What should we have children consider when they choose a religion?
(Questioner) Hello. (Sunim) Hi.
My father's family came from North Korea. We've been Christian since I was young.
When I was young, I followed my mother to a church
that the world would consider a religions cult.
I went there until high school,
yet I couldn't really understand what they were preaching.
When I questioned things at church, people would get angry
and never answer my questions.
As I moved on to college and work,
I studied many different religions and philosophies
to overcome my introverted personality.
As I could not find answers to my questions in general religions,
I also tried looking into religious cults and pseudo-religions.
I observed that once people join those cults,
They blindly fall for the most obviously false beliefs.
It makes me think about the role that
religion has played throughout human history.
There have been many religious wars.
I feel that so many people become blinded by religious beliefs.
As a parent, I want to ask you:
What guidance can I give to my children when they are choosing a religion?
There are material substances that are addictive.
The water we drink has no addictive substance.
Water is something we cannot do without.
Drinking water when thirsty brings us back to life.
If you water a wilting plant, what happens?
It comes back to life. Water brings it back to life.
In the same way, we need to eat food to live.
But there are also things that kill us.
For example, opium can be good when you are ill.
The pain goes away and you feel better.
But how does it work on you over time?
As time goes by, it accumulates within you
and your body keeps asking for more.
Hence we say that opium is addictive.
Cigarettes, too, are addictive.
The desire to consume addictive substