'Child Allegations' Doyeon Seunim Returns on SNS After 20 Days... "Must Escape from Desire"

Return After About 20 Days Since Two-Child Controversy
Posted a 58-Second Video on Facebook
"We Must Escape from Desire and Hatred"

After being suspected of fathering two children and applying for secularization, Monk Doyeon updated his social networking service (SNS) channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube on the 28th. This came about 20 days after declaring a suspension of SNS activities amid controversy.

On that day, through Facebook, Monk Doyeon shared one of his videos, saying, "We must escape from the intensely burning desires and hatred."

Doyeon shared a video on Facebook that day, saying, "We must escape from the burning desire and hatred."
[Photo by Doyeon]

In the approximately 58-second short video, he said, "We usually hate someone intensely or like someone intensely, but both of these cause me pain," adding, "I like someone a lot, but will that person like me? What if I like someone but cannot have them? These thoughts cause me suffering."

He continued, "Or what if I keep meeting someone I dislike? Even though I hate them, I sometimes wish they would just die suddenly," and said, "But these feelings keep arising repeatedly. And often, it is difficult for me to overcome these feelings."

He then said, "It feels like a fiercely burning flame, so at times like that, you have to strategically retreat," adding, "How do you retreat? By returning to your breath, walking, or shifting your attention to something else you can focus on."

He also quoted Wendell Berry on Instagram and the YouTube community board: "When we no longer know what to do, we have come to what we truly must do. When we do not know which way to go, our true journey begins."

Furthermore, he cited Henry David Thoreau’s words: "I decided to live in the woods to live a life according to my intention and to connect with the essential aspects of life. It was also to avoid facing the fact that on the day I die, I will have failed to learn what life could have taught me, and thus failed to live life properly."

On YouTube, he has also uploaded cover music videos of songs such as Lim Young-woong’s "Sand Grains" and "Will We Meet Again?" since three days ago.

Instead of directly explaining or clarifying the recent controversies, it appears he has conveyed his intentions through these activities.

Submission of Secularization Request Without Fact-Finding

He also quoted writings by Wendell Berry and Henry David Thoreau on Instagram and the YouTube community board.

According to the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, while an investigation is ongoing regarding the suspicion that Doyeon violated monastic precepts by having a second child after ordination, he recently submitted a secularization request to the order through his district headquarters. This means he applied to renounce his monk status and return to secular life. A Jogye Order official explained, "The related procedures are still in progress."

Previously, after the suspicion that Doyeon had a second child following ordination was raised, he claimed it was "groundless," and reportedly explained that it was difficult to comply with the order’s demand for a DNA test to prove this because his ex-wife did not cooperate.

Doyeon studied electronic engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) before ordaining, and became well-known as a meditation instructor at Bongeunsa Temple.

When the suspicion about the second child surfaced, on the 7th, he announced via Facebook and other channels, "I intend to take a break from SNS activities for a while," adding, "I feel responsible for causing burden and negative influence on the Jogye Order through this incident, and I will spend some time in self-reflection, focusing on practice and study."

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