2022/05/09

Quaker Retreat - Meeting-For-Learning-2022

Quaker Retreat - Meeting-For-Learning-2022

Each participant will have a private bedroom for the 6 nights. All accommodation, meals and a resource book are included in the price, which will be $850. You may apply for financial assistance through your Regional Meeting. Talk with your Clerk or Ministry Convener if you are considering registering for the course and applying for support.

Retreat Week at Sevenhill Centre of Ignatian Sprituality, SA
8th – 14th October, 2022
Similar dates, 2023 in South Australia

Meeting for Learning: Where?

The 2022 Retreat will be held at the Sevenhill Centre of Ignatian Spirituality, in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide.

Accommodation and Cost

When?

Saturday, 8th – Friday, 14th October 2022

How to apply – for this or a future year

The Retreat is open to Members, Attenders and others in sympathy with the Quaker way.

If you think this retreat might be for you, please take these steps:

1. Talk to a previous participant in your local Meeting, or your Regional Meeting clerk, to ask about their experience.

2. Write to Fiona Gardner fionagardneraway@icloud.com expressing your interest in participating. If possible, this should be by the end of May 2022.

The SA Contact Person is David Barry:

David.Barry.TLUD@gmail.com

0425 29 2288.

Meeting for Learning

A time for living in a Quaker Community

• An intensive exploration of Quaker life experiences.

• Spiritual nurture in community guided by three or four facilitators.

• Friends reflecting on what it is to study, worship and be transformed

• by the Spirit.

• Quaker processes practiced faithfully in everyday life. • The year-long program begins and ends with two six-night • residential retreats.

• Forming a listening group for support in living with intention through the year between Facilitators continue their nurture through the year with contact as needed.

Meeting for Learning is an Australia Yearly Meeting program, hosted in 2022/3 by South Australia Regional Meeting under the care of Quaker Learning Australia.

Quaker Meeting for Learning is a year-long program book-ended by week-long residential retreats. It is an extended time to explore the Spirit and learn about Quaker ways, together with members and attenders from around Australia. Sometimes others from different faith communities join Meeting for Learning. For most of the year-long program, you remain part of your regular community. Residential retreats give the opportunity for you to commence and complete this journey by sharing experiences with others.

Themes for the retreats alternate. The 2022 Retreat focus will be on the individual spiritual journey in our faith community; the 2023 focus is on the faith community and our journey in it.

Listening to ourselves and each other is a practice which often leads to deep insights, transformation and discernment. Much time is devoted to deepening listening skills among other practices that are based on Friends’ long history of spiritual nurture and faith in action.

A feature of each retreat is a mid-week silent day and night. Some participants feel nervous about this beforehand, and then find that extended silence in community is an enriching experience. A facilitator is always available during the Silent Day for reflection or conversation.

Between retreats your learning processes go on with a Support Group that you choose from your local Meeting and/or from friends and family. You will select members for your group who will listen, empathise and encourage while you give attention to specific areas of your life where you can feel the spirit moving. Local members of support groups regularly report how gratifying it is to share with the participant. Sharing this journey is then a rich part of the next Retreat.

The size of the group at each retreat is up to 12 participants, who are guided by three or four volunteer facilitators during the retreat. The facilitators provide reading materials, sessions, exercises and pastoral guidance to assist each participant’s spiritual journey.

The resources provided allow retreatants to develop their knowledge of Quaker writings and beliefs, and to reflect on their own journey. Each day allows time for discussion, exploration, rest and reflection. During the retreat, some activities are carried out as a whole group, some are conducted in small groups and some exercises are undertaken as a personal activity. Structured and unstructured time is included in the retreat.

Some quotes from previous participants

The first retreat was the safest, most nurturing, most healing group of that size that I had experienced – thanks to the skilled and loving facilitators, Fiona Gardner, Sue Wilson, Jenny Spinks and Catherine Heyward, and the openness and courage of the participants.

In addition to stimulating, and sometimes challenging, individual and collective spiritual exercises and explorations, I received emotional/spiritual support from daily Meetings for Worship, and facilitators and participants alike. Practicing compassionate listening in a spiritual context in small groups, and being listened to in the same way, was a privilege. I felt a sense of belonging that has been rare in my life, and I left the retreat encouraged, inspired and on a high.

As a result of the year-long process I began the second retreat more nurtured, relaxed and open than I had on the first. I felt even more affirmed and, yes, loved. I left, not on a high this time, but with a fullness of mind, heart and soul that continues to sustain me.

Meeting for Learning was a turning point in my Quaker life, not only the retreats, also working with my support team for the year and these people still play an important role in my spiritual growth.

[동학][김지하] 떼이야르 드 샤르뎅을 읽다가 ... 아니 이것 동학아냐?

(2) Facebook (2019)

[동학][김지하]  떼이야르 드 샤르뎅을 읽다가  
... <아니 이것 동학아냐?> 
김지하 회고록, <흰 그늘의 길>(2003)  ｢공부｣중에서
---
.

