Ask a Korean! News: Ven. Beobjeong Enters Nirvana

Venerable Beobjeong, a major leader of Korean Buddhism, passed away yesterday at age 78. Ven. Beobjeong was not only a man of the highest spirituality and integrity, but also was quite a writer who sought to make the Buddhist way accessible to as many people as possible. He also had a great relationship with the leaders of Korean Catholicism, always striving for religious harmony in Korea.

 Ven. Beobjeong

Here are selected quotes from Ven. Beobjeong, translated:

- We possess things because of need, but sometimes we spend our heart because those things. Therefore, to possess something is to be held into something else. Thus, possessing much means being held as much.

- Flowers; do not take for granted this heart-filling truth that blooms around us. This is an amazing mystery. We must reflect upon human history through the flower's bloom. How much am I blooming the clearest and most beautiful element within myself? We must reflect our own lives through flowers.

- The empty heart is called musim. The empty heart is our true heart. If the heart is filled with something, that is not the true heart. Without emptiness, there is no resonance. Without resonance, life cannot be fresh or energetic.

- Musoyu ("not possessing") does not mean not having anything; rather, it means not having anything unnecessary. The clear poverty that we have chosen is much more valuable and precious than wealth.

- Who am I? Ask yourselves that question. You must ask, ask and ask again until your inner face emerges and shows itself. Do not ask cursorily, but ask desperately with the voice within your voice, against the ear within your ear. The answer lies within that question.

-There are two ways in Buddhist training. The way of wisdom, through which the self is formed; and the way of mercy, through which your neighbors are warmly cared for. If either one is missing, it is not Buddhism, nor is it religion.  Every religion has these two elements. A religious life entails care for others at the same time.

Ven. Beobjeong always stressed the importance of musoyu ("not possessing"). His last words were true to his teaching:

You will absolutely not kill any precious trees for any grand cremation ceremony, and  do not waste money on new cloth for new burial clothes. There’s leftover firewood that I already gathered at my mountain hut. Cremate me there by the rocks where I used to meditate. Scatter my ashes on the ground where the azaleas graciously bloomed each spring. That will be my final recompense.

Accordingly, as you can see from the picture below, the body of Ven. Beobjeong was not put in a casket, but was simply laid on top of the low table on which he used to sit, and was covered by his overcoat.

 
There is not any need to speak the trite words, "Rest in peace." He had long attained peace while he was alive, and his passing is no more than that -- passing, and continuation of his spiritual life.

(Some information via Marmot's Hole)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Here is something for Korean movie fans: Interview in English with Bong Joon-Ho, he of The Host fame -- with a slightly twisted answer toward the end.

(Via Korea Beat)

This is cool -- one of the flight attendants who subdued the Christmas day underpants bomber in Detroit is a Korean American named Richard Cho, who received a thank you letter from Barack Obama for his heroics.

Ask a Korean! News: Epic Battle between Ultraman and Koreanmomzilla

Interesting discussion over tradition between the Korean and the Korean Mother. Well, it would have been interesting if it did not involve hours of screaming into the phone.

The Korean was planning to have the traditional portion of the wedding (폐백 or pyebaek) in Korea after the wedding in New York, because the ceremony is for the 시댁 (si-daek, i.e. the groom's family) to welcome the bride. For the Korean, the proper 시댁 is in Korea, where heads of his extended family -- namely, the Korean Grandmother and the Korean Uncle (큰아버지) -- are located. For the Korean Mother (who recently morphed into Koreanmomzilla,) the proper 시댁 is wherever the Korean Mother and the Korean Father are located, which means 폐백 has to be a part of the New York wedding.

An epic battle between Ultraman and Koreanmomzilla just happened, which sort of looked like this...

(Source)

... but just imagine the two duking it out on the phone instead of breathing fires and shooting laser beams.

But in the end, the noble Ultraman was defeated, and Koreanmomzilla stomped on his cold dead body. Now the Korean has to go look for a separate room in the reception space for the goddamn 폐백. Losing never feels good, even if it's losing to your mom.

What do you think is the proper result?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

A very popular New York Times article this week is about people trying to find a way to build a better teacher. The entire article is very much worth a read. One passage in the article caught the Korean's eyes:

When Doug Lemov conducted his own search for those magical ingredients, he noticed something about most successful teachers that he hadn’t expected to find: what looked like natural-born genius was often deliberate technique in disguise. “Stand still when you’re giving directions,” a teacher at a Boston school told him. In other words, don’t do two things at once. Lemov tried it, and suddenly, he had to ask students to take out their homework only once.

Building a Better Teacher (New York Times)

The Korean does not know if his reaction is based on the fact that he is a Korean, or that he is a son of two very successful teachers. At any rate, the Korean's reaction was: People don't know this?

The Korean volunteers frequently at a NYC public school, and he has always been one of the most effective volunteers in getting a classroom full of high school students under control and follow his directions. The manner in which the Korean does that has always been very obvious to the Korean - strong voice, squared shoulders, locked hips, determined glare. It is how you are supposed to project authority. It is, to the Korean, as natural as breathing. Did the Korean somehow come to pick up a skill that a majority of people do not?

AAK! Music: Mackerel by Lucid Fall (2009)

This band probably won't make the top-50, but is nonetheless one of the Korean's favorite. Today's selection is Mackerel (고등어) by Lucid Fall (루시드폴).

