옥탑방람보

Sakyamuni Buddha was born in the land of the India as a human. He was awakened to his original nature through ascetic sufferings and practice and attained Buddhahood. He expounded his teachings of the Dharma to the beings in the human world on the basis of the doctrine of cause and conditions and transmigration. He departed this world after having revealed the truth of the universe to the world through his disciples for over forty-five years. After the passing of Sakyamuni Buddha, various kinds of Buddhist sects have appeared in the name of Buddha, various kinds of Buddhist sects have appeared in the name of Buddhism in this world. They told us the truth of the world and ways of the seekers of enlightenment, then, disappeared. Great Monk Jajae Manhyon who renounced a worldly life to become a practitioner, due to his questions on life and death in his twenties, entered a Samadhi, a high level of meditative concentration in selflessness through recitation of Buddha's name. He has clearly seen the ways of the Threefold Great Thousand World Systems and their movements and is now sharing this with others.

"The reward of the Buddhas are absolutely in existence. Buddha in the Dharma Body abides in the absolute realm as an immeasurable light that shines all over the world. The pure Dharma Vairochana Buddha is the Dharma Body of Sakyamuni. Buddha embraces all the pure Dharma bodies of all Buddhas in the body."

The Buddha that Monk Jajae Manhyon has revealed is one that is a being that has the three bodies, namely, the Dharma Body, the Reward Body and the Transformation Body. The Dharma Body is the origin of the Reward and Transformation Bodies. The Buddha Body made of immeasurable light is the essential element to become a Buddha. Monk Jajae Manhyon says that there must be a decision made by Sakyamuni Buddha for a Buddha to be born in this Saha-world.

"I see immeasurable light - a clear, bright and lucid light - during my practice. Then I pass another gateway, meet with many Buddhas in deep samadhi who have come to see me and listen to their Dharma talks directly. I listen to the Dharma of Buddhas, receive their guidance on my practice and as I practice as a Buddha, I enter deeper into samadhi."

Even to Buddhist disciples, the remarks that the Great Monk has made are not usual. It is because books written by past Great Master Monks or those of the Seon Sect seldom speak of these things. At first glance, one with no connection with Buddhism will have difficulty understanding this state which Great Monk Jajae Manhyon refers to.

"It was January 2001. While practicing chanting the sacred name of a Buddha he entered the samadhi. Buddha said to him :"

The Buddha does neither abide outside nor inside of the mind.
The Buddha abides in an 'Absolute Realm in selflessness.'
The mind does not have an inside or on outside.
As it neither goes nor comes and does not move,
Buddha abides in that way, too.
Only humans say whether it exists or it does not exist,
but the Buddhas abide in an 'Absolute Realm in Selflessness'.

At that time, he realized the fact that he himself had accomplished hardship in a past lifetime and that he had been Ananda, one of the ten noble disciples who attended to the Buddha at his side at the time of the Spirit Mountain of Sakyamuni Buddha at his side at the time of the Spirit Mountain of Sakyamuni Buddha. The Great Monk heard and experienced much regarding the Realms of Bodhisattvas and Buddhas in the state of deep samadhi that he reached through recitation of Buddha’s name. The state of his being able to see Sakyamuni Buddha supervising the Threefold Great Thousand World Systems and various stages of Bodhisattvas was not been realized in a day. He attained Buddhahood because he already broke through his Hwadu a long time ago. He chose to practice meditation by chanting Buddha’s name with a thirst for seeking the truth of the universe and also practiced recitation.

In the book <<The 21st Century Buddha’s Message>>, published in 2005, the Great Monk revealed the song of bliss that he had composed in samadhi in selflessness in 2002.

Empty, empty,
the Threefold Great Thousand World Systems
are empty.
The empty realm
where
no dust
and no particle
exists.
Clear, clean,
and pureness itself.
Bliss, bliss,
it is bliss

At that time, Great Monk Jajae Manhyon passed through samadhi and attained his Buddhahood approved by the Buddha.

 

Receiving approval of the Dharma from the Buddha in samadhi, the Great Monk Jajae Manhyon rose from his seat of a practitioner and made up his mind to propagate the true Dharma of the Buddha across the world. Having renounced a worldly life to become a monk of the Jogye Buddhist Order, awakening his original nature through Hwadu - a head phrase for meditation investigation, the Great Monk established Yongsan Buddhism. This is seen as the correct method of becoming a Buddha based on his experience of receiving empowerment from the Buddha through recitation of Buddha's name and of attaining Buddhahood.

"In order to solve his doubts on the truth of birth and death and on the world after death, he investigated Hwadu, then changed his practice method to recitation, entered samadhi of deep recitation and eventually attained samadhi. He has seen the real character behind the Dharma realm of the universe by entering into a deep samadhi and seeing the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas abiding in the Absolute Realm as well as the existence of Hell, the deva realm and the Westem Paradise."

The Great Monk who not only obtained the answer to his lifetime Hwadu, but has also seen the subtle world of the Absolute Realm over the realm of emptiness through recitation of Buddha's name, has once again realized the limit of enlightenment by one's own efforts. He himself understood a new method of going beyond the limit of the practicing method of Seon Buddhism that has been taking the lead of Buddhism on this land (South Korea) for over 1000 years. His goal is to propagate this new method to all beings he encounters.

"Reciting the sacred name of Sakyamuni Buddha who perfectly possesses not only wisdom, compassion and blessed virtues, but also the Three Bodies of the Dharma, Reward and Transformation Bodies and exercises omnipotent universal ability is the best method guaranteeing rebirth in the heaven of the deva realm and the Western Paradise Pure Land."

The Great Monk established the Yongsan Buddhism Foundation in 2007. He also started to draw up the basic doctrines and code for faith and practice and systemized them.

"Human beings exist in the six realms in life and death. It is true that human beings commit countless karmic sin and exist in the Three Evil Destinies such as Hell, the animal realm, and others. They do not escape from the Three Poisons of greed, anger and ignorance. Yongsan Buddhism has shown how human beings can escape from the Three Poisons through a pure practice method and at the same time save them so that they will not fall down into the Three Evil Destinies."

Further, the important doctrines of the Yongsan Buddhism are to perform one's filial piety to their parents, respect thdir teacher, love their nation and practice loyalty and filial piety as part of their life. As a rootless tree cannot grow on the land, all living beings must observe fundamental manners and repay one's obligations and also have love toward their nation.

Besides these, Yongsan Buddhism stands on the basic doctrines of strictly observing precepts, repenting one's karmic sins in the past and loving our neighbors with endless compassion. The teachings of the Great Monk includes the idea that one must cultivate a pure mind through repentence and become a great liberated man caring for others before yourself.

"We must take refuge in the Buddha and his Dharma. We must also practice the Ten Virtues and actions fof a Bodhisattva completely. We must study the Mahayana Sutras, escape from the cycle of life and death as a recitation practitioner chanting Sakyamuni Buddha and live a life to be rebom in the Western Pure Land. The Western Paradise Pure Land exists. Hell also exists."

The Grest Monk Jajae Manhyon attaches more importance to practice than speech and exphasizes that studying scriptures steadily together with practice and establishing a systematic knowledge of the realm of the Buddhism has are the fundamentals of practice. In this connection, Yongsan Buddhism has taken the Sutras, like the Agama Sutra, the Ksitigarbha Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra as the basic Sutras. Whenever he has an opportunity, he stresses that practioners should not ignore the study of Sutras.