그 길고 긴 시간, 나는 그저 책밖에 읽은 게 없는 듯싶다. 지금의 나의 지식은 거의 그 무렵의 수많은 독서의 결과다. 그러나 일반적인 독서 외에 내가 참으로 힘을 집중해 ‘공부(工夫)’한 것은 네 가지였으니 첫째가 생태학, 둘째가 선불교(仙佛敎), 셋째가 떼이야르 드 샤르뎅의 사상, 넷째가 동학(東學)이었다.

첫째의 생태학은 맨 먼저 일반적인 환경생태학(環境生態學)으로 들어가 공공경제학(公共經濟學)을 거쳐 드볼과 세션의 심층생태학(深層生態學)의 소개서로, 거기서 다시 루돌프 바로와 머레이 북친의 사회생태학(社會生態學) 입문 서적으로 나아갔다. 생태사회주의니 생태마르크스주의니 기타 이것저것 독일 녹색운동의 새로운 가능성에 대한 전망과 소개를 접하게 됐고 녹색당과 페트라 캘리 등에 대해서도 알게 되었다. 그러나 이 모든 것이 대충의 스케치들일 뿐이었으니 체계적이고 정확한 지식은 훗날 병사(病舍)로 옮긴 뒤던가 아니면 출옥 후 구해 읽은 것들일 것이다.

그럼에도 불구하고 나의 그 무렵의 사유와 상상력을 급전환시키는 데 그 스케치들은 결정적 촉매 노릇을 하였다. 생태학은 새로운 시대, 새로운 세대의 경전이 되어가고 있었다. 낡아빠진 역학이나 사회구성체주의 따위 가지고는 살아 생동하는 생성적 공간과 시간 인식을 할 수 없게 됐다. 녹색운동은 새로운 변혁운동의 시발점이었고 생태학은 이 운동의 지침서였다.

그러나 생태학만으로 세계와 삶의 진화를 이해하기에는 인간은 너무나도 복잡 심오한 것이었으니, 나는 그 생태학 소개에 촉발되어 도리어 선(禪)과 불교에 관한 깊은 지식 및 지혜를 갈구하게 되었다. 생태학, 특히 사회생태학이 새로운 사회변혁론의 근거라면 선불교야말로 인간의 영적(靈的) 깨달음과 영성적(靈性的) 소통(疏通)의 철학이었다. 나는 ‘금강경(金剛經)’을 비롯한 여러 경전을 읽었을 뿐만 아니라 그것들을 외우게 되었고, 고승들의 게송(偈頌)과 법어(法語) 200수(首) 가량을 달달 외우고 있었다.

마음에 거침없는 푸른 하늘이, 가없는 우주의 바람이, 파도치는 드넓은 바다가 문득문득 나타나기 시작했고 거꾸로 뭇 생명의 생태학적 질병과 오염과 파괴, 죽임에 대한 연민과 자비가 어려운 것이 아닌 아주 자연스러운 귀결로 다가왔다. 그러나 이것, 텅 빌 정도의 영적 깊이와 사회생태학적 파괴의 극복이나 생명평화의 새 사회 창조 사이의 관계에 대한 그 어떤 확실한 과학적 근거도 발견할 수 없다는 것, 여기에 나의 답답함이 있었으니 또한 진정으로 새로운 공부가 필요하게 되었다.

그때 마침 내가 기억해낸 것이 함석헌 선생의 옛 권유였다. 영성(靈性)과 생명(生命), 삶의 안팎을 과학적․신학적으로 함께 이해하자면 떼이야르 드 샤르뎅을 읽는 것이 첩경이라는 권유였다.
나는 떼이야르의 이효상(李孝祥) 번역본 전집을 들여다 모조리 읽기 시작했다. 그러나 두세 권 외에는 참으로 엉터리 번역이어서 도무지 무슨 말인지 알 수 없었다. 그래서 주저(主著)인 <인간현상>과 다른 책들의 영역본을 영한사전과 함께 들여다 또 다시 읽기 시작했다.

주저인 <인간현상>을 다 읽는 데 몇 달이 걸렸는지 알 수 없다. 참으로 어려운 과학서적이었다. 그러나 그 결과 떼이야르는 참으로 나에게 이제까지의 모색과 앞으로의 나의 사상의 진로에 결정적이고 치명적(?)인 방향을 제시해 주었다. 간단히 요약해서 그것은 ‘우주 진화의 3대 법칙(法則)’이다.

첫째, 우주 진화의 내면에는 의식의 증대가 있고 
둘째, 우주 진화의 외면에는 복잡화의 증가가 있으며 
셋째, 군집(群集)은 개별화한다는 3대 법칙이었다. 

첫째와 둘째는 서로 교호작용을 하는 것이니 우주 진화의 외면에서 물질이나 생명의 복잡화가 진행될수록 우주 진화의 내면에서 감각(感覺)이나 의식(意識)이나 정신(精神), 영성(靈性)이 깊어지고 넓어지고 높아지는 것이 진화의 실상이며 진화는 우선 종(種)적으로 군집화(群集化), 전체화(全體化)하지만 그것은 결국 개별화(個別化)하여 종내는 각각의 자유가 실현된다는 것이다.

나는 여기에서 생태학과 선불교 사이의 관계, 외면적 변혁과 내면적 명상의 관계 그리고 집단과 개체, 필연성과 자유의 관계에 대한 참다운 원리를 보았다.
그것을, 그것을 깨달은 날을 무엇으로 비유할까.

