Won Buddhism of Richmond (WBR) serves as one of the main Virginian outposts of Won Buddhism, a “modern Buddhist” new religious movement founded in South Korea. Established in 1999, the temple complex sits in Mechanicsville, Virginia, just outside of Richmond, and consists of a modest Temple and Meditation Center surrounded by a network of walking paths.
The Temple & Meditation Center
Much like how the Catholic Church formally trains and ordains priests who are then sent throughout the world, WBR’s current priest, Reverend Kea Sung Kim, received her ordination in Won Buddhism in 2000 after 8 years of study in South Korea. Reverend Kim has served WBR since 2008.
Reverend Kea Sung Kim
Each Sunday, she conducts two separate “Dharma sessions”; a morning session held in Korean for the community’s Korean immigrant population and an afternoon session held in English for English-speaking Koreans and American converts of other races. Reverend Kim and WBR also host daily early morning group meditation meetings, Breathing Meditation meetings each Tuesday morning, Mindfulness Meditation meetings each Thursday morning, and, as part of Rev. Kim’s own personal specialization, Tai Chi sessions on Thursday afternoons. The Tai Chi sessions, one lesson of which can be seen below, are billed as “meditation in movement” that “create flows of energy that cultivate your physical and inner strength” and help exploit the “energy of Yin and Yang to bring health, stability and vitality into your life.”
What is Won Buddhism? In Korean, the term Won Buddhism translates to Wonbulgyo (원불교 or Won-Bul-Kyo) a compound word where Won represents circle and Bulgyo represents Buddhism. Thus, the term Wonbulgyo literally translates into “Circular Buddhism” or “Consummate Buddhism”. Practitioners of Won Buddhism would describe the translation of Wonbulgyo slightly differently: symbolically, the term represents truth, enlightenment, and teaching. As WBR’s website describes it:
Won means circle and symbolizes the ultimate truth. Bul means enlightenment, and Kyo means teaching the truth. Therefore, Won-Buddhism is the path that leads us to become enlightened to the truth.
Roughly speaking, Won Buddhism can be described as either an offshoot of Seon (Zen/Chan) Buddhism that incorporates some Confucian and Daoist teachings, or as an entirely new religion that syncretizes Seon Buddhism, Confucianism and small elements of Daoism. Won Buddhism traces its origins back to the 1916 “precognition great Enlightenment” of Pak Chung-bin. Known by Won Buddhists as Great Master Sotaesan, Sotaesan’s “great Enlightenment” involved a vision in which he perceived a near future in which advancements in technology would enslave humans to material civilization. This future enslavement, as Sotaesan wrote in his Founding Motive of Won Buddhism, could be counteracted through spiritual cultivation and “sound morality”:
The motive therefore lies in an attempt to deliver all
sentient beings suffering in the tormenting seas to a
vast and limitless paradise. This goal shall be realized
by expanding the spiritual power in order to conquer the
power of matter and the spiritual power will be expanded
by the faith in a truthful religion and training in sound
morality.
Pak Chung-bin aka Sotaesan
However, Sotaesan found the dominant moral and spiritual systems of his environment – Confucianism, Buddhism and to a lesser extent Daoism- insufficient to provide the spiritual enrichment he envisioned on their own. Instead, Sotaesan reorganized those three traditions into a single, renovated form of Buddhism. This new Buddhism, which Sotaesan called Won Buddhism, recognizes the buddhadharma (the Buddha’s teachings) as its central tenet.
While Confucianism and Buddhism both serve important roles in South Korea and East Asia more broadly, the two traditions at times work at cross-purposes. The important Neo-Confucian thinker Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi) was particularly critical of Buddhism, as he believed Mahayana Buddhism’s emphasis on monasticism and enlightenment discouraged people from practicing filial piety. Filial piety, roughly speaking, is the Confucian virtue of respect for one’s parents, elders, and ancestors. In order to address this critique of Buddhism, Sotaesan formulated the Fourfold Grace, a set of principles that acknowledges our indebtedness to the universe around us:
- Indebtedness to Heaven and Earth
- Indebtedness to Parents
- Indebtedness to Fellow Beings
- Indebtedness to Laws
Taken together, the Fourfold Grace illustrates that true enlightenment requires not merely personal spiritual enrichment but also public-facing spiritual action.
Acknowledging the Fourfold Grace serves as a prerequisite for observing Won Buddhism’s central tenet, Ilwonkang. Ilwonkang states that the Ilwon, or one circle, is the source of all beings in the universe, the original nature of all buddhas, and the Buddha-nature of all sentient beings in the universe. The Ilwon represents the Dharmakaya Buddha, or the unmanifested, transcendent body of the Buddha. Ilwongkang, then, constitutes an all-encompassing source of one’s life and center through which distinctions such as self and other dissolve.
