Hello all,
I'm very happy to see a section just for Korean practice. As part of a quick yet steady progression towards deciding what type of Buddhism fits me best, at this point I am very interested in Korean practice. The masters and teachers are great, and the philosophy is just excellent. I love every bit of it.

So, I have decided that I will deepen my personal practice by adding chanting and bows, as well as zazen. I would very much like to practice with the Kwan Um School, and so I visited their website and read up on some of their traditions, such as bowing, chanting and sitting.

In the morning, I arise an hour earlier than I normally would, and bow, take refuge, precepts, great vows, chanting, 15 mins of sitting and then a short metta chant to end. In the evening, I bow, chant, 30 mins of sitting and the metta chant again. The chants are the specified morning and evening chants as listed on the Kwan Um website.

My question: is this a good idea to do? I see it as a way of not only deepening my practice and cultivating awareness and mindfulness throughout the day, but also some sort of pre-training for when I'm actually able to join the Kwan Um School or maybe another Korean school.

Am I wrong for doing this? Should I be waiting until formal practice is possible instead of copying the traditions myself? Is this some sort of plagiarism?

If so, what would you suggest instead?

Thanks for your advice, metta.

Dear Dharmakid


Ofcourse, it is a good idea to do.

There's no need of any pre-training for starting with Kwan Um though.


Nope. You are right by doing this - you've found a tradition in which you are interesed and you decided not to just end up in reading - you decided to do it!
So, that's very good.


When do you think you would like to meet the Sangha (I mean a temple/zen center)?

I'm wondering what do you refer as 'short metta chant' in Kwan Um?


M

Sounds like a very good idea. In fact, by doing so, you will make stronger connections to having more "formal" practice in the future.

Keep going!!

Huifeng

Excellent.

Hi Dharmakid,

It's great that you do these practises. The plagiarism is not an issue here, but the choice of the correct meditation method for you is. How many times do you bow? I've heard from some teachers (for instance Myong Oh Sunim JDPS) that before consulting a teacher face-to-face about your practice it is suggested put more effort into bowing than into sitting meditation.

In Korean seon bowing is a very important practice. The late head of the Jogye Order required any lay person who wanted to ask him a question to do 3000 prostrations before That was strong pre-training


Good luck,
xiwanx

Thanks a lot Huifeng! I appreciate everyone's comments and support, but it means a lot coming from you because I enjoy all of your comments on E-Sangha.

Thanks so much booker! I appreciate the validation, and I'm glad to hear that I might finally be doing something right.

Umm, as far as a metta chant, I don't think the chant I use is particularly Korean or Kwan Um. It's really simple:

May all beings be happy.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings realize their true nature.
May all beings attain Enlightenment.

I would love to meet the zen center as soon as possible, but it most likely won't happen until I can find a way to get up to the school in Rhode Island. And that probably won't happen until I graduate college and secure employment and/or grad school in that area. Actually, I'm applying for the Peace Corps right now, and I could specify South Korea as a possible destination for the program. But when the program is over, I could establish a life in RI if I wanted.

Thanks for the support xiwanx.

I usually bow when entering and exiting my practice (basically entering/exiting my bedroom, it acts as my dharma and meditation hall). Then I bow three times before reciting the refuges. I don't bow more than that because I'm already stuffing so much into my day, I find myself running out of time really. It was a stretch to add a 20 min morning chant when I wake up, on top of refuge, precepts, great vows and 15 min meditation...all before classes! It's not bad at night because the evening chant is only like 5 mins, but I don't want to be naive about creating more suffering for myself by loading up every minute with stuff.

Any suggestions?

Glad to hear things are going well! I'll be in Providence for school soon, so if you find yourself in the area please give me a shout, and maybe we could carpool to meditation. Good luck with your application.
-Cup

Hi Dharmakid,
I'm living and practicing in Korea now. Korean Buddhism is wonderful. It's very earthy, diverse, and vibrant. Some people just sit and stare at the wall for hundreds of hours, others bow thousands of times, many just chant "kwan se um bosal." Most of the practitioners are really sincere and kind.

Your practice sounds great. It may change, as mine has many times. I like to say mantras during the day to keep the mind from chattering too much. Some famous Korean ones are: Kwan Se Um Bosal... Namu Amitabul... Jijang Bosal (Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva).

I wish you the best with your practice and I hope you find a good sangha -- that really is the key! Going alone, as I've done for years, is very difficult. I was never successful at it, but now there's a great sangha in Seoul, so practice is more consistent.

Namu Amitabul!
Cheondo

Hi Cheondo!
Thanks so much for the encouraging words. It's exciting to hear that you are practicing in Korea. I think I've been romanticizing joining a monastery in Korea, but it's hard not to when everyone has good things to say about it.

I also really like those mantras. I've been keeping "Namu Amitabul" on my mind off and on for about a week now, and it really does help. Also, I've found that chanting "Kwan Se Um Bosal" and "Clear Mind - Don't Know" also helps to clear a busy mind. Lately I've also tried keeping "Who Am I?" on my mind during meditation. Haven't had any clear breakthroughs in practice yet, but I'm not really looking for them either. I'm just happy that meditation is allowing me to see my own suffering and pain-body much clearer. It's hard - not easy to face your suffering and fears so often like that - but it definitely helps.

I really wish there was a sangha in town that was specifically Korean Seon. However, there are two dharma communities in town - one is Japanese Zen and the other is non-denominational. We have a Seido that teaches on our campus and holds formal Zen practices twice per week, along with talks and instruction. He runs the Zen center in town.

Although visiting or living in Korea still seems unfeasible right now, I'm not ruling it out. But if that doesn't happen, then the Kwan Um School is obviously not a downgrade. I would love it.

Any more advice is greatly appreciated!
Clear Mind...
~Dharmakid

I think it was actually invented by Seung Sahn to help the breathing practice, not as a chant



Do you go there?

Cheers,
xiwanx

Hi xiwanx,
Thanks for your comments.

According to the Kwan Um website's "Practice Forms Guide" for sitting, "Clear Mind - Don't Know" is actually a mantra utilized by beginner's in addition to a breathing exercise. So yes, I think you're right. In my practice, I have found that it does indeed clear the mind as well as regulating breathing and reducing stress on the muscles. If nothing else, my mind is on the mantra, not on the grocery list.

I have not visited the actual Zen center in town, but I attended (and plan on attending this semester) the campus meditation sessions and zazen sessions. So I've talked a lot with Seido. The student Buddhist Association on campus is now holding early morning zazen twice a week, which is great for my practice.