아마도 발 셋 달린 까마귀, 삼족오(三足烏)가 태양 속에서 날개를 푸드득 푸드득 활개치며 날아오르기 시작한다고나 할까. 눈이 시원하게 활짝 열렸다고나 할까.
그 저명한 떼이야르 신부는 제2차 바티칸공의회 실현의 배후 촉매자임에도 불구하고 아직 가톨릭의 공식 인정을 못 받고 있다. 왜냐하면 아직도 가톨릭의 우주관은 토마스 아퀴나스의 계층구조적 우주론, 즉 ‘토미즘’이 지배하고 있기 때문이다. 그리고 가톨릭의 준국가주의 위계질서는 바로 이 토미즘에 뿌리를 두고 있기 때문이다.

아아, 그러나 그 무엇보다 내가 크게 놀란 것은 어느 날 대낮, 점심을 막 받고 앉은 바로 그 정오(正午)의 시간에 문득 깨달은 것!

“아니, 이것 동학(東學) 아냐?

그것이었다.
떼이야르 사상의 중핵(中核)은 바로 동학사상이었음을 크게 깨우친 것이다.

무엇이 그렇다는 말인가.
떼이야르의 사상은 매우 복잡하고 치밀하며 구체적이다. 고생물학(古生物學)의 고전이며 최고, 최대의 과학적 진화론이기 때문이다. 그러나 그것은 가장 간단한 우주 진화의 3대 법칙 위에서 모든 것이 시작되고 모든 것이 귀결된다.

그런데 바로 그 3대 법칙이 동학사상의 핵심이었다는 말이다.

동학의 핵심은 21자 주문, 그 중에서도 13자의 본주문(本呪文)에 있다. 본주문 ‘시천주(侍天主) 조화정(造化定) 영세불망(永世不忘) 만사지(万事知)’의 중핵은 또 맨 앞에 있는 ‘모실 시(侍)’ 한 자에 집중되어 있다.

최수운 자신이 해설해주고 있는 이 ‘시’ 한 글자의 뜻을 알아보자. 우선 한자로 쓰면, ‘시자(侍者) 내유신령(內有神靈) 외유기화(外有氣化) 일세지인(一世之人) 각지불이자야(各知不移者也)’이다.

뜻은 이렇다.

‘시’, 즉 ‘모심’이라는 것은 안으로 신령(神靈)이 있고 밖으로 기화(氣化)가 있으며 한 세상 사람이 서로가 서로에게서 옮겨 떨어질 수 없음을 각각 깨달아 자기 나름대로 실현한다(各知不移)이다. 

첫째, 안으로 신령이 있으며(최수운), 우주 진화의 내면에 의식의 증대가 있다(떼이야르). 
둘째, 밖으로 기화가 있으며(최수운), 우주 진화의 외면에 복잡화의 증가가 있다(떼이야르). 
셋째, 한 세상 사람이 서로가 서로에게서 옮겨 떨어질 수 없음을 각각 깨달아 자기 나름대로 실현하며(최수운), 군집(群集)은 반드시 개별화(個別化)한다(떼이야르).

도리어 세번째인 진화 법칙은 동학이 떼이야르보다 더 첨단적이고 최근의 진화론에 더 가깝다. 왜냐하면 종(種)이나 군집(群集)을 개체(個體)보다 먼저 세우는 떼이야르식 발생학을 비판하고 오히려 개체가 먼저 발생하되 그 개체마다의 내부에 있는 자율적인 전체성에 따라 개체들 나름대로 각각, 자기 나름의 전체, 자기 나름의 군집, 자기 나름의 종을 실현한다는 자유의 진화론, 자기 선택과 자기 조직화의 진화론이 훨씬 더 과학적이고 선진적인 까닭이다.

내 안에서 내 생각의 파도가 내 생각의 주체에게로 한없이 하얗게 하얗게 밀려오고 있었다.
떼이야르는 지금으로부터 꼭 5만 년 전에 직립 사유인(直立 思惟人, 호모 사피엔스 에렉투스), 즉 똑바로 서서 걷고 의식하고 감각하며 사유하는 인간들 속에서 생각하는 것을 생각하는 인간, 사유를 사유하는 반성적 인간(호모 사피엔스 사피엔스)이 출현하여 언어가 생기고 문명이 시작되었다고 고생물학적․고고학적으로 증명하였다.

그런데 최수운은 현생인류가 나타난 것, 즉 최초의 개벽이 5만 년 전이라고 못 박고, 다시 5만 년이 된 지금에 와서 신인 합일적(神人合一的) 신인간(新人間), 즉 ‘신인(神人)’이 개벽, 즉 후천개벽한다고 했다. 떼이야르와 최수운 둘 다 똑같이 현금과 같은 인류의 탄생이 5만 년 전이라고 본 것이다.

파도는 또 왔다. 

