Won Buddhism Dharma Talks

Member's Talk by Douglas Conkling @ Won Dharma Center October 17, 2021 https://wondharmacenter.org/

Rebecca Kameny (Won Hee), a member of the North Carolina Temple, explores the human experience of disappointment and how it can block us from experiencing equanimity. Using thoughtful examples, she shows how the Threefold Practice can help us navigate our way out of the tangle of disappointments we sometimes create for ourselves. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org

Rev. WonGong of the North Carolina Temple explains how the healthiest tree in the garden, an Arborvitae, is the one that is close to a water tap. Proximity to a popular resource insures this evergreen gets lots of loving attention, and it flourishes because of this. Temple practitioners can likewise nourish each other by meeting together, calling or texting. "We are one, we are whole." https://www...

In her Dharma talk, Rev. ZiYoung, Kyomunim at the North Carolina Temple, reflects on Buddhadharma in everyday life and discovers that Buddhadharma already 'is' everyday life! We can recognize this fact by "Requiting the Graces with One Mind" as explained by Master Daesan. Rev. ZiYoung gives us personal examples of what it means to requite graces and come to see, for ourselves, the inherent wholene...

Pete Warshaw (Won JeeHo), a member of the North Carolina Temple, discusses the reasons for and path taken in updating Won Buddhism's entry in Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Won_Buddhism). Pete emphasizes that updating and clarifying this important resource is a community effort, and he also reminds us that many current practitioners were introduced to Won Buddhism through small windows i...

Desi Adams (Won JaIn), a visiting practitioner from the Philadelphia Temple, shares her experience engaging in a very personal aspiration, one with which so many of us can relate, which is refraining from interrupting others when they are speaking. Changing habits is not a trivial process. Desi found wisdom in The Scripture of the Founding Master, Chapter Three: Practice, verse 30 (http://wonscrip...

Brain Adams (Won SungDeok), a visiting practitioner from the Philadelphia Temple, shares his experience with chanting in the Won Buddhist tradition. His initial apprehension melted away during a retreat when he discovered what he calls "…the sincerity of whole-hearted chanting." Brian's chanting practice really took off, however, when a Kyomunim suggested he chant from his "Dan Jeon" ("Dantian" 단...

In a very personal reflection of her own experience dealing with the possibility of being a Covid carrier herself, Rev. WonGong expands upon this one single contemporary fear, to discriminatory thoughts in general, their genesis, and practice for resolving thoughts that smother love and compassion for others. Compassion is innate to human beings, but obscured by "…fear, anxiety, and insecurity, to...

Lara Olson (Won LaSon) investigates her own day-to-day experience recognizing judgmental thought so easily engaged in erroneously labeling other people. This mind may actually be reflecting the nurturer and nature of the observer in a way familiar to the person actively exercising the discriminating mind. Lara provides tips on revealing the underlying ego that informs this judgmental mind. https:/...

Visiting Reverend Shaun Song (Won SiJoong), details his journey toward true nature in this vulnerable and relatable message that brings hope to all of us in our path to self understanding and enlightenment. Mentors and situations are everywhere lighting the way when we look at what this reflected light reveals. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/

Patty details her path toward a practice that is both introspective and skeptical, and one that has led her to a brand of "spiritualism" that is not in conflict with science and what she experiences here in the every-day world. Here, disparate people meet in a sangha and dharma of mutual service and "…a religion based on truth and a training in morality based on facts." (Master Sotesan, The Foundi...

In this Dharma talk, Rev. ZiYoung shares the key to bringing peace to the world starts with cultivating peace in our own mind-field. An easier way to say this is, "Oneness" and is our prayerful chant in the words, "We Are One, We Are Whole." https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org

Kelly Denno (Won YeeSuh), shares an all too familiar experience when interconnectedness is not safe, being tailgated. Practice and the scriptures reminds us that it is important to be equitable and kind to everyone, even those who don't look like they deserve it in certain critical moments. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org

In this Dharma talk Rev. ZiYoung explains in a literal way, how our delusions cloud our sight, much like how our eyesight can be limited by restricting the light that enters one of our eyes with our hand. Limiting ourselves prevents us from clearly seeing great ant small, being and nonbeing, and Rev. ZiYoung's personal experience with team members illustrates this in a vivid way. https://www.wonbu...

Kathleen Herr (Won HerrJu) shares a deeply personal message about becoming "lassoed" by checklist "have-to's" at the expense of meaningful and fundamental practices. At the beginning of her talk, Kathleen mentions the practice of service, and invites practitioners near the North Carolina temple to volunteer in the garden if they are so inclined. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/donations

Nik Wall (WonHaeWol), a member of the North Carolina Temple, shares his thoughts on practicing mindfully as a way to loosen "thought knots" that occur in our minds. Nik explains that our knotted minds can be helped by understanding a poem by the founding master instructing us that it is "…not not, but not not either…” Nik's interpretation then becomes, "…not knot, but not knot either!" :) https://...

Michael Macklin (WonHyoung), a long time practitioner at the North Carolina Temple, draws upon his deep study, contemplation, and experience with the Il-Won-Sang vow, a core doctrine found in The Principal Book of Won-Buddhism (http://wonscripture.org/Main/SubIndex/jungjun020104) Michael's simple and clear explanation of key stanzas helps us better grasp the vow's central objective, experiencing t...

In her special 911 anniversary message, Rev. WonGong shares a message of healing and wholeness by comparing our lives to that of the lotus flower. Deep roots thrive in whatever type of water the lotus plant finds itself, and its leaves are never sullied by even the muddiest of water. Master Chōngsan wisely encouraged his followers to practice like the lotus in this new world (http://wonscripture.o...

Bonnie opens the North Carolina's Saturday service by sharing how she experiences dogs in her life in a real, direct way, and also in a metaphorical sense. She makes the distinction between knowledge in our heads and knowledge in our bodies. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/

Rev. WonGong models and enlightens the Saturday service attendees of the North Carolina Temple on the finer points of meditating while noses and mouthes are "blanketed" with the coverings that have become a regular part of our lives. Even masks present us with an opportunity to practice! https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/

Member's Talk by Greta(Ja Myong) at Won Buddhism of Manhattan August 29, 2021 wonbuddhismnyc.org

Rev. WonGong explains how we can recharge our spiritual batteries by engaging in the "Three Great Powers," known in Won Buddhism as the "Threefold Practice" - Cultivation, Inquiry, and Choice in Action. She dives deep into ways we can cultivate these powers by referring to the scriptures and wise teachers, like Master ChōngSan, who saw that these powers involve accumulation and utilization. Rev. W...

Rev. WonGong guides practitioners attending Saturday Morning services at the North Carolina Temple with tips on settling in, then sustaining a focused mediation session. She tells us that, "What your mind thinks is non of your business when meditating!" https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/

Lars, a member of the North Carolina Temple, reflects on serving the North Carolina community and Kyomunims by contributing his technological skill set with no thought of getting anything in return. This has been something powerful for him during the pandemic. He calls this, "…turning harm into grace by turning selfishness into something more powerful…service."

Program (Order of appearance): Dharma Talk by Rev. WonGong - Self-Transformation Day 2021 Presentation of Dharma Names by Rev. WonGong Dharma Name Recipients' talks - Jared Heelis (Won JaeRyong, 원재룡, 圓濟龍) - Ann Freeman (Won HaeRee, 원혜리, 圓慧利) - Holly North (Won JahYoo, 원자유, 圓自由) Encouragement for new Dharma Name recipients by Drew Pilant (Won DoCheong)