Caveat: 선방

Somewhat to my own surprise, I actually finished a book last night. I always have so many books in progress, but I've become so bad at finishing them, so when I do finish one, I feel surprised.

DiaryThe book I finished is called Diary of a Korean Zen Monk, by an author named simply Jiheo, and translated by Jong Kweon Yi and Frank Tedesco.

It's a very understated little volume, written in the 70's by a monk during a winter meditation retreat (which he calls by the idiomatic term 선방 [seon-bang], which literally means "meditation room" or "zen room").

He's quite well-educated, and it shows through his reflections – he mentions not just a great deal of deep knowledge of Korean Buddhism (and hence Chinese Buddhism, particularly the Zen (called Chan [Chinese name] or Seon [Korean name]) current within the Mahayana tradition) but also western theology. He quotes Sartre and Nietzsche in his conversations with other monks.

Here's a quote I liked where he is obliquely referencing the "middle way" – that is, avoiding the temptations of extreme asceticism. He's talking to another monk who seems overly obsessed with denial of the body.

There's an old saying "nothing is more important than your body, live first and then you can do everything." This may sound very materialistic and egoistic. If you look into it very carefully, though, you'll see that it expresses the universal truth of all beings very well. "I" can be found when I realize that I'm merely one of the countless beings appearing and disappearing through the endless functioning of infinite space, eternal time and inexhaustible energy. While searching for "I," I have to take good care of myself, and to do this, I'll have to practice. When I finally find myself on the path, there is no "I" but nirvana. This being so, do you really have to make a fasting retreat in your poor health? – p. 128

I connected with this particular conversation because of my own current preoccupation with my health and my uncooperative body, and my ascetic temptations (or tendencies).

I liked the book. It was well written and well translated.

[daily log (11 pm): walking, 5.5 km]

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