He made the remarks during his regular spring dharma talk
at Gilsang Temple in Seoul?s Seongbuk-dong, which drew some
1,500 Buddhist to a scene resplendent with the colors azaleas,
forsythias and cherry blossoms.
The monk picked a telling example. ?A 70-year-old grandfather
moved in with his son after his wife died. One day, he went
into his son and daughter-in-law?s room and by chance caught
a glimpse of the housekeeping book. In it he read the words,
?Spending money for the country bumpkin ? W20,000 (US$20).??
The father recognized that the bumpkin was him and left the
house forthwith, Pubjeong said. ?A family without warmth is
like a body without a soul,"he said. He attributed family
breakup to a growing tendency to selfishness and egoism. ?These
days, we?re born outside the home, and we mark our first,
sixtieth and seventieth birthdays and even deaths outside
our homes. In such circumstance we need seriously to look
back at what the home and family are to us.?
Pubjeong stressed that study of our own hearts is needed
when we want to understand the breakup of the family. ?It?s
easy to get divorced these days, but if we cannot correct
our karma, even if we divorce, we cannot untie the tangled
knot," he said, quoting Buddhist teachings. ?Because
the world is darkness, filth, want and pain, regardless of
our personal intention, what we have in our hearts is important,
and how our lives are depends on how we resolve to live.?
He said if we think of our families and neighbors as our reflections,
"and correct our hearts moment to moment so that we think,
?The Buddha has come? rather than ?The husband I hate has
come,? we can change our cold homes in ones full of joy and
thankfulness.?
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