Peace of Mind and Compassion Within

Life should be enjoyable and worthwhile. People feel at their best when doing what they want and their self worth when they helping others. But at the same time, life can be just as un-amusing and unworthy because of the same reason. Although we may feel worthy and enjoy it for a while but it could soon diminish.

It is said that ‘you should love your neighbour as you love yourself’, people know this is a good deed but they do not do it – there is a reason behind that. Everyone acts and speaks the most appropriate words and action at the time. Even when they get angry, that particular moment, it feels the most appropriate action to that person at the time. But soon after, as the time goes by, one starts to realise that this was not a right thing to do and regret. Interestingly though, when people are confronted with the same situation again, they repeat how they have reacted in that situation previously. And regret again. Actions like these hurt the one and others around them - This is a foolish life indeed.

Everyone lives to his or her own benefit. Whether it is choosing the companion for a lifetime, or choosing his or her own career, the measure is how much one could maximise the benefit. Hence, the successful life is measured by the accumulation of wealth, or the social status.

Everyone wants to live a successful life, but only a limited number of people who could succeed in this kind of manner. Social conflicts and disputes are created because they all want to have more money, power and higher status. When a person benefits, there is another who loses inevitably. This is the reason why most people live in despair and inferiority since they cannot obtain what they want. This is troubling to oneself and others.

When confronted with troubles and difficulties, people tend to blame others for their own problems because they think the problems are caused by others. Thus, the trouble has been created because ‘others are on the wrong, while I am perfectly on the right’. It means blaming others for one’s own troubles and think that, ‘I am troubled because of you’. Here, people think that the cause of the problem comes from outside and others so they fight with one another, such as married couples would go through a divorce, children would run away from home or they would change the career to resolve the problem. When all efforts to resolve the problem go astray, then it is often thought to be ‘it is destined to be like this’, and there is nothing to change that.

Here is a flower. When I say, ’this is a beautiful flower’, would the flower be happy, or would I be happy as a result of saying that? I would be happy of course. On the other hand, when I hate the flower just by looking at it, the flower is not annoyed at all, but I am. What is good and bad is created within. The flower does not make me happy, but I just make myself be happy or be annoyed. Hence, the Lord Buddha has told us that happiness is made on my own and so is unhappiness.

If one loves a person, it is good for her. One is happy when one helps a person and, by understanding another, one gets the satisfaction of feeling relieved. People say that they are greatly troubled for not being loved enough, but in fact, they are troubled because they do not love others. It feels frustrated because one does not understand rather than one is not being understood. If one is happy, everyone else seems happy, likewise if one is at peace, the world is at peace. All along we thought it was the other way around – the deeds one thought was right was in fact troubling one’s own life and put the world into a muddle. We have to be awaken from our foolishness and try to live a life that truly benefits one.

Though one knows this well, the life does not change easily since our habits rule the words and actions like an addiction. However, it is not totally impossible. First, one should have to have a firm determination to change and this requires certain period of time. A life could be changed with concentrated and continuous training to change the words, thoughts and actions of an individual. Through this process of training, one’s life could change and the troubles and constraints disappear.

Our foolish behaviour used too much energy to harm others and ourselves. If one finds out all the troubles are made from within, one begins to use the energy to revive oneself and others. Others difficulties start to seen on the ken. Compassion and empathy starts to rise from within to understand others, which then leads to concrete actions. Upon the one’s efforts, people around them change, and the previous foolish experience may help understand other’s situations. If we extend our compassion to neighbours, nations and worldwide that would lead to global issues like environment and poverty in various places. When one observes the inner-self, the happiness and misfortunes are originally caused from oneself and at that moment when they are the masters of their life, change takes place. It only requires patience.

Peace of Mind and Compassion in Society

People want to live at peace. Then why are disputes and conflicts never cease in the world? This also is the reality of our foolish life. The reason of the disputes and conflicts caused from the thoughts that we are ‘Different’, but at the same time it also comes from the thought that we are ‘identical’. Confrontation of Koreans and Japanese come from the thought ‘you are you and I am me!’, that is, it comes from the thought that we are different. On the other hand the confrontation of North and South Korea are based upon the thought that we have to be identical just because our origins are the same. The thought of being the same ethnic group means that it should have a one nation, the inability to recognise that there could be separate house keepings.

The basis of the thought of being different means that one thinks each other are separate entity. Hence, ‘for me to live, another has to die and for me to win, there has to be a loser’ type of attitude applies here. For one to obtain the benefit another has to lose on the other end, this is the fundamental of the competitive society. The society, thus, becomes the battleground for everyone to fight with each other, where ‘survival of the fittest’applies quite naturally, which encourages competitions. These contradicting attitudes pressures force on one another to be the same all the time. Contradicting thought is that we all need to be absolutely identical. For instance, when couples get married, they start to think that everything has to be the same since they have married with each other. When they start to find out the differences in personalities, thoughts, values and habits, the conflict starts to rise and some would even end up divorcing each other.

Are all the beings same or different, then? When we start to compare a grain of rice with rice they are all different. But when a grain of rice is being compared with a grain of barley, all different kinds of rice would be distinguished from barley. Furthermore, when grains of rice and barley are compared with vegetables, they would all be grouped in the same grain category and if we were to compare the rice, barley and vegetable with clothes, they all fall into the food category. Likewise, all beings could be same or different depending on the context. Hence, all beings are not defined to be the same or different it just depends on the situation. The beings are neither same nor different and here are the fundamentals of peace, coexistence and harmony. This is the one recognising the differences, and the differences awaken by the one.

