Won Buddhism of Manhattan

Levees also referred to sometimes as “raised ground” are areas of land assembled to prevent flooding. Levees are also used to establish new areas for cultivation.
Shortly after the founding of what was to become Won Buddhism, Master Sotesan made a request of his followers that stands apart in the history of Buddhism. This request is unique in several ways and demonstrates sophistication in leadership and planning that illustrates how well Sotesan understood his followers, his era and what would lie ahead.

At this time Korea was still largely pre-industrial. Farming was the center of society for most and the backbone of the economy. Agriculture on the peninsula goes back to Neolithic times. It’s a way of life that has tied the people to the land in a mutually beneficent way that continues to this day. Most farms in Korea are small, land is a precious resource. Rice farming is the principal crop. There is also a rich offering of hot peppers, scallions, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkins to name the most common. The work is labor intensive. Korean farmers understand their environment with their bare hands. The successful integration of the farms in Korea can be seen physically in the way they create harmony and compliment the scenic beauty of the countryside. The farm is the heart of the community, the land around each village is what binds the village and gives it life. Extended family relationships were formed around the successful cultivation and harvest that predate and in some ways anticipated the later Confucian influence in Korea.  
So why all this talk about farming? Soon after Sotesan first brought his core group of followers together he informed them that they were going to build a levee, a levee to reclaim land from the sea and restore for it agricultural purposes.

A levee must be strong enough to hold back the body of water, and be constructed with enough integrity to prevent erosion or breeching.
Sotesan’s close disciples were not farmers, laborer or engineers. They were about to embark on a task they had neither the skill or the stamina to complete. Imagine their reaction, the doubt that they must have felt and the leap of faith the must have made.
Sotesan knew they would make this investment.
Building a levee or any structure that has to restrict the flow of water is a monumental task. Add in having to allow for the drastic tides and typhoons and you have a project with the possibility of multiple points of failure. A breach can take human life, destroy homes and livelihood. The coast in Korea on the Yellow Sea is dramatic, mountains cascade into the water, leaving scalloped pans interspersed with small protected coves.

Think of the levee as Ir Won Sang and your practice newly cultivated land from which the sea of Dukkha that surrounds you is held at bay.
In Youngkwang the area to be reclaimed was a wide low flat partial salt marsh dominated by a river mouth and flanked by high hills. The work was not done by mechanical means. Baskets were used to haul earth, most times while the participants were standing knee high or deeper in a rich slimy silt. The work was accomplished by passing the basket overhead from worker to worker fireman style until the required issue was moved. It would be safe to estimate that each load passed would weigh in the neighborhood of 70 pounds or more.

It’s hard for most of us to comprehend the strength and stamina necessary to accomplish a task like this. One does not complete such a task without undergoing some degree of transformation. Sotesan knew his followers, knew the effect it would have on them, and knew they would deliver.

A levee is challenged by tidal actions and storms, as your practice is challenged by the events in your life and your reactions to them.
The community was now enriched by the fact that their arable farm land had increased, and also by the fact that they had a group in their midst that put the welfare of the others first and gave without being asked.
 The Sangha was no longer a group focused solely on their own concerns, the Sangha
had becomes a resource. Instead of monks going out with begging bowls the Sangha had helped fill the food bowls of the community. Sotesan had made a seemingly impossible request, each practitioner was stretched beyond their physical limits, worked as part of a group and accomplished something of tangible benefit to their friends and neighbors. Imagine looking everyday at something
you built that is holding back the sea and helping to feed your community.

Levees are breached at times but a levee with a strong enough foundation will always stand. After the flood waters recede the soil is richer increasing cultivation
Accomplishment creates autonomy. Sotesan’s early social actions created the bedrock of Won Buddhism. The Japanese occupation and the Korean War wreaked an almost incomprehensible devastation. Won Buddhism survived that.  Koreans are among the most tested and now most successful of all the worlds people. Gracefully transforming seemingly insurmountable difficulty is center to the genius of Korean culture. All Sotesan’s efforts and those who lead after him echo this. He not only shaped a practice that was designed for the laity, he saw industrialization coming and made provisions for that as well. Won Buddhism has to be Buddhism in its most accessible form. So many obstacles have been removed. The fundamentals for a deep and profound practice are made so available; all that is asked of us is the attention and the effort. No small request but maybe not as hard as some others.

A well built levee will reinforce itself over time.
Each time you focus in your Danjeon  you reinforce the foundation of your practice.
When you come to temple your troubles and distractions will always try to follow you in.
Upon entering remember others have sacrificed gladly in so many ways in order for you to make progress. It is important to acknowledge their gift to you. Your aches and pains are real, your troubles are real, and nothing is more real than the challenge of practice, except perhaps the circumstance of your good fortune and privilege to be here. The levee still stands today.

I hope you will excuse this cursory glance at a rich subject worthy of a more qualified examination, Thanks.

April, 2009