Polishing the Diamond: Enlightening the Mind : Reflections of a Korean Buddhist Master [Anglais] [Broché]

"[Polishing the Diamond is] by far the best translation ... I have ever seen of a contemporary Korean Buddhist book.... A remarkable achievement."

In Polishing the Diamond, Enlightening the Mind, Master Jae Woong Kim explains the teachings of The Diamond Sutra, one of the most beloved and profound scriptures in East Asian Buddhism, believed to contain the heart of the Buddha's teachings. Through forthright instruction, allegorical tales, and heartfelt personal stories about his own teacher, Master Kim reveals the technique of surrendering, an accessible practice to help keep the peacefulness of sitting meditation in any situation. This simple technique cuts through even the hardest of contemporary spiritual concerns. Master Kim's warm personal reminiscences and practical meditation advice are both a testament to the vitality of Korean Buddhism today and a timeless expression of the transformative role the Buddha's teachings can play in each of our lives.

"Polishing the Diamond, Enlightening the Mind" is an offering of concise teachings, stories, and meditations from one of Korea's most revered living Buddhist masters. It is at once a testament to the vitality of Korean Buddhism today and a timeless expression of the transformative role the Buddha's teachings can play in a person's life.

: Master Jae Woong Kim is the foremost disciple of the late Master Wook Baek, the most prominent Korean Buddhist leader of the 20th Century. He is the head of the Diamond Monastery in Korea and travels frequently to the U.S. to give teachings.

Joy at seeing your karmic hindrances Once, a certain bosallim, or female Buddhist practitioner, went to the New Year's Day prayer gathering at the Temple of the Seven Buddhas. Despite the cold weather, many practitioners were prostrating or reciting Buddha's name all night in front of a stone Buddha that stood in the middle of the temple grounds.

Since the bosallim was wearing many layers of clothing, she felt uncomfortable in her wool coat. She took off her coat and hung it in a room, then bowed and prayed in front of the stone Buddha until dawn. By that time it had gotten colder, so she went back to the room to get her coat so that she might continue praying.

The room had been heated all night by a large fire, and it was so hot that some of the floor mats were slightly burnt. A couple of bosallims were sleeping on the floor instead of praying all night. The scene did not please her. She looked everywhere for her coat and finally found someone sleeping on top of it so as to lessen the heat from the floor. Filled with rage, she examined the coat and found that it was all wrinkled, with some spots even slightly burnt.

She was about to wake the woman who was sleeping on top of the coat and yell at her, but she restrained herself, thinking, "Since the coat is already in this condition, yelling at her will not iron out the wrinkles or repair the burns." She also rationalized that, on her way up to the temple, she could have ripped the coat by getting it stuck on a branch, or lost it entirely, so she convinced herself it was a good thing that only this much damage had occurred.

After her trip, the bosallim came to me and asked me if showing such restraint is how the practice of surrendering is done. Surrendering, however, does not mean restraining or rationalizing one's emotion like that. The moment she thought it was not proper for those women to sleep on the floor, the scolding mind of anger had already surfaced in her mind. The person who practices surrendering well without losing mindfulness would have started to surrender his or her criticism at that very moment. If she had surrendered well at that moment, she probably would not have been so angry when she first found someone sleeping on her coat. If she were not able to do that, she could have at least surrendered her anger the moment she was overwhelmed with rage, even though it was a little late. Instead, she let her anger escape. Surrendering does not mean going through a process of restraining or rationalizing one's emotion, but rather surrendering that emotion directly by reciting Buddha Maitreya's name, Miruk Chon Yorae Pul.

The instant anger arises in you, you should cleanse it from your mind and be free of it immediately. You should surrender your anger until there is no remnant of it left in you. Also, you should practice surrendering in such a way that the time it takes to cleanse the discriminative notion from your mind gradually diminishes.

Hardened karmic hindrances accumulated in your mind can be surrendered only if they are first revealed through external shocks, just as we remove the dirt in the bottom of a well by stirring its water with a long stick and collecting the surfacing sediments. There is a saying that goes, "Liberation is being happy to see your karmic hindrances arise." This shows us the attitude of a spiritual seeker: always ready.