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"Wake Up and Laugh!" is the title of one of the books containing my master, Seon Master Daehaeng’s Dharma talks, and it is also one of my favorite phrases. It means to 'wake up from the ignorance of not knowing who we truly are and to smile brightly from our true nature.' Whenever I see that title, I am reminded of a moment with my master. What she taught me that day became a cornerstone of my practice and continues to keep me on the right path. Twenty-seven years ago, on the

Have you ever truly hated someone? Today, I want to share a story about seven painful years of my life, a time when I came to hate someone so much that even the sound of her breathing and footsteps bothered me. In this story, you are going to see a rather ugly and petty side of a monk. You may even find yourself thinking, “What kind of Buddhist practitioner acts like that?” I am sharing this story anyway because perhaps, someday, you too may find yourself unable to stand some

One hot summer day, a monk joined several volunteers to pull weeds in front of the Dharma Hall. ​ "Pulling weeds? On a day this hot? It shouldn't take long. Easy peasy!" the monk thought. ​ But after crouching down, the monk froze. The weeds and the grass looked almost identical. Unable to tell the difference, the monk watched the experienced volunteers. They quickly spotted the weeds hidden among the grass and pulled them out with ease. ​ Finally, the monk asked, "How can yo