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Scan of the story on Muddy Water Zen and the Overseas Taego Parish in the May Edition of Modern Buddhism

Modern Buddhism Scan

Buddha’s Birthday: Streetfair in Seoul

Post by Chong Go Sunim for Wake Up and Laugh!

The Buddha’s Birthday is almost upon us, (tomorrow in fact) which means that yesterday was the street fair in front of Jogye Temple in Seoul. For an entire block, the road was filled with activities and booths set up by Buddhist organizations and NGO’s from around the world. I can’t imagine any other place in the world where one could see so many different types of Buddhism and Buddhist organizations. In fact, I have too many photos, and not enough time, so I’ll have to divide this post into two parts. (You can see larger images of most photos by clicking on the image.)

See all the photos here.

Interview: Seon Buddhism seeks spiritual guidance

Religion has improved the quality of spiritual life of human beings and influenced societal development for a long time through various moral roles in the public sphere by giving ethical inspiration to civil society activity and political discussion.

Zen-Master Subul, head of the Anguk Zen Center, stresses the very essence of Buddhism, particularly Seon (Zen) Buddhism — the spiritual guidance — to show people the right direction with a balance between materialistic and spiritual civilizations.

To commemorate Buddha’s Birthday which falls today, Master Subul, who puts the Buddha’s teachings into practice, talked about his vision on Seon Buddhism through “ganhwaseon” in an interview with The Korea Times. Ganhwaseon is a traditional way of Seon meditation in which the main practice is to investigate “hwadu” in order to attain enlightenment toward True Nature.

Read the interview from Korea Times.

Lantern festival to light up world for harmony

Making and hanging lotus lanterns is one of the oldest Buddhist traditions, which continues until today. Yeondeunghoe is a traditional Korean folk festival that goes back to the Silla Kingdom (B.C. 57-935 A.D.). It was inherited as the Lotus Lantern Assembly in Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392) and continued as the Lantern Celebration (Gwandeung-nori) during the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910).

For the welfare of the community and fulfillment of personal wishes, the Lotus Lantern Festival will be held May 6-8 just ahead of Buddha’s Birthday which falls on May 10 this year. Buddha’s Birthday is the biggest day of the year as Buddhists celebrate by attending the Buddha’s Birthday Dharma Service at temples.

More than 100,000 colorful lanterns in various shapes such as dragons, elephants, phoenixes, drums, turtles and lotuses decorate the main streets nationwide along with diverse programs and activities.

The lanterns are symbols of light, wisdom and compassion that dispel the dark and suffering of the world. Through the lotus lanterns, the dark become bright as Buddhists believe that the light brings enlightenment to those who are in pain and are lost.

Read more at Buddhist Channel.

Buddha’s Birthday in Korea, a preview

From Wake Up and Laugh!

The Buddha’s birthday celebrations won’t begin until this Saturday, but on Sunday we(Hanmaum Seon Center) had a preview of the activities our center’s groups are planning. There’s nothing else for it, but to say they were incredible! The planning and effort they’ve put into the designs and rehearsals really show up.

The Lantern Parade will begin at around 6pm or so from Dongguk University(Saturday, May 7). There will be performances beforehand, I think. The parade will go up to Dongdae-mun, and then down Jongno to Jogye Temple. On Sunday the 8th, there will be the street fair on the road in front of Jogye Temple, to be followed by more performances and a party in the evening. On the day itself, Tuesday May 10, there will be activities all day long at all the major temples in Korea.

View more photos here.