During his lifetime, Seongcheol ordered anyone who came to the mountain to bow 3,000 times. No exception was made for the elderly or sick. To bow means to humble oneself. At the same time, your mind is also humbled. In the process, you come face to face with your true self. The Geoboesa Temple, located in Sancheong-gun, the breath of Seongcheol, is a holy place and attraction where not only Buddhists but also the general public visit to learn about Seongcheol’s teachings. Geoboesa Temple Chief Monk Ilhak is the heir to Seongcheol’s life and teachings.

Seongcheol was called Gayasan Tiger

Seongcheol emphasized the original Buddha nature in all living beings and devoted his entire attention to meditation to open his eyes to it. It was a gesture to see himself rightly. Born in Sancheng County on February 19, 1912, he graduated from elementary school and realized the deep meaning of learning on his own without learning from anyone else. He was interested in the ultimate problem of life, from eternity to eternity, and studied philosophy, medicine, and literature, but was unable to find a solution. One day, he read the “Jeungdoga” of Yongga Daesa, which was handed to him by a monk, and realized that his mind was enlightened. He traveled to Daewonsa Temple in Jirisan Mountain and studied, and in the spring of 1936, he entered Haeinsa Temple in Gaya Mountain, where he received the bodhisattva path from Monk Unbong the following spring. He practiced for eight years and continued the lineage of Korean Buddhism. His teaching of “living only according to the Buddha’s Dharma” influenced the form and order of the Korean Jogye sect. He was appointed as the first abbot of Haeinsa in 1955, but he declined and went to Palgongsan Temple in Daegu to devote himself. 

Baekilbupmun

He was inaugurated as the first head of the Haein Temple in 1967. He preached for two hours a day for one hundred days for the benefit of the people, and that is the famous Baekilbupmun. This was the supreme seat that revealed that the fundamental truth of Buddhism is the Middle Way through Zen and Dhamma, declared that the authentic end of Zen is donodonsu, and revealed the truth of immortality through modern physics theories. In January 1981, he was elected the sixth head of the Jogye sect of Korean Buddhism, bringing stability to the sect as the spiritual patriarch of Korean Buddhism. In the early morning hours of November 4, 1993, he shaved his head and at the Haeinsa retreat center, where he received the name Seongcheol, he said one last word, “Good luck with your meditation,” and fell into great silence. He was 82 years old. 

Geoboesa

Geoboesa is a temple built on the site of Seongcheol’s birthplace. It was founded on March 30, 2001 by his only blood relative, Monk Bulpil, after five years of work at the suggestion of the governor of Sancheong County. It is one of eight temples of Monk Seongcheol’s disciples across the country. This temple means a temple that transcends time and space. In the center of the yard, there is a statue of Seongcheol, a large prayer bead, and a wooden fish sculpture. The main hall, which is 3 bays wide and 3 bays deep, is located to the left of the statue. Inside, the altar houses the Sakyamuni Buddha, and a portrait of Seongcheol, painted in a relief technique by Kim Ho-seok, a master of Korean ink painting, hangs. The murals on the exterior walls depict scenes of the monk’s ordination, training, sermons, and cremation. Behind the statue is Seongcheol’s birthplace, which was restored in October 2000. 

Chief Monk of Geoboesa

Monk Il-Hak, who had been serving as the director of Jogyesa Temple, the headquarters and head temple of the direct diocese of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, for three years, was asked by his teacher and head monk Won-taek, the head monk of Geoboesa Temple, to take on the position of head monk of Geoboesa Temple. After much deliberation, he decided to take on the role of head monk of Geoboesa, where the spirit of Monk Seongcheol resides. He was naturally exposed to Buddhism from a young age due to the influence of his grand aunt, who was a bhikkhuni monk, and was inspired to pursue the life of a monk through Seongcheol’s Dhama books after his military service. “Living a practiced life doesn’t have to be hard and difficult; if you’re living with a good heart and following the Buddha’s teachings, that’s practiced” says he. One of the Buddha’s teachings is that there is no specific path, but rather the path of the practitioner as he or she practices. This means that the path of the practitioner is the path of the Buddha, as long as the practitioner is truly practicing and devoted.