall or short Let me ask you again. Is this cup taller or shorter than the microphone? The cup is said to be shorter Right. However, some answer, "The cup in its own-being is empty." Are you following me? They answer, "It is neither tall nor short." In this case, they have conceived that it is always true, which means they have 'constructed a conception of truth' The real state of this cup is neither tall nor short. But, it is said to be short in this relation and tall in that relation Thus, it is said to be tall but is not tall And it is neither tall nor short, but it can be said to be tall In the Buddhist term, being recognized as being tall or short is referred to as the form And, being neither tall nor short is referred to as the emptiness Thus, it forms because it is empty. And, it is empty although it forms In this sense, the Heart Sutra says, 'Form is emptiness; emptiness is form' This law works in our life in a natural way For example, you said before that the younger brother is bad However, it is not that he is bad but that you have conceived that he is bad He should change if he is truly bad. But, you just conceived him to be bad because he doesn't meet your need Thus, I talk with you a lot so that you can notice he is not bad and eventually be free from pains This principle underlies our conversation What matters is not to determine whether it is relative or absolute The point is that conception is relative whereas beings are the absolute All beings are just what they are The condition under which you percieve them, that is, the relationship with which you perceive them, determines how you perceive them, like, being tall or short The Buddha's teachings read, 불수자성수연성(in Korean) or 不守自性隨緣成(in Chinese), which means 'All do not attach to their self-nature(불수자성).' 'All do form in relation to others(수연성).' Therefore, all in the world are tall one day and short on the other day It is like taking off your clothes before taking a shower and put on, after There is no everlasting standard of taking it off or putting it on In this sense, when asked, "What is the Path?" we answer, "It is to put on when cold and to take off when hot." "What is the Path?" "It is to eat when hungry and to sleep when sleepy." "What is the Path?" "It is to eat during mealtime and to poop during pooping time." Then, "What is living beings?" "Living beings think about meals while pooping and think about poops while eating." I'm not saying it as a joke. We do lead a life in this way For example, a mother with her kid in her arms is sitting with her husband and her mother and talk When her kid asks, she answers as a mom. When her husband asks, she answers as a wife When her mother asks, she answers as a daughter. She won't be confused about her roles, will she? She won't be She is nobody until she has her relationship with someone. And, she is defined by the role created by the relationship When you are often told to be short, you mistakenly think that you are short Once your thought develops into conception, you will eventually have an inferiority complex from being short Thank you - Did you have fun? - Yes Truth is both interesting and instructive - Was today's lesson only interesting? Or, was it also instructive? - It was also instructive - Was it only instructive? Or, was it also interesting? - It was also interesting If it is instructive but not interesting, as is usual in monks' teaching, all of you will nod off or leave If it is interesting but not instructive, as is usual in comedies, you may laugh out loud while watching but will feel empty in the end That is, being interesting is being good now and being instructive is being good later Thus, you could tell kids to do things that are hard now but useful later while teaching, they wouldn't buy it Because they are surrounded by many things that are interesting now but bad in the future The thing is that kids always look for fun now but you look for usefulness in the future Thus, things have to be intersting now and useful in the future And, you should be able to do these things together If truth works only in favor of you, or only in favor of others, It is not truth. It won't last for long It has to work for both you and the others These are what teachings on truth are about Thus, you don't have to think it's hard to understand You don't need to know the abstruse term, like, 'emptiness (in Korean, 공)' What's important is for you to experience these teachings in your daily life so that you can be free from sufferings and be happy Matters after death such as going to heaven, hell, or the Blissful Land of Vairochana Buddha will be sought in religion And, if you are worried about those matters, you may engage in religion Whether you go to church or temple, whether you believe in a religion or not, and no matter which temple you go to, it's your decision What you need to do now and here with me is to understand the truth so that you can suffer less You will suffer less and become happier To attain complete rapture is to enter 'nirvana(in Korean, 열반)' To attain perfect liberty is to obtain 'vimoksa(in Korean, 해탈)' The ultimate end of discipline is not to go to heaven and paradise but to wisely enter or attain nirvana and vimoksa However, if you seek 'complete' nirvana and vimoksa, there will always be something to be desired Thus, do understand that you will be much more liberated and happier today than yesterday, when you discipline than when you don't, when you are not obssessed than when you are, and keep learning and attaining these Meantime, what should be your attitude toward being more liberal and happier? One is about your attitude, that is, your views. It is good to assume a positive attitude of mind The other is about improving social conditions. Will you suffer more if war breaks out between South and North Korea? - Yes - Of course, you will suffer more Thus, you need to establish peace so that no war breaks out You will be happier if gap between the poor and the rich is small, won't you? Thus, you need to narrow the rich-poor gap Will you feel less anxious if there is a safety net, even if it's minimal, for an accident or a disaster? Of course, you will This is why social conditions have to improve, too You have been more troubled with the Sewol ferry disaster, haven't you? In short, you need to find happiness in these conditions and you also need to improve these conditions The way to happiness is paved both by assuming a right attitude, that is, disciplining yourself and by creating a right environment, that is, having a good surrounding conditions In other words, both seeds and fields have to be good for quality production Is the quality fields alone good enough? No Is the quality seeds alone good enough? No Quality seeds in a good field, which is what Buddhists call 'the Pure Land (in Korean, 정토)' You need to cultivate a field and to choose a right seed This is how you discipline yourself. You need to take care of both It is also called the cause and conditions (in Korean, 인연) The cause (in Korean, 인) corresponds to seeds; conditions (in Korean, 연), fields Karmic results are determined by the cause and conditions Thus, instead of talking about whether to believe in a religion or which religion to believe in, we should get together and learn how we can be happier and more liberated, if we truly want to be No matter which temple or church we go to, I wish we can talk about how we can truly be happy between ourselves President Park Geun-hye cannot make us happy We should make ourselves happy I hope you have a happier life and thank you for listening