The Way of Korean Zen, by Kusan Sunim

This book took a very long time to finish. It's not for the casual reader, because it has a very authoritative and stark voice. The material is aimed at those who are truly interested in Zen Buddhism, and all other readers may find it a bit dry and textbook-like. The book is divided into two parts: the first illustrates the history of the ideas of Zen Buddhism, along with tales of men who have lived their lives according to these ideas, and the second part talks in detail about the ideas themselves.

I bought this book during the first part of my stay in South Korea as an ESL teacher (refer to my other blog Lily Internationally) and I have to say that these ideas really helped me to accept more ideas in the Korean culture than I could have without this book. After all, Zen Buddhism is about changing oneself to attain enlightenment. Changing oneself often involves accepting oneself, which indirectly leads to the acceptance of many situations and people in one's surroundings as well. Judging by the author's English name, I dare say that the original must have been in Korean, which explains the somewhat awkward language at times, and why it seems so dry as well.

The chapters on the history of Buddhism and the life of a monk in Korea were necessary because, whenever an aspect of culture travels some place else, it changes. That is also true of Buddhism - you would not find the same Buddhism in India as in China, nor in China as in Korea. Or even between South and North Korea. Korean Zen Buddhism relies heavily on the Buddhist community, where if you become a monk, the only people you would interact with from that day on - except to beg for alms or to lecture about Buddhism - are other Buddhist monks. They also eat only vegetables, and no meat is allowed. It is a life based upon discipline: all activities are purely utilitarian, including sleeping and waking, meditation, copying texts, cleaning and traveling.

Aside from the Spartan lifestyle, the other reason this book may be a bit dry is because it's meant to be a user manual of sorts for those interested in becoming a monk or nun, to live their lives for this religion. It doesn't lie - becoming a monk or a nun, having to give up all that a layman is used to and dedicating one's life to the study of attaining enlightenment, is not easy. There are instructions on how to meditate, and it distinguishes between focusing on hwadu (which means mental and spiritual silence) and the mind (we assume that this means one's thoughts and sometimes mental noise) as well as the Buddha (which means the deity, as well as a person's purest soul).

There are plenty of metaphors and poems to illustrate the author's points, and those can be hard to understand at times. The idea here is similar to the reason I write, where if you see a situation in a certain way - and poetic verse is kind of like portraying a situation and rearranging it as a puzzle - then it may be easier for you to understand, and therefore accept. Or even the other way around, accept and therefore understand.  Most of these poems use natural scenery and events in nature to illustrate the point, which makes for beautiful pictures in people who have a versatile third eye. It also tries to say that reality is often made of circumstances that people cannot change, and therefore the only thing that a person can change is his or her mind. In that way, a person's perception becomes an adaptive tool instead of a defense mechanism.

That being said, I am nowhere near agreeing with everything that was said in this book. For example, it emphasized the soul over one's body, and I feel that a person should take care of her body first, because otherwise hunger and illness get in the way of a person taking care of one's soul. It also encourages people to give up their families and lives to become Buddhist monks or nuns, and I tend to think that a person should be able to adhere to a faith while still living their own lives. There's also the not eating meat - meat is delicious. Of course there can be substitutes for the protein like beans and tofu, but it's not the same. Anyone who's ever enjoyed barbecue can tell you that. Also, there is no discourse on how to become a nun, or actually anything about being a religious woman in this book at all - women just exist as wives who prevent believers from being faithful to Buddhism, like distractions.

I agree with cultivating a strong mind which can accept reality. However, this book would probably not convince me to go to a Buddhist nunnery and try that life, because enlightenment and being detached from the world doesn't seem to be worth it to me. However, if you are interested in Buddhism - and particularly Korean Buddhism - you should still read this book to see if this cultural viewpoint of this particular faith suits your idea of happiness and or enlightenment. It's an informative read.