Conflicts between the nations and ethnic groups are rising from the inability to recognise such differences. Large nations want to conquer smaller ones and in the process of the emergence, oppressions and the conflict rises. The victims of the oppression would react sensitively when provoked, whereas the oppressors have been desensitised of the pains of the victims, unable to realise the seriousness of the situation. Therefore, the conflicts and disputes never cease and just being together without proper understanding of each other is also the cause of the conflicts and disputes. The thought of, ‘I am right, you are wrong’, is the root cause for violence that dismantle peace, coexistence and the harmony.

All along, the humanity has been seeking after the peace between the people upon the thoughts that people are the masters of the universe, that is, human beings have lived in the world conquering the nature, flora and faunas. The environmental crisis today demands the humanity to be at peaceful coexistence with nature. For the true sustainable development, we have to consider the future generations and survival of the other species since nature and humanity, present generation and the future generations are all linked as one.

Some would easily say Korea should be united as one since we are one ethnic group, but in reality, this may not always be true. The North and South Koreas are two different nations in confrontation with each other. In order to become one, one should absorb another that resulted ceaseless conflict with one another for almost fifty years. Yet, at the mentioning of the two nations have to be recognised as independent nations, people fear that the peninsula would be divided permanently. The only difference is whether it is the division in conflict or division upon reconciliation. The division in conflict could mean the permanent division; however, the division upon reconciliation means it recognises the difference and could work towards gradual unification of two Koreas. Without the reconciliation, there could only be extreme measures to achieve the unification on the Korean peninsula.

The Peace movement should expand from individuals to globally. The people with power should step away from the authority and victims should free themselves from the victimisation to work towards negotiation and compromise with each other in harmony for peace to settle in. This is the best way to achieve peace. Peace means coexistence, to understand and respect the each other’s differences and realising that we are all connected as ‘one’ and make it as the basis of our frame of mind. Then the troubles like conflicts and disputes would all disappear.

Efforts of the Jungto Society

It would be appropriate to share the experience of the Jungto Society. At first, we have looked after the troubled individuals. Those who were weary from all the fetters in life that wanted the acknowledgement and needed warm care. Then we turned their eyes looking on the outside to look internally. This may seem very difficult at first, however, by training over a number of days concentrating on the cultivation of mind or guide them to constantly cultivate themselves one hour per day to identify their own issues and resolve them on their own. When they work themselves out in the process, they then begin to see others and try to help the troubled people around them.

At this point, they start to contribute financially in order to continue this work, furthermore, their contributions then proceeds to helping places like India and North Korea or ecological movement. But then, when they face close friends or family’s oppositions, they would shrink back to where they were. The daily cultivation of mind helps at this point. If the progress is made from here, one might volunteer to work one or a couple of days a week in the area of serving others. Though they might start the work with a great enthusiasm, in a while, some would feel it is too much –the appropriate guide and help is needed for them to continue with the cultivation of mind through prayer and concrete practice.

The Movement that the Jungto Society would like to lead is, the one to lead a happy life by cultivation of their own mind (open mind), the relationship between human beings are balanced and harmonious rather than the relationships built on animosity by the competition and battle (good friends) to make a peaceful society. By realising the nature is not for human beings to conquer, but as the foundations for life and that the nature should be sustained with humanity (clean earth) to create a beautiful world – the Jungto.

Everyone at Jungto Society should cultivate their mind at least one hour a day, give more than one dollar a day and serve others at least once a day. Gathering all the small efforts together to consider what is happening globally as their own personal affairs and begin from the where they are and what they could do –right at that moment. Hence, this is how we would like to live. First, we would like to have a pure and open mind to live a happier life and second, the body should be healthy by consuming simple food, clean air and water. Next between the people, we have sharing and open relationships with the neighbours. In addition, we try not to harm living beings without care, and try to help others, care for them, and speak only what is true and not consuming addictive substances. These are the five basic laws given by the Lord Buddha that we abide. Life like this is good for me and for others. By this simple living, we share the remains with others who are in need. Then there is no harm with the nature, either.

On the basis of these, Jungto Society has five dynamic organisations under its umbrella. The Jungto Retreat Centre focussing on the training the people to cultivate their own minds, the Buddhist Academy for Ecological Awakening for ecological movement, JTS (Join Together Society); a relief and development organisation to eradicate hunger, illiteracy and disease. There are also Good Friends: Centre for Peace, Human rights and Refugees and the Jungto Dharma Centre, the community of people who are cultivating their mind. All these activities base on the cultivation of mind, that is, personal reflection. Jungto Society is comprised with the people who seek social change through the strength of the cultivation of mind.

Once we are enlightened to the fact that everything in the world is connected to each other, there are no enemies and everything around the world becomes our personal affair. We have to be good friends with human beings and nature not just among the human beings. This is the world that we, Jungto Society, would like to make. The Jungto Society is a group of people, who would like to realise such dreams.

Happy are those who have dreams.
Happier are those with dreams get together.
Happiest, when we work together to realise our dreams.