Teachings of the Master Abbot of Seomi Temple: A Story of Questions and Answers
Quote from Kai Chan Andrew on 11/25/2025, 8:56 pm
Yesterday, chaplains serving soldiers and their families—both a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister—visited our temple.
They asked three questions:
1. What is suffering?
2. How should we care for families grieving the death of a loved one?
3. Where do we go after death?
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Answer to Question 1 — What is Suffering?
Suffering manifests in three forms:
physical, psychological, and emotional pain.
All suffering begins with attachment.
When the mind clings, suffering arises.
Thus we must learn to let it flow, like water passing by, and gently release our grasp.
Letting go does not mean indifference.
It requires time for healing, supported by prayer, chanting, and deepening one’s inner practice.
---
Answer to Question 2 — How Do We Console the Grieving?
We must first empathize with their suffering.
Approach them with a compassionate heart, listen fully to their words and their sorrow, and simply be present.
Religious doctrines are not what matter most at that moment—
compassion is.
---
Answer to Question 3 — Where Do We Go After Death?
Christians believe they will enter the realm of God.
Buddhists aspire to be reborn in the Pure Land.
However, a true religious practitioner is not confined within the boundaries of doctrine.
The essence lies in respecting and caring for others, whatever their faith may be.
Mahatma Gandhi, himself a Hindu, once said:
“I love Jesus, but I do not love Christians, for they do not know Jesus’ love.”
Ultimately, all of us are part of Nature.
Ants, insects, even this wooden keisine (bamboo clapper)—all are one with us, equally precious.
We are inseparable from the universe; we arise from nature and return to nature.
In the awakened state, there is no coming or going, no birth or death—
only Nirvana, the stillness beyond all dualities.
This realization comes through each person’s sincere seeking and practice.
---
Question 4 — The Meaning of the Temple Mural
A chaplain asked about a mural:
A senior monk points silently to the moon, while the young disciple looks only at the monk’s finger.
---
Answer to Question 4
When we cling to religious forms and doctrines, we fail to understand the true intention of the enlightened ones.
If someone points to the moon,
look at the moon—
not the finger.
God and the Buddha dwell not outside, but within your own heart.
Therefore, who is the master of your life?
It is your mind.
And what is the true nature of this mind?
Chinese Zen Master Hsu-yun expressed enlightenment in this way:
“It is not brightness.
It is not darkness.
It is like a light
that embraces the entire universe.”
Yesterday, chaplains serving soldiers and their families—both a Catholic priest and a Protestant minister—visited our temple.
They asked three questions:
1. What is suffering?
2. How should we care for families grieving the death of a loved one?
3. Where do we go after death?
---
Answer to Question 1 — What is Suffering?
Suffering manifests in three forms:
physical, psychological, and emotional pain.
All suffering begins with attachment.
When the mind clings, suffering arises.
Thus we must learn to let it flow, like water passing by, and gently release our grasp.
Letting go does not mean indifference.
It requires time for healing, supported by prayer, chanting, and deepening one’s inner practice.
---
Answer to Question 2 — How Do We Console the Grieving?
We must first empathize with their suffering.
Approach them with a compassionate heart, listen fully to their words and their sorrow, and simply be present.
Religious doctrines are not what matter most at that moment—
compassion is.
---
Answer to Question 3 — Where Do We Go After Death?
Christians believe they will enter the realm of God.
Buddhists aspire to be reborn in the Pure Land.
However, a true religious practitioner is not confined within the boundaries of doctrine.
The essence lies in respecting and caring for others, whatever their faith may be.
Mahatma Gandhi, himself a Hindu, once said:
“I love Jesus, but I do not love Christians, for they do not know Jesus’ love.”
Ultimately, all of us are part of Nature.
Ants, insects, even this wooden keisine (bamboo clapper)—all are one with us, equally precious.
We are inseparable from the universe; we arise from nature and return to nature.
In the awakened state, there is no coming or going, no birth or death—
only Nirvana, the stillness beyond all dualities.
This realization comes through each person’s sincere seeking and practice.
---
Question 4 — The Meaning of the Temple Mural
A chaplain asked about a mural:
A senior monk points silently to the moon, while the young disciple looks only at the monk’s finger.
---
Answer to Question 4
When we cling to religious forms and doctrines, we fail to understand the true intention of the enlightened ones.
If someone points to the moon,
look at the moon—
not the finger.
God and the Buddha dwell not outside, but within your own heart.
Therefore, who is the master of your life?
It is your mind.
And what is the true nature of this mind?
Chinese Zen Master Hsu-yun expressed enlightenment in this way:
“It is not brightness.
It is not darkness.
It is like a light
that embraces the entire universe.”