성철스님의 제자 교육법 | 성철 스님 열반 30주기 맞아 성철스님의 '영원한 시자' 원택 스님 인터뷰 5

Venerable Seongcheol (1912–1993) guarded Baengnyeonam Hermitage on Mt. Gaya in Hapcheon, Gyeongsangnam-do, and rarely left the temple grounds. To have an audience with him, one had to visit Baengnyeonam and perform 3,000 prostrations before the Buddha. When this mountain monk, who had lived only in the mountains wearing tattered clothes, passed away, hundreds of thousands of people gathered along the tens of miles from Haeinsa Temple to the highway tollgate to witness his final moments, astonishing the world. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of Venerable Seongcheol, who, following his practice of sitting meditation without ever lying down, ascended to the position of abbot of Haeinsa Temple in 1967 at the age of 50 and awakened slumbering sentient beings with his profound knowledge and enlightenment that transcended the East and West. We met Venerable Won-taek (80), the "eternal attendant" of Venerable Seongcheol, at Baengnyeonam Hermitage. He served Venerable Seongcheol for 23 years during his lifetime and, after his passing, continues to protect Baengnyeonam Hermitage while spreading Seongcheol's philosophy through the Baengnyeon Buddhist Cultural Foundation and Janggyeonggak Publishing. Venerable Seongcheol's remark that "one should not read books" is widely known to the world. Venerable Seongcheol’s Five Precepts for Senior Monks (the five rules that senior monks must observe) are famous in the Zen community. The five guidelines Venerable Seongcheol gave to Zen monks are: do not sleep too much, do not speak too much, do not read books, do not eat too much, and do not eat snacks. However, Venerable Seongcheol was a bibliophile and avid reader who possessed a collection of no fewer than 10,000 books. Venerable Won-taek shares in detail the actual life of Venerable Seongcheol, which has remained unknown to the world until now. This includes how he acquired so many books and how he read them, his family history involving his secular parents, his wife before ordination, and his daughter, as well as the fact that he not only practiced asceticism but also performed manual labor at the temple in his youth, carrying two full loads of wood a day and cultivating vegetables himself. #VenWontaek #VenSeongcheol #StoryOfServingVenSeongcheol ---------------------------- Chohyun TV Hyusimjeong Chohyun, Religion Specialist Reporter, The Hankyoreh [email protected] What do you wish to possess? A lot of money, high status, solid power, good family and friends, joy and happiness. When you become wise with an open attitude, many things are given as a bonus. Hyusimjeong is a place where we lay down religion, ideology, stereotypes, and prejudices, open our hearts to learn, become wise and mature, and find happiness for ourselves and others. The wisdom to accept what cannot be changed, and the courage to change what can! *Chohyun TV Hyusimjeong does not apply for advertising on YouTube, so it does not generate revenue. Therefore, it is produced through the talent donation of the interviewer, interviewee, cameraman, and editor. (Since Jo Hyun mostly conducts interviews with her phone mounted on a tripod, please excuse any lack of professionalism regarding sound quality.) **The interview article is available at Hyusimjeong (well.hani.co.kr). If you subscribe to Reporter Jo Hyun on Naver News (naver.me/F5uVPaKk), her writings will be delivered to you. ****Supporting The Hankyoreh (support.hani.co.kr) or subscribing to the newspaper would be a great help. (If you have already made a donation, please contact me via email. If you would like to subscribe to The Hankyoreh, please also contact me via email. Jo Hyun's email: [email protected]) May you be healthy and happy! May you be loved and respected! May you be a creator who builds a beautiful world!