고등어
Mackerel

어디로든 갈 수 있는 튼튼한 지느러미로

With the strong fin that can go anywhere

나를 원하는 곳으로 헤엄치네

I swim to where I am wanted

돈이 없는 사람들도 배불리 먹을 수 있게

For the people without money can too be full

나는 또 다시 바다를 가르네

I again sail the sea

몇 만원이 넘는다는 서울의 꽃등심보다

I hear sirloin steaks of Seoul cost over several tens of thousands of won

맛도 없고 비린지는 몰라도

I may be less tasty and fishier than that

그래도 나는 안다네 그 동안 내가 지켜온 수 많은 가족들의 저녁 밥상

But I know the numberless families' dinner table that I protected so far

나를 고를 때면 내 눈을 바라봐줘요

When you are picking me, please look into my eyes

나는 눈을 감는 법도 몰라요

I don't even know how to close them

가난한 그대 날 골라줘서 고마워요

You without money, thank you for picking me

수고했어요 오늘 이 하루도

You did good again today

나를 고를 때면 내 눈을 바라봐줘요

When you are picking me, please look into my eyes

나는 눈을 감는 법도 몰라요

I don't even know how to close them

가난한 그대 날 골라줘서 고마워요

You without money, thank you for picking me

수고했어요 오늘 이 하루도

You did good again today

나를 고를 때면 내 눈을 바라봐줘요

When you are picking me, please look into my eyes

나는 눈을 감는 법도 몰라요

I don't even know how to close them

가난한 그대 날 골라줘서 고마워요

You without money, thank you for picking me

수고했어요 오늘 이 하루도

You did good again today

수고했어요 오늘 이 하루도

You did good again today

Briefly about Lucid Fall:  Lucid Fall is a one-man band by Cho Yun-Seok. Lucid Fall released its first album in 2001, but Cho actually debuted with a different band in 1998, which was disbanded after most of its members went to serve their military duty. Cho operated his band while keeping his day job, which is being a scientist in material science and bioengineering. Cho earned his bachelor's degree from Seoul National University, masters from Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden and doctorate from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He patented a new material for medicine through his doctorate thesis in 2008. However, in 2009 Cho announced that he will no longer pursue engineering and focus solely on music. Lucid Fall has four regular albums, a couple of singles and a movie soundtrack.

About this song:  Mackerel is the title song of Lucid Fall's fourth and most recent album, titled "Les Miserables."

Translation note:   몇 만원이 넘는다는 / 서울의 꽃등심보다 / 맛도 없고 비린지는 몰라도 / 그래도 나는 안다네 / 그 동안 내가 지켜온 / 수 많은 가족들의 저녁 밥상 is very elegant, but the Korean's translation is anything but. "--다는" is particularly difficult to translate in an equivalent manner. (That is, equivalent in rhythm as well as in meaning.)

The Korean on Lucid Fall:  Relaxed melodies with slightly disturbing lyrics. Dangerous if listened to while feeling depressed. At times, seems as if determined to write the most depressing series of songs ever. Not innovative, but intelligent and does one thing very well.

Significance in K-Pop History:  (1 = instantly forgettable; 5 = popular at the time, ultimately forgettable; 10 = transcendental history-maker)  4.5 out of 10.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Submit Your K-Pop Pantheon

Dear readers,

Now that he started a music corner on AAK!, the Korean is on a roll. Now the Korean wants to have a gigantic AAK! music series that showcases the most hallowed members of K-Pop -- the K-Pop Pantheon, if you will. Essentially, the series will discuss the top-25 (or 30, or 50, or whatever the Korean ends up deciding,) musicians/bands in K-pop history in order. Like everything else on this blog, this series is guaranteed to be arbitrary and capricious to the Korean's whim. But the Korean wishes to have at least some semblance of reason, and that is where you come in.

Submit your very own K-pop Pantheon! In doing so, please consider the overall picture instead of just submitting the people you like. While you can employ whatever criteria you want, here are some criteria to guide your thoughts with:

- Sheer ability: Does the artist have incredible voice (example: Lee So-Ra) or the ability to constantly churn out popular music over a long time? (Example: Yoo Yeong-Seok.)

- Artistry:  Is the artist innovative or original in his/her music and/or presentation? (Example:  Jaurim.)

- Genre-defining/leading:  Did the artist create a genre? (Example:  Shin Joong-Hyeon.) Is the artist essentially synonymous with the genre? (Example: Song Dae-Gwan.) Is the artist so far ahead of everyone else in the genre? (Example: Seo Taiji.) Perfected an archetype of a genre? (Example:  H.O.T.)

- Popular appeal:  Did the artist completely dominate an era? (Example: Cho Yong-Pil.) Was the artist simply everywhere in Korean pop culture for a time? (Example: Lee Hyo-Ri.) Is the artist staying in the public consciousness for a very long time, for whatever reason? (Example:  Shin Hae-Cheol.) Does the artist dominate a certain segment of the population? (Example:  Jang Gi-Ha.)

- Social impact:  Did the artist change the society around him/her, through his/her music or otherwise? (Example: Kim Min-Gi.)

- Cultural reflection:  Does the artist serve as the epitome of the society around him/her? (Example:  Kim Gwang-Seok.)

- Historical perspective:  Is the more recent artist getting overvalued at the cost of the more classic artist?  (Example:  Picking Girls' Generation over Sanullim.)

The Korean is doing this so that he does not miss anyone significant. Mad props will be given to those who include artists from pre-1990s K-pop. Also, feel free to accompany the names with the most representative song for the artist. (Here is an example: Regret of the Times (시대유감) for Seo Taiji. Discuss.)

Also, please tell your k-pop loving friends! The Korean really wants to have the most comprehensive list possible. Burn down the comment thread!!

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.