Sunim - Wake Up and Laugh

WAKE UP AND LAUGH

WISDOM, WARMTH, AND WIT FROM A RENOWNED ZEN MASTER.

THE COMPASSION, HUMOR, AND PRACTICAL INTELLIGENCE OF ONE OF KOREAS foremost Zen masters shines throughout this new collection of Dharma talks. On each page, Master Daehaeng reveals how everything in daily life, even the ugly and difficult parts, can become the fuel for our spiritual growth. Her illuminating insight guides the reader toward an understanding of her ultimate teachingknow yourself, trust yourself, and go forward, no matter what your current life situation might be.

At turns laughing and scolding, always engaging, Zen Master Daehaeng exhorts, cajoles, and instructs readers in their practice. These Dharma talksgathered over several yearsare like having Master Daehaeng at your side, urging you on.

The question-and-answer sessions with students are particularly enlightening; readers will find that the students questions mirror their own and that Master Daehaengs responses guide them on.

DAEHAENG KUN SUNIM was one of the most respected Buddhist teachers in Korea. In 1972 she established Hanmaum Seon Center as a place where everyone could come and learn about their true nature and how to live with freedom, dignity, and courage. The center has gone on to emerge as one of the most influential Korean Buddhist centers today, with over fifteen domestic branches and ten overseas centers. Daehaeng Kun Sunim is the author of No River to Cross. She passed away in May 2012.

Wisdom Publications

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Somerville, MA 02144 USA

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2014 The Hanmaum Seonwon Foundation

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Taehaeng, Sunim.

Wake up and laugh : the dharma teachings of Zen master Daehaeng / Daehaeng Kun

Sunim ; Foreword by Chong Go Sunim.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 1-61429-122-5 (pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Religious lifeZen Buddhism. I. Title.

BQ9286.T34 2014

294.3420427dc23

2013028281

ISBN 978-1-61429-122-0

eBook ISBN 978-1-61429-145-9

18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1

Cover design by Philip Pascuzzo. Interior design by Gopa&Ted2, Inc.

Cover photo by Myong Hui Kim.

Contents

When I first saw Daehaeng Kun Sunim in the summer of 1992, she was sitting on a porch, and it looked like she was quietly playing with the ants. Not quite the fierce image I had expected of a great Seon, or Zen, Master.

At the time I was in a graduate program, studying for a PhD I thought I needed, and had been practicing meditation for several years. I found meditation very helpful and revealing, providing many insights into life and who I was, but I seemed to have hit a wall. No matter what I did in my life and practice, I felt like I was chasing my tail.

Now I was sitting in the Dharma hall listening to Daehaeng Kun Sunim. Instead of being intense and intimidating, she seemed perfectly open and at ease, smiling as she looked around at us. It was a brutally hot July day and she was talking about many different things, most of which were new to me. Out of the blue I heard her say, You have to search within yourself!

Id heard things like this before, but this time it was different. Those words reverberated throughout me; this was the next step I had been trying to figure out. It was as though I had been looking at a small piece of a painting for a long time, and now much of the surrounding painting was revealed.

Over the months that followed, as I listened to Daehaeng Sunims teachings, I noticed a couple of interesting things. There were teachings I understood and those I didnt, but of the ones I understood, there wasnt anything that my experience showed me to be wrong. Further, of those teachings I didnt understand, if I just thought of them once in a while as I observed the world I lived in, they began to make sense to me. As I continue to practice, it becomes clear to me that her central teaching of letting go and trusting our inherent foundation, while appearing somewhat vague at the beginning, in the end truly becomes a great path to liberation.

The Dharma talks that comprise Wake Up and Laugh cover these and other essential teachings of Daehaeng Kun Sunim, from basic issues of how to engage in spiritual cultivation, to how to practice after awakening. In between she covers a variety of topics, such as how to free ourselves from destructive habits, common misunderstandings and pitfalls, and the beauty of a life lived while letting go of thoughts of me. My hope is that you will discover for yourself what happens when you put these teachings into practice.

One last thing: a few years later I saw the video tape of that first Dharma talk with Daehaeng Sunim, and nowhere in it did she say You have to search within yourself. And yet I clearly heard her say it. It seems that not all Dharma talks are spoken with the mouth, and not all Dharma talks are heard with the ears.

Chong Go Sunim
Hanmaum International Culture Institute

At first introduction of a term, an asterisk indicates that this term can be found in the glossary.

Faith in our true nature is the foundation of all of Daehaeng Kun Sunims teachings. She saw this shining brightly within each of us and for over forty years taught people to make this inherent nature their focus.

In the Dharma talks that follow, she covers a vast range of topics and speaks to people at many different levels of practice and experience. At times shes speaking of things that are straightforward and easy to understand, and at other times shes speaking of things so far beyond our own experiences that they seem incomprehensiblebut underlying all of this is faith in our true nature. Have faith in this inherent Buddha essence, entrust it with what arises in our life, and go forward while paying attention.

It doesnt matter that, in the beginning, we dont understand everything. If we just keep trying to apply the parts we do understand, spiritual experiences and understanding will naturally result, deepening our practice and spiritual life, and taking us on journeys we could never have imagined.

FAITH IN OUR TRUE NATURE

Within all of us is a great light, a treasure vast beyond imagining. Through this we are connected to all other beings; through this we are connected to all energy, ability, and enlightened beings. We can call this true nature, Buddha-nature, or God, but regardless of the name, it is inherently complete within us. And it is the source of our wisdom, energy, life force, and just about anything else you can think of.

Because this is the source of everything, this is what we must turn to, this is where we must look for our sustenance. This vast treasure is like the root that sustains and supports the tree. That root is where the tree has to look for its support. How long could a tree last if it didnt rely upon its root?

Although we all have our own root, many of us ignore it, trying to find sustenance and solutions outside of us. Instead, we have to discover how to draw upon the energy and wisdom thats already right there, waiting for us.