떼이야르는 바로 그 ‘호모 사피엔스 사피엔스’가 호모 사피엔스 에렉투스의 한복판에서 태어나는 사건, 즉 가시적인 외모는 전부 호모 사피언스 에렉투스인데 비가시적인 내면의 뇌세포 속에서 자의식이 그 극히 일부의 뇌세포 속에서 반자의식(反自意識)이 마치 별 뜨듯, 꽃봉오리 열리듯 반짝하고 열리는 그 순간을 내면과 외면의 양측에서 동시 파악하는 논리가 바로 ‘아니다, 그렇다’, ‘NO, YES’의 생명논리임을 주장하고 또 그렇게 적용하여 그것을 증명한다.

이것은 생명철학의 절정인 베르그송과 현대 생물학의 고전인 그레고리 베이트슨, 그리고 가시적 차원과 비가시적 차원 사이의 인식에 사용되는 ‘그렇다’와 ‘아니다’의 동시어법에 귀결되는 데이비드 보옴의 물리학에 두루 공통되는 생명논리인 바, 최수운의 글 ‘불연기연(不然其然, 아니다, 그렇다)’의 진화론법 안에서 그대로 되풀이되고 있다.
아마도 이것은 들뢰즈․가타리와 미셸 세르에까지 이어질 듯하다.

파도는 또 다시 밀려온다.

13자 주문의 제2단계인 ‘조화에 일치하여 마음을 정한다(造化定)’는 노장학(老莊學)과 선불교(禪佛敎)를 통합한 논리이며 마지막 단계의 ‘만 가지 사실을 안다(万事知)’의 만사(万事)는 ‘수의 많음(多)’을 뜻하는 것으로 복희(伏羲)와 문왕(文王)의 역리(易理)의 비밀을 깨닫는 주역(周易)의 간역(簡易)을 말하고 정역(正易)을 예언한다. 나아가 20년 뒤에 나오는 연산(連山) 김일부(金一夫)의 마지막의 ‘앎(知)’은 ‘스스로 노력해 앎(知其道)’과 동시에 ‘그 앎을 계시받음(受其知)’이라 하여 동양(東洋)의 풍류선도(風流仙道)나 그리스도교적 깨달음의 핵심인 신비주의에 그대로 적합한 것이었다.

본디 우리의 풍류선도는 유․불․선(儒彿禪) 3교(三敎)를 아울러 가지면서(包含三敎) 동시에 뭇 생명을 사랑하여 진화시키는(接化群生) 생명의 철학이요, 생명의 사상이다. 이것이 다만 고색창연한 최치원의 주장인 줄로만 알았던 내게 그 가장 구체적이고 현대적인 과학적 논법과 증명을 통해 나타났으니, 오호라! 나는 이미 그 파도에 풍덩실 뛰어들고 하늘의 헤엄을 치고 논 것이었다.
나는 그때부터 며칠 동안 반은 정신이 나가 살았다. 밥도 먹는 둥 마는 둥 하고 머리 속은 온통 ‘시’ 한 자로 꽉 차버렸다. 그리스도교적으로 말하면 시는 사랑이다. 그러나 시는 그 말 자체로 이미 사랑보다 훨씬 더 풍요하고 올바른 범주이니 높이는 사랑이요, 섬기는 사랑이기 때문이다. 그것은 언제나 경건한 사랑 ‘모심’이기 때문이다. 그리고 모심이야말로 삶, 사람, 살림, 생존, 동양식 생생화화(生生化化)와 서양식 진화의 핵심인 것이다.

나는 머지않아 가톨릭 교회가 떼이야르를 공식 인정하고 동양사상과의 역동적인 통합을 통해 ‘동학화(東學化)’하리라고 믿었다. 그렇다면 우선 내 민족의 지혜의 보석인 동학부터 내 자신의 모심의 대상이 되어야 하는 것이었다.
어느 빛 밝은 아침, 뻘겋게 녹슨 창살 사이로 흰 햇빛이 오묘한 느낌으로 비끼는 것을 바라보며 내 넋은 이미 서학(西學)과 동학(東學)을 탁월한 과학적 새 차원에서 통전하되 동학 쪽에 시중적(時中的, 균형을 잡되 때에 따라 좌우로 중심을 둔다)인 중심이 더 가 있는 ‘기우뚱한 균형’을 실현하고 있음을 발견하고 스스로 깜짝 놀랐다.

그날 이후 나는 천도교(天道敎)가 아닌 원동학(原東學), 내 증조부의 그 동학에 돌아가 있음을, 아니 떼이야르의 고생물학(古生物學)과 최신 진화론의 과학 그리고 사회생태학과 선불교를 아우른 신동학(新東學)으로 나아가고 있음을 놀라서, 놀라서 바라보면서 몇 날 몇 밤이 흥분 속에 지나갔는지 모른다.

나는 이론적으로는 이미 다시 태어난 것이다. 그것이 바로 ‘모심의 철학’이었다.

나는 지금도 가톨릭에 대해 감사의 마음을 갖고 있다. 내가 그대로 가톨릭에 머물렀으면 아마도 지금쯤 유명짜한 원로가 돼 있을 것이다. 그러나 나는 지금의 백면(白面)이 그대로 더 좋다. 나는 끊임없이 탐구하는 나그네인 까닭이다. 그래서 ‘선생님’이라는 거북한 호칭보다 ‘형님’이라는 정겨운 호칭이 훨씬 마음에 든다.