The Ilwon, or one circle, which replaces images of the Buddha as an object of veneration during Won Buddhist services.
Another core part of Won Buddhist doctrine are the Four Great Principles:
Right Enlightenment and Right Practice means that Won Buddhists ought to follow the truth of the Ilwon. Practitioners follow Ilwon in order to perfect moral conduct through the use of the six sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.
Awareness of Grace and Requital of Grace means that one should remain aware of one’s indebtedness to the Fourfold Grace. Even in situations where resentment might arise, we should always extend gratitude to those four sources of grace.
Practical Application of the Buddhadharma means that one should make the best use of the buddhadharma without neglecting worldly affairs. Another response to Zhu Xi’s criticism of Buddhism, this Principle urges Buddhists to become capable and useful people who assist themselves, their families, their communities, and the entire world.
Selfless Service to the Public means that practitioners should abandon egoism in favor of Mahayana altruism. Rather than limit altruistic acts to oneself or one’s family, the horizon of altruism should be expanded as widely as possible. This principle mirrors the bodhisattva path found throughout Mahayana Buddhism, as well as some of the moral teachings found in Confucianism.
Alongside the Fourfold Grace and the Four Great Principles, Won Buddhists practice the Ilwonkang through walking along the path of the Threefold Practice. The Threefold Practice of Wong Buddhism mirrors the three-part partition of the Noble Eightfold Path, which are virtue, concentration/meditation, and wisdom.
Spiritual Cultivation (samadhi) mirrors the partition of concentration/meditation from the Eightfold Path. In Won Buddhism, practitioners can perform Spiritual Cultivation through sitting meditation, prayer, and chanting. Whereas the traditional notion of samadhi focuses on meditation as the active pursuit of enlightenment, Spiritual Cultivation differs by seeking to achieve “One Mind in action and at rest.” Won Buddhists compare Spiritual Cultivation to “weeding a field before planting seeds.”
Alongside sitting meditation, prayer, and chanting, practitioners at WBR also practice walking meditation. Meditators focus on the experience of walking and note each component of each step.
Dharma Study (prajňā) mirrors the partition of wisdom from the Eightfold Path. Dharma study, or the sharpening of one’s wisdom, is achieved through studying scripture, koan practice, and dharma discussion. Here, Won Buddhism’s unique nature shines through: koan practice pulls directly from traditional Chan Buddhism, but the emphasis on scripture study also reflects tendencies more commonly associated with Confucianism or non-Chan forms of Buddhism. Chan Buddhism claims to not require any form of written instruction in order to achieve enlightenment. Chongsan, the Second Head Dharma Master of Won Buddhism, described the differences between Dharma Study and the Wisdom partition of the Eightfold Path thusly:
While Wisdom focuses on the innate wisdom that arises from our original nature, Dharma Study is the way of comprehending all human affairs and principles.
Thus, Dharma Study reflects Won Buddhism’s desire to expand beyond personal enlightenment and understand human affairs as a whole.
Mindful Choice in Action (sila) reflects the partition of virtue from the Eightfold Path. This involves observing the precepts of Buddhism, mindfulness, and heedfulness. Here, the individual virtues encouraged by the Eightfold Path expand to encompass one’s relationship to family, community, and the world.
Each aspect of the Threefold Practice must be practiced simultaneously. Won Buddhists achieve this through practicing Timeless Zen. Timeless Zen is a way of practicing meditation at all times. It proceeds in four stages, and can be compared to taming a ox.
Taking Hold of the Mind is the first stage of Timeless Zen. This stage involves putting a harness around the mind and taming it, similar to how one would put reins on a wild, unbridled ox.
Watching the Mind is the second stage of Timeless Zen. Once tamed, the ox/mind is allowed to wander under close supervision. If the mind/ox wanders into a dangerous area, the practitioner pulls on the reins to bring the mind/ox back to safety.
Forgetting the Mind the third stage of Timeless Zen. Once fully tamed, the idea of an ox/mind separate from the person begins to melt away. The feeling is similar to how we forget about the fact we’re wearing socks or shoes after a long period of time. The mind and the self become one, and the mind begins to work in its original nature.
The final stage, Utilizing the Mind, occurs once the mind reaches Buddhahood. Much like how the tamed ox brings benefits to the master through hard work, reaching Buddhahood allows one to tame suffering wherever one goes.
Sources
http://richmond-va.wonbuddhism.org/about-us/welcome
https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Won_Buddhism
http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOCP/chung2.htm