His Eminence Professor Samdhong Rinpoche arrived in South Korea on August 4, where over the following ten days he gave a series of teachings and visits as well as a media interview, at the request of devotees in the country.
His busy schedule began on August 5 in the city of Ulsan, with a talk to group of devotees. During the presentation, he pointed out that it would not be right to follow the Buddha’s teachings by blind faith alone, but that one must study and reflect on them.
That evening he gave a teaching on Atisha’s text The Lamp of the Path to Enlightenment, a lesson that continued into the following day. His Eminence discussed the practices of a great capable person, emphasising that this capabability stems from renouncing material objects and developing great compassion for all sentient beings.
On August 7 His Eminence Rinpoche travelled on to Seokcheonsa Temple in Yeosu city, where he discussed with the Temple’s Abbot and staff members an ongoing project to translate the Kagyur [bkaḥ-ḥgyur] and Tangyur [bstan-ḥgyur] into Korean. He gave detailed guidance and advice on the translation, and his stay at the temple continued with lengthy teachings the following day.
On the practices of the three capable persons he stated: “Practicing the teachings is not merely reading a text, reciting a mantra, and making supplication prayers, instead it is to direct the mind away from attachment, hatred and ignorance, and thus make improvement to one’s mind”.
His Eminence’s next stop, on August 9, was Gwangseong Temple in Busan city, and at the request of devotees he gave a teaching on Jey Tsongkhapa’s text Praise to the Buddha for Teaching Dependent Arising. He then continued on to the capital, Seoul to present on The Essence of Wisdom, attended by a large number of Korean monks, nuns and lay people.
His Eminence stayed in the capital until the end of his visit, flying back to Delhi on August 15. Before he departed he gave a teaching at Haengbok Seon nunnery, where he said: “The purpose of religions is to remove sufferings and to attain happiness. Even those who do not know a religion do have the thought to remove sufferings and to attain happiness”.
Finally, the popular Buddhist Broadcasting System (BBS) TV invited His Eminence for an interview and where he was questioned at length about the Tibet cause.
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