어느 날 나는 지 주교님에게 솔직히 말씀드렸다.
“저는 이제 고향으로 돌아갑니다.”
“어디? 목포 말이야?”
“아니오. 동학입니다.”
“천도교 말이야?”
“아니오. 내 마음의 원동학(原東學)입니다.”
“좋아서?”
“네.”
“그럼 그러지 뭐! 자네가 헛소리할 사람이 아니지. 오죽 생각했겠나!”

---------------
- 이 글은 김지하 회고록, <흰 그늘의 길>(학고재, 2003)에서 ｢공부｣ 부분을 그대로 옮긴 것입니다.   http://www.gforest.or.kr/xe/board_chg/124735
---
세진: 나도 떼이야르 드 샤르뎅을 읽어야지.

The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature PDF | PDF | Allen Ginsberg | Vajrayana

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Kim Iryop S Existential Buddhism Review

Philosophy East & West Volume 66, Number 3 July 2016 1049–1051

Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun.

By Kim Iryŏp.

Translated and with an introduc-tion by Jin Y. Park. Korean Classics Library: Philosophy and Religion. Honolulu: Uni-versity of Hawai‘i Press, 2014. Pp. 328. Hardcover $49.00,

isbn

978-0-8248-3878-2.

Reviewed by

Eric S. Nelson

Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyUniversity of Massachusetts, Lowelleric_nelson@uml.edu

Kim Iryŏp (1896–1971) was raised and initially educated in a devout MethodistChristian environment under the strict guidance of her fideistic pastor father and hermother, who believed in female education. Both parents died while she was in herteens, and she questioned her Christian faith at an early age. She was one of the firstKorean women to pursue higher education in Korea and Japan. Kim became a pro-lific poet and essayist, her writings engaging cultural and social issues, and a leadingfigure of the feminist “new woman”

(sinyŏja)

movement in the 1920s, which pro-moted women’s self-awareness, freedom (including sexual freedom), and rights inthe context of the complex intersection of traditional Korean Confucian society,Westernization and modernization, and Japanese colonial domination. Iryŏp (herpen and dharma name) embraced Buddhism during this period, first in her writingand later as a lay practitioner, as a path to universal liberation. She was ordainedin 1933 and became a prominent Sŏn (Chan/Zen) Buddhist nun. After two decadeswithout publishing, she returned to print in 1960 with

Reflections of a Zen BuddhistNun

(Ŏnŭ sudoin ŭi hoesang).

Jin Y. Park has been at the forefront of introducing Iryŏp as a modern female Bud-dhist thinker to the Western world.

1

Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun

is an ele-gant translation that includes all but two of the essays from the original

Reflections,

omitted to avoid repetition, and four additional essays that illuminate Iryŏp’s thinkingon Buddhist thought and practice. In her introduction Park provides an overview ofIryŏp’s biography and works in relation to the multifaceted social-political and intel-lectual situation of her era. Park articulates the existential passion and commitmentthat run throughout Iryŏp’s life and writing and through her shifting identities as ayouth who dreamed of becoming a Christian missionary, a young woman who ques-tioned her fideistically defined faith and dedicated herself to receiving an educationin a society that typically denied that opportunity to women, a feminist writer whoadvocated social change and free love, and a Sŏn nun devoted to meditation and thepromotion of the dharma. Iryŏp resisted the artificial constraints of society as a fem-inist and one’s own habitual self as a Buddhist for the sake of realizing the autono-mous and comprehensive life that is a fundamental theme of

Reflections.

The existential character and passion of Iryŏp’s writing, which blends reflectionand intimate autobiographical narrative, is evident from the beginning in her preface(chapter 1). She introduces basic existential questions such as: How does it standwith my own existence and what value does my existence have? How can I achieve

1050 Philosophy East & West

freedom and how do I become myself, a genuine self, in response to a situation inwhich we are unfree and “have lost ourselves”? The phrase “having lost myself”

(silsŏngin)

is used throughout the work and primarily means “to go crazy” in Korean.It is Buddhist practice that offers a response to the lostness of the human conditionby providing a perspective of wholeness, a tranquility and clarity of mind, and afreedom in the midst of the fluctuating conditions of life through the dedication andpurity of one’s thought in meditation.Iryŏp’s existential, individualistic, and in some ways modernistic understandingof Sŏn Buddhism is further developed in the chapters that follow. In the secondchapter, “Life,” she focuses on the primacy of life

