INTRODUCTION
✨ In this reflective teaching, Master Woo Myung describes the emotional weight of traditional ascetic departure—leaving behind parents, spouse, and children in search of enlightenment. While this ancient path once symbolized devotion, he explains that countless high priests lived and died without truly saving mankind.
Today, he teaches that enlightenment no longer requires abandoning one’s family or living in the mountains. The time has come for people to find Truth within everyday life, living naturally as Truth while fulfilling their responsibilities. This writing calls us to recognize that the era of forced asceticism has passed, and the era of living Truth in the world has begun. 🌱
ORIGINAL WRITING BY MASTER WOO MYUNG
Pravrajyā
“You fool!
What is the point in you becoming Buddha all alone?
You are abandoning
your parents,
your wife,
and your children!” she says to him.
Yet he tears himself away from his elderly mother.
His wife cries silently without a word.
Although he is leaving,
his mind is full of burdens – his sins –
and he knows not where to go.
Due to their ties,
his family awaits his return anxiously.
Every time the front gate squeaks,
they check to see if he has returned.
At home things change with the years,
but he is deep in the mountains seeking enlightenment.
After a while, he may think he has reached it,
but he has gained no insight,
just like the numerous high priests
who have all passed away
without being able to save mankind.
In the perfect world,
one would have a family while on his path to
seek Truth;
only then would that truly be the act
of saving mankind.
Now it is time for him – for everyone –
to come down from the mountain
and have a family,
just as he has always wanted.
There is no need for one to undergo such an ascetic life,
for now are the days in which
man may become Truth naturally.
Thus let us take part in such times.
– Woo Myung
REFLECT AT SANTA CLARA MEDITATION
At Santa Clara Meditation, practitioners learn that Truth is no longer something to be sought in isolation but lived naturally in daily life—within family, responsibility, and compassion. 🌟
