Korean Buddhism Book Review: Polishing the Diamond

I stumbled over this lovely Korean Buddhism book in Seoul City Hall library.

According to the blurb on the back cover, Polishing the Diamond: Enlightening the Mind  was on the Buddhist bestseller list back in 1999 in the USA. But I haven’t seen it in the bookshops recently.

The book is written by Korean Buddhist Master Kim Jae Woong. He tells easy-to-understand stories about Buddhism. And he introduces the teaching methods of his Korean Buddhist Master, Baek Sung Wook (who died in 1981).

I loved this little Korean Buddhism book and it will join my modest, but growing collection of books on the subject along with The Compass of Zen.

The writer became a monk as a young man at Sosa monastery which was founded by his Master Baek Sung Wook. Before becoming a monk, Master Baek Sung Wook had a high profile life in politics. (He was Minister of Home Affairs of the first post-colonial government in 1950) and later became president of Dongguk university.  

OVERVIEW

One of the things I like about this book is that it’s broken down into bitesize chunks – 14 chapters and lots more subheadings. So I can pick it up anytime and digest one of the stories, anecdotes, or mini lectures which cover the fundamental principles of Buddhism.

There are stories about karma and accumulating merit, how to serve or pray to the Buddha, as well as (the much talked about these days) concept of MINDFULNESS and being in the present.

He explains about the negative effects of ego, attachments to the body, and the three poisons: greed, anger, and arrogance. He mentions the causes of loneliness. And there’s a short, but fascinating, section on life at the monastery which includes planting persimmon and jujube trees.

It can get quite esoteric too. For instance, he describes using the wisdom eye to see people’s past lives. And there are stories of monks who can shed their own skin and take on other forms…

THE DIAMOND SUTRA

When he was a young monk, his master told him to ‘read the Diamond Sutra in the morning and in the evening and practise what you have learned’. Apparently if practitioners do this they will eventually be able to see past lives because their ego will have melted away.

The Diamond Sutra itself isn’t included in the book. But he writes about the importance of it. I suppose that’s why the book is titled Polishing the Diamond …

SO WHAT IS THE DIAMOND SUTRA?

I had to do some research about this. And found that the Diamond Sutra is a short text (around 6,000 words in English) in the form of a kind of Q&A session between the Buddha and a disciple. There are various interpretations of what the Diamond Sutra is actually about. But one of the main themes is impermanence.

A Chinese copy of the Diamond Sutra was printed on a 17-and-a-half-foot-long scroll over 1,000 years ago and can be seen in the British Library  which also has an interesting podcast about it. It is the world’s earliest dated printed book!

The writer explains that the Diamond Sutra is the Buddha’s enlightened mind and when we read it we can travel beyond time and space to 3,000 years ago in India. We can open our hearts and communicate with the Buddha whilst cultivating and cleansing our bitter, self-defeating mind.

Sounds good to me. 

He recommends reading it aloud, again and again with sound coming from the lower abdomen. Even if you don’t understand it at first – read until you and the author become one. Sit in the lotus position and read with reverence as though you are sitting in front of the Buddha.

SURRENDER

One of the main themes in the book is about surrendering.

Since there’s confusion about what surrendering actually means, he gives an example about ANGER:

A Buddhist practitioner goes to the temple. She takes her coat off and joins a prayer gathering. But later when she comes looking for her coat, she finds someone sleeping on it on the floor! She’s miffed about this. But it gets worse. The room is heated by a fire and the floor is so hot that the coat has also been singed by the heat!

Aware that she should try NOT to get upset about this, she suppresses her desire to show her anger. Later she asks the monk if this is how to surrender. But the monk explains  that she should not be suppressing or rationalising her anger:

Surrendering means surrendering at once. NOT feeling the anger in the first place!

If we simply suppress all our negative thoughts, our minds will explode! That makes sense. 

Most of the stories (like this one) make perfect sense to me. But some of them don’t! So there’s one about a monk who kills his sister after she has sex with his friend. I don’t understand the point of that one yet. But I guess I have to keep reading…

I admit that I felt resistance to some of the stories and lectures, but I like books that make me reflect and think. And overall I found reading this book very calming and positive.

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Related Posts:

Here’s my Korean Buddhism book review of The Compass of Zen.

Read about the lotus symbol at Korean temples.

See a rare sample of calligraphy by the famous warrior monk Great Master Samyeong