(insaeng)

and its fulfillment in “in-dependent life” where one is of utmost value to oneself through realizing one’s rela-tional interconnectedness with all beings. Such autonomy becomes possible throughthe deconstructing of conventional boundaries and limitations. These include thelimiting ideas or idols of the Buddha and God that lead away from mindfulness ofone’s own self, which is realized through seeing the original emptiness of things andone’s own mind. Faith might be an initiation into the religious, but the religiousmeans overcoming all objects in no-thought, in which the dualities of subject /object,self/other, internal/external, good/evil, and God/demon fall away: “The Buddha asthe completed ‘I’ unifies within himself both a demon and a buddha” (p. 42).In the third chapter, “Buddhism and Culture,” Iryŏp maintains that there is noneed for fixed hierarchies, and no need to fear God or Buddha, since these areconventional designations for the open, unbounded, genuine self of each thing.All beings are buddhas, and are primordially equal to and in themselves — from amaggot to the Buddha, as she says later (p. 230). The differences between beings aredue not to an established hierarchy and inequality of beings but to their degree ofculture or their actualization of their original self-empty nature. Whereas we live“like dolls” (p. 46) controlled by environmental and karmic conditions, the Buddhais the greatest exemplar and teacher of a culture of freedom and responsibility that“only I” can realize for myself.Philosophy and autobiography are frequently assumed to be incompatible cate-gories in orthodox Western thought. The remaining chapters of Iryŏp’s

Reflections

reveal how autobiographical writing can be responsive to and reflective of an exis-tential situation. Chapters 4 and 5 describe her journey as a Buddhist nun in responseto the fifteenth anniversary of the death of her master, Man’gong (1871–1946), andto her twenty-fifth year as a monastic. Chapters 6 and 7 address social-political ques-tions such as peace and the Korean Buddhist purification movement.Chapters 8 to 11 are written as letters. They have an intimate self-reflective stylerevealing the existential import of Buddhist practice and thought in her life. Iryŏpresponds to Ch’oe Namsŏn’s (1890–1957) conversion from Buddhism to Catholicismin chapter 8. Iryŏp replies to a childhood friend in chapter 9 to explain her own con-version to Buddhism. Chapters 10 and 11 are the most personal of the work as theseare addressed to two of her lovers from her life as a “new woman” in the 1920s: thepoet Im Nowŏl (fl. 1920–1925) and the Buddhist philosopher and non-celibate monkPaek Sŏnguk (1897–1981), whose influence was crucial to her initial interpretation

Book Reviews 1051

and practice of Buddhism. These chapters reveal in a personal way the complex in-tersections and tensions between tradition and modernity, secularism and religion,Christianity and Buddhism, and male and female gender roles in twentieth-centuryKorean life.Part 1 concludes with letters from Paek Sŏnguk and Iryŏp’s attendant. Part 2sheds additional light on her understanding of Buddhism with the translation of threedharma talks and a letter to journalists. The letter to journalists raises the issue ofwhether she abandoned her earlier views of gender fairness, as critics argue, or em-ployed the traditional language of male superiority to address male correspondents.Park’s important edition of Iryŏp’s writings will interest those readers concernednot only with modern Korean intellectual history and Korean Buddhism but also withexamples of reflective or philosophical autobiography, experiences of crisis and con-version, and how one singular person responds to her existential condition.

Note1 – See Jin Y. Park, “Gendered Response to Modernity: Kim Iryŏp and Buddhism,” in Jin Y.Park, ed.,

Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism

(Albany: State University of New YorkPress, 2009), pp. 109–130.

The Buddha's Apprentices by Sharon Salzberg - Ebook | Scribd

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The Buddha's Apprentices: More Voices of Young Buddhists

By Sharon Salzberg

269 pages

8 hours

Description

Sumi Loundon's Blue Jean Buddha was hailed by the New York Times Review of Books as "a bellwether anthology"--mapping the spiritual trails followed by a generation of American Buddhist youths. The Buddha's Apprentices examines that territory in fuller detail, telling twenty-six more stories of this powerful spiritual path, including the stories of many teenagers. The book shows us the common challenges that spiritually hungry young adults of today might face, with a focus on the identity issues around personality, profession, and lifestyle. Also included are several affirming essays from prominent older Buddhists, recalling their first encounters with Buddhism. The Buddha's Apprentices inspires, examining the tectonic shifts that young, spiritually-inclined people undergo as they leave home, search for partners, consider commitment and marriage, and build their lives. Furthermore, they tell of how Buddhism changes and enhances their abilities to face life's difficulties.

Sumi Loundon's rich and youthful commentary lets us appreciate each contributor's individual voice, and helps us to see how they contribute to the always-evolving chorus of modern Buddhism.

The Buddha's Apprentices can be considered a sequel to Sumi Loundon's Blue Jean Buddha, but goes beyond that work by giving extra attention to teens and young adults and including pieces from Thich Nhat Hanh, Lama Surya Das, and a truly diverse array of younger author/contributors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A powerful and profound collection, alive with the voices of young Buddhists, whose sincere and honest personal stories deepen our understanding of the common life experiences we all share. I'd cut class to read this book!" -- Matthew Bortolin, author of The Dharma of Star Wars

"In The Buddha's Apprentices, the contributors bring a broader range of experiences. There is more representation from teens and there is also a selection of narratives from big-name, older practitioners who reflect on their youthful engagement with the dharma. Some of the stories offer genuinely touching and complex accounts of how practice has been important to their lives and self-formations. The stories in Buddha's Apprentices help us understand that in most sanghas today, you are considered young if you're under forty--because most everyone else is over fifty. This can be alienating. If you're a young person interested in the buddhadharma and you're far from a center or Buddhist community, you might feel even freakier. And so this book offers something to the lucky, isolated youth who manages to get her hands on it. The Buddha's Apprentices is a fine volume, and a solid successor to Blue Jean Buddha." ― Shambhala Sun

