The Insence Marks, Entry 2

Dharma Brother Joe Siemion (now "Cheon-do"), taking the incense marks from Chong Go Sunim that will serve to remind him of the precepts. Joe is a teacher and a degree-holder from his university studies in comparative religions. He also one adept in chants--not only Korean Buddhist ones, but in Christian, Muslim, and other faiths. He is quite knowledgeable academically in the areas of Islam, Christianity, and of course in The Dharma. He is also one of the founders of the Saturday Sangha lead by Chong Go Sunim, our teacher at the Buddhist Library of Seoul, near Anguk Station. Chong Go Sunim is a monk of the Chogae order who lives and practices at this temple, Han Maum Seon Won, or One Mind/One Heart Zen Center, which was founded by Dae Heng Kun Sunim, or Master (Nun) Dae Heng.

Dharma Brother Joseph Bengivenni (now "Gil-do"), a teacher, photographer, and expert on tea from Nova Scotia, taking the incense marks from Chong Go Sunim that will serve to remind him of the precepts.

Dharma Brother Marcus (now "Seok-cheong") , a teacher, writer, and devotee who studied Buddhism in Cambridge and Thailand before coming to Korea, taking the incense marks from Chong Go Sunim that will serve to remind him of the precepts.

Dear Friends, Family, Dharma Brothers and Dharma Sisters,

This is me, Carl Atteniese Jr. (now "Man-do"), taking the incense marks from Chong Go Sunim, which will serve to remind me of the precepts.

My introduction to Buddhism came in my twenties, while reading Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, Suzuki Roshi, and His Holiness The Dalai Lama. However, my introduction to Oriental philosophy came when at nineteen, my good friend Louis Trentidue gave me a copy of The Tao Teh Ching, or The Book of The Way of Virtue, attributed to Lao Tzu (Meng Ja in Korean).

Perhaps a most interesting aspect of my story, is that the sufffix of my Dharma name, or Beob Myeong, "Do" is the same word as Tao.

Though I have always tried very hard to live my life with integrity--after the moral teachings of my mother and father and the spiritual lessons of Jesus, my true spiritual practice did not formally begin until a few years after coming to Korea for the second time in 2002, when in 2005 I suggested to a good friend reading up on Buddhism. This friend took the suggestion quite seriously--more so than I had thought (or even than I had wanted at first).

After reading Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, we went to meet Chong Go Sunim, and thereafter entered into a serious study of the temple master's philosophy; that was Dae Heng Kun Sunim.

My friend was a self-taught adept in yoga, Central Asian religions, Oriental medicine, and Chritianity. We discussed Dae Heng Kun Sunim's ideas at length. Sometimes I argued. But my friend was always patient, and she saw to the heart of the teaching, studied it earnestly, and made it clear to me--the formerly (arrogantly) self-professed logical, Western-'intellectual-descendant' of the "Aristotelian, "Socratic" and "Platonic" traditions of empiricism and argument.

Later, undaunted (thank The Dharma and Karma), My friend was given the name "Hong-Mak" at the precepts ceremony.

I have my friend to thank (mostly), along with Chong Go Sunim, Dae Heng Sunim, and those other masters and sages whom I read, for my present state of grace.

Though I myself tried to teach myself meditation in my youth--and I actually felt I had an "Answer Box" in my heart--perhaps similar in concept to Dae Heng Kun Sunim's teaching of Juingong--Hong Mak brought me to true practice--a spiritual path--which more than an intellectual one, can transform a human life to a higher state, in my opinion.

In this process of spiritual awakening (I hope), my heart has opened more than my Dear Mother would have ever dreamed possible.

The study of Han Maum Buddhism has even opened me up a little more to the possibility of God--like never before--and if you know Buddhism, the Buddha taught that man is the only refuge for his own salvation. However, the beauty of Buddhism is that it is a non-dogmatic philosophy, celebrating the sanctity of the human mind--for The Buddha himself said not to follow him if his teachings did not sit right with the student.

So in Buddhism, you can 'believe' what you wish, even though the Buddha said that it is not about faith; it is about seeing reality as it is; seeing the truth.

Thank you, and May You become a Buddha, or an Enlightened Being.

With Palms Together,

Mando (만도)