[Essay Today] At Jukrimjeongsa

There is Jukrimjeongsa in Beonam-myeon, Jangsu-gun, Jeollabuk-do. It is a beautiful temple. In spring, plum blossoms planted along the stone wall bloom profusely, and in autumn, the ginkgo leaves under the pavilion holding the Buddhist drum turn golden. Originally, Jukrimjeongsa refers to the first Buddhist temple said to have been in the Magadha Kingdom of India. Perhaps because of this auspicious story, there are truly many Jukrimjeongsas in Korea. There is also a Jukrimjeongsa in Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do. This place was where Joseon Confucian scholars discussed their studies.

The Jukrimjeongsa in Jangsu-gun was built next to the birthplace of Monk Baek Yongseong. The monk’s birthplace, Daeungbojeon Hall, and the Yongseong Memorial Hall are harmoniously arranged. Monk Baek Yongseong was one of the two monks, along with Manhae Han Yongun, who signed the Korean Declaration of Independence. Only Manhae and Yongseong monks participated in the declaration as monks. Born on May 8, 1864, his secular name was Baek Sanggyu (白相奎), and his Dharma name was Jinjong (震鍾). He was widely known by the Dharma name Yongseong (龍城).

Upon entering the memorial hall, a standing statue of the monk welcomes pilgrims. To its right, there is a small pump organ, and a bas-relief depicting the monk playing the pump organ and singing replaces the wall. It is said that the monk used this pump organ to teach Buddhist hymns to followers. It is not easy to imagine the monk playing the pump organ at first glance. Do great monks have a specialness that laypeople find hard to imagine? The thirty-first poem in Manhae’s poetry collection Silence of the Beloved is titled “Wine,” not cheongju (clear rice wine) or takju (unfiltered rice wine), but “wine.”

"...Beloved, I will pour that wine full into a lotus leaf cup and offer it to you / Beloved, quench your trembling hands and burning lips // Beloved, that wine becomes tears after one night / Ah, after one night the wine turns to tears, but after another night my tears become another wine..."

Because of the deep connection with Manhae, there is a claim that the “Beloved” sung about in the monk’s poetry collection refers to Monk Baek Yongseong. It is said to be a cry of resentment toward the monk who responded to Manhae’s plea to join the independence movement with silence and immersed himself in meditation. Manhae’s “Beloved” is usually understood as a symbol of the homeland, sentient beings, or the Buddhist Dharma, hope, and reason. Reading “Gunmal,” which serves as the prologue in the poetry collection Silence of the Beloved, reveals the outline of the “Beloved” Manhae sang about.

"Not only the beloved is the beloved, but everything called beloved is beloved. If sentient beings are the beloved of Shakyamuni, philosophy is the beloved of Kant. If the beloved of the rose is spring rain, the beloved of Machini is Italy. The beloved is not only whom I love but who loves me... Do you have a beloved? If so, it is not the beloved but your shadow. I am a lamb lost and wandering on the path home in the sunset field, and so I wrote this poem."

Monk Baek Yongseong’s life was far from that of a wall-gazing monk who turns a blind eye to reality. He willingly shared the suffering of sentient beings. When Japan issued the Temple Ordinance in 1911 to take over Joseon Buddhism, he led a movement to abolish it in resistance. In 1924, he launched the comprehensive Buddhist magazine Buddha’s Sun (Bulil, 佛日) to popularize Buddhism. In 1928, he published the Korean-language Avatamsaka Sutra, igniting the translation project. His efforts are regarded as “a task to set Korean Buddhism right and a spiritual liberation movement.”

Monk Baek Yongseong was an outstanding Seon master and an active intellectual. Of his 60 years of spiritual pursuit, the first 30 years were spent seeking enlightenment (Sanggu Bodhi, 上求菩提), and the latter 30 years were devoted to guiding sentient beings with the Dharma (Hwa Jungsaeng, 下化衆生). The monk passed away on February 24, 1940, at Daegaksa Temple in Seoul. Just before his death, he told his disciples, “You have worked hard all this time. I am going.”

Heo Jinseok, poet and professor at Korea National Sport University

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.