New to Buddhism

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micah
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:43 am

New to Buddhism

Post by micah »

I am a GI in Korea stationed in Camp Carrol near waegwan Korea. I joined army to protect my country but instead I have done things that I cannot forget. So I tried to pray to Buddha. My family is devout christian but I was searching my path. I know little of buddhism but what I do know is what I do. I have entered many times to the small temple in waegwan but no buddhist seem to be there. Now I have learned my grandma died and while I still do not know the proper ettiquette I wish to pay last rites. I cannot go home I do not speak korean. I left note with korean words I looked up and number. can somebody please help I want to practice the teachings. But I no nothing

Specialist Micah Lavigne

Camp Carroll Republic of Korea
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Astus
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Location: Budapest

Re: New to Buddhism

Post by Astus »

There are some communities you could contact in Korea and they speak English (or at least some of them):

http://www.hanmaum.org/eng/
http://wakeupandlaugh.wordpress.com/
http://www.bels.kr/
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-bud ... seoul.html
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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Grigoris
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Re: New to Buddhism

Post by Grigoris »

Have you checked whether there is a Buddhist chaplain based with your unit, or a unit nearby, that you can talk to?
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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kirtu
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Re: New to Buddhism

Post by kirtu »

micah wrote:Now I have learned my grandma died and while I still do not know the proper ettiquette I wish to pay last rites. I cannot go home I do not speak korean.

Specialist Micah Lavigne
Hi Micah - looking for a Buddhist Chaplain is a good idea if possible. One thing you can do is to recite the Heart Sutra for your Grandmother if you wish.

Kirt
Kirt's Tibetan Translation Notes

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche

"Most all-knowing Mañjuśrī, ...
Please illuminate the radiant wisdom spirit
Of my precious Buddha nature."
HH Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
micah
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2013 10:43 am

Re: New to Buddhism

Post by micah »

There are no buddhist chaplains in the us army that i have seen. and what is heart sutra?
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kirtu
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Re: New to Buddhism

Post by kirtu »

micah wrote:There are no buddhist chaplains in the us army that i have seen. and what is heart sutra?
There are now a few Buddhist Chaplains in the US military and most of them are in the US Army. Here is a blog fir Buddhist servicemembers run by one of the Buddhist Chaplains.

The Heart Sutra is an expression of enlightenment that is the condensation of a very large sutra. It is very difficult to understand intellectually. It is recited in almost all Mahayana Buddhist traditions, esp. in the Zen/Chan/Seon traditions. after a person dies the Heart Sutra is often recited in the Zen traditions for the person who died because they could benefit from it and now could understand it more easily. I personally like this version of the Heart Sutra more than others in large part because my former main Zen teacher took pains to create a more lyrical (or at least more chantable) version than is often seen.

Kirt
Kirt's Tibetan Translation Notes

"Even if you practice only for an hour a day with faith and inspiration, good qualities will steadily increase. Regular practice makes it easy to transform your mind. From seeing only relative truth, you will eventually reach a profound certainty in the meaning of absolute truth."
Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

"Only you can make your mind beautiful."
HH Chetsang Rinpoche

"Most all-knowing Mañjuśrī, ...
Please illuminate the radiant wisdom spirit
Of my precious Buddha nature."
HH Thinley Norbu Rinpoche
icylake
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Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: New to Buddhism

Post by icylake »

sorry for late response. Wae gwan belongs to Chil gok county. there is Chil-gok branch of Youngmnam buddhist school Kwan um sa(http://tvbuddha.co.kr/engsite/ ).
it's famous for it's education programs for lay people in Youngnam area (Kyung sang nam do, Kyung sang buk do, a independent institution of Jogye order) but it would not provide english program I think. and Kyung sang do province is notorious for it's hard dialect. many Koreans live other areas can not fully understand their dialect.

if you don't bother to go to Daegu city, you could find many opportunities I think. there is one of the main Korean zen monasteries, Dong hwa sa temple (http://www.donghwasa.net/ )
and there is Daegu branch of Hanmaum zen center( http://www.hanmaum.org/startpage) there is english page on the right.

in fact, there are several citizen cen centers run by zen manasteries which their main monasteries are located in mountains. but I don't know if there are English programs.

and there are many traditional zen monasteries in Kyung sang do area. in fact that area is the spin of Korean zen, brought out countless zen masters, but ALL of those temples and hermatages are deep in the mountains, and Too traditional. I suggest you to try the two above.(Young nam buddhist school Chil gok branch or Daegu main temple, Hanmaum zen(seon) center Daegu branch) Chil gok and Daegu is very close as you know. good luck!
:namaste:
timmy113
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Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2013 2:32 pm

Re: New to Buddhism

Post by timmy113 »

There is now a active duty Buddhist chaplain. If you good the term Buddhist Chaplain he will come up.
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