"Young Buddhists from several countries share their life experiences. Their ages range from very young teens to those in their twenties and thirties, closing with a section of reminiscences by longtime Buddhists as mature as the 76-year-old Thich Nhat Hanh. Remarkable first-hand accounts that resonate with eagerness and curiosity." ― Mandala

"Always insightful, sometimes sweet, and occasionally startling, these simply-told tales of being young and Buddhist, whether in a fundamentalist Christian, secular, traditionally Asian, or hip, Sixties-style family, are timely reminders that the dharma continues to thrive, even if Buddhism is not in the media spotlight today as it was during the 1990s. Loundon here provides the reader with a rich trans-generational look at Buddhism and youth. Opening with first-person accounts of the meaning Buddhist practice for contemporary teens, it then moves onto the edgier experiences of twenty and thirty-somethings. It concludes with fond reminiscences by some of today's senior leaders and teachers--Norman Fisher, Surya Das, Venerable Yifa, and Thich Nhat Hanh among others--about their own youthful search for meaning and their eventual discovery of the dharma. This is an engaging book that ought to be of interest to general readers, practitioners, and scholars with an interest in American Buddhism." -- Richard Hughes Seager, author of Buddhism in America and Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Sokka Gakai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism

"There's something profound and beautiful in every chapter." -- Franz Metcalf, author of Buddha in Your Backpack

"The Buddha's Apprentices is a stellar follow up to Sumi's first collection, Blue Jean Buddha. In this book she broadens the perspective of dharma practitioners in the west, diversifies the voices and shines light upon the important issues of age, race, and tradition. Reading this book is like having conversations with and hearing the stories of your friends, children, teachers and peers. A great introduction for newcomers to Buddhism and an inspiration to practitioners from all schools of Buddha Dharma." -- Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx and Against the Stream

"It is a pleasure to listen to these voices. They point to the future of Buddhadharma in the West." -- Jack Kornfield, author of A Path with Heart

"Awesome in the beginning, awesome in the middle, and awesome in the end. Forget Chicken Soup for the whatever Soul, The Buddha's Apprentices is a four-course meal of spiritual food. Whether you are new to Buddhism or have read an assortment of books on the subject, The Buddha's Apprentices has something for everyone. Crisp, clear, honest writing reveals how these young adults (and a few elders) are living the teachings in our modern world--in high schools, colleges, and monasteries, through relating with parents, teachers, and friends. The book does an excellent job of showing more than telling the power and challenges of the path. If you are in the high school or college-age population and are looking to live your life with deeper wisdom, this book is for you." -- Soren Gordhamer, author of Just Say Om!

"Well-written and fascinating. It is inspiring to see how young people put the dharma into practice in all aspects of their lives." -- Martine Batchelor, author of Thorsons Principles of Zen and Meditation for Life

"Don't think of this book as merely a sociology of young western Buddhism. These riveting stories are timeless classics, with authentic voices of 'beginner's mind' shared by every genuine practitioner. You won't be able to put it down." -- Judith Simmer-Brown, Naropa University professor and author of Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism

About the Author

Rev. Sumi Loundon Kim is the Buddhist chaplain at Duke University and minister for the Buddhist Families of Durham. She has published two anthologies, Blue Jean Buddha: Voices of Young Buddhists and The Buddha's Apprentices: More Voices of Young Buddhists. Following a master's degree in Buddhist studies and Sanskrit from the Harvard Divinity School, she was the associate director for the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts. She lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband and two children.

Sharon Salzberg, a co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society, has practiced Buddhist meditation since 1971 and has been teaching worldwide since 1974. She is the author of Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience, Lovingkindness, and A Heart As Wide As The World. She lives in Barre, Massachusetts.

Buddhism and Postmodernity: Zen, Huayan, and the Possibility of Buddhist Postmodern Ethics - Kindle edition by Park, Jin Y.. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Buddhism and Postmodernity: Zen, Huayan, and the Possibility of Buddhist Postmodern Ethics - Kindle edition by Park, Jin Y.. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Buddhism and Postmodernity: Zen, Huayan, and the Possibility of Buddhist Postmodern Ethics Kindle Edition
by Jin Y. Park (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3.1 out of 5 stars 2 ratings

Buddhism and Postmodernity is a response to some of the questions that have emerged in the process of Buddhism's encounters with modernity and the West. Jin Y. Park broadly outlines these questions as follows: first, why are the interpretations and evaluations of Buddhism so different in Europe (in the nineteenth century), in the United States (in the twentieth century), and in traditional Asia; second, why does Zen Buddhism, which offers a radically egalitarian vision, maintain a strongly authoritarian leadership; and third, what ethical paradigm can be drawn from the Buddhist-postmodern form of philosophy? Park argues that, as unrelated as these questions may seem, the issues that have generated them are related to perennial philosophical themes of identity, institutional power, and ethics, respectively. Each of these themes constitutes one section of Buddhism and Postmodernity. Park discusses the three issues in the book through the exploration of the Buddhist concepts of self and others, language and thinking, and universality and particularities. Most of this discussion is drawn from the East Asian Buddhist traditions of Zen and Huayan Buddhism in connection with the Continental philosophies of postmodernism, hermeneutics, and deconstruction. Self-critical from both the Buddhist and Western philosophical perspectives, Buddhism and Postmodernity points the reader toward a new understanding of Buddhist philosophy and offers a Buddhist-postmodern ethical paradigm that challenges normative ethics of metaphysical traditions.
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Editorial Reviews

Review
Jin Y. Park's work is a major achievement of phenomenological hermeneutics. It is indeed of exceptional quality which is capacious and deep in scope, lucid and erudite in style, and poignant and engaging in argumentation. Park is at ease with surfing the ineffable and seemingly contradictory expressions of Zen Buddhism and with scaling the rugged terrains of postmodern thought. Park's most creative, incisive, and discerning moments are found in her very attempt to transversalize the borders of Eastern Buddhism and Western philosophy both modern and postmodern. To put it simply, it is intercultural and interdisciplinary. I find that her appropriation of postmodern philosophy in Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Derrida, and Lyotard is judicious and discriminating. Among the notable features of Park's work is a singularly prominent place of Korean Buddhism, the 'Zen hermeneutics' of language, silence and violence, and most importantly her ambitious and promising vision of creating a new paradigm of ethics at the crossroads of Buddhism and postmodern philosophy. -- Hwa Yol Jung, Moravian College

Buddhism and Postmodernity is a fascinating journey into the field of Buddhist philosophy. Jin Park skillfully negotiates a variety of discourses including Buddhist studies, feminism, and postmodernism. She masterfully unmasks prejudices about Buddhist traditions and their alleged lack of propensity for systematic thought, and presents a convincing case for a Zen ethics by demonstrating affinities between Zen and deconstruction. Her mastery of the material is impressive, her sketch of Zen philosophy visionary. For everyone with interest in Buddhism and/or postmodernism, Buddhism and Postmodernity is a must-read. -- Gereon Kopf, Luther College

...Admirably concise and yet complex... Professor Park carefully exemplifies her own conclusions regarding the centrifugal potentials of Buddhist thought and practice by offering us clearly presented prospects on a yet-to-come ethics of non-dual interdependence. The wide ambitions of Buddhism and Postmodernity are skillfully threaded together through recurring contrasts of centripetal/centrifugal and hermeneutical/existential dynamics at play both historically and philosophically, in the West and its encounters with Buddhism, and in the global transit from modernity to postmodernity . . . Buddhism and Postmodernity raises important questions, opening promising avenues for further conversation. ― Sophia: International Journal of Philosophy and Traditions, November 2009

The dialogue between Buddhism and postmodernity is one of the most exciting developments in contemporary philosophy, with important implications for ethics. Jin Y. Park's insightful study of their relationship is grounded in a deep understanding and appreciation of both traditions. Her book is a welcome addition to the growing literature. -- David R. Loy, Xavier University --This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author
Jin Y. Park is associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at American University. --This text refers to the paperback edition.
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Product details
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BZAN3QM
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lexington Books (October 28, 2010)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 28, 2010
Print length ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
3.1 out of 5 stars 2 ratings

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Jin Y. Park

Jin Y Park is Professor of philosophy and religion and Founding Director of Asian Studies Program at American University in Washington DC, US. Park specializes in East Asian Buddhism (with a focus on Korean Buddhism), Buddhist-Western comparative philosophy, Buddhist ethics, and philosophy of religion, and modern East Asian philosophy.

Park is the author of Buddhism and Postmodernity, Women and Buddhist Philosophy, and translator of Reflections of a Zen Buddhist Nun, and editor of Buddhisms and Deconstructions, Makers of Modern Korean Buddhism, and co-editor of Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism.

Park's journal articles and book chapters can be found in:

https://american.academia.edu/JinPark

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3.1 out of 5 stars
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Gary Landau
1.0 out of 5 stars Leave it for the philosophersReviewed in the United States on October 5, 2017
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In the Sutras there is an example of the power of subjectivity: whatever we humans see as a glass of water, a god perceives the same object as a glass of ambrosia, and a hungry ghost sees a glass of pus. Similarly, Jin Y Park's work on Buddhism and postmodern ethics may be earthshattering and insightful for a graduate or doctoral student in philosophy/semiotics, but for anybody else it's absolutely impenetrable without the help of a professor's commentary.

I realize now (after buying the book) that I bought the ethical equivalent of a mathematical proof. I can't read a single page of this and come away with much of anything I can relate to existing social crisis, identity politics, or any number of other things I really hoped the book would comment on, or at least give me some ability to comment on.

Ethics being the study of righteous action, I was hoping for something that would, at least by the end of the text, begin to draw some connections to the material world, make some assertions about something, but after reading I couldn't tell you a thing about what the contents of this book mean for feminism(s), public policy, queerness, social justice, indigenous rights, postcolonialism or any number of other postmodern ethical arenas; its contents remain utterly indecipherable largely because the author makes no attempt to use metaphor, example, or lay terminology to give these ideas concretion or form that will allow crossdisciplinary readers to gain something from it.

IN other words, the pedagogy sucks. By all means, take a course on it, but don't buy it for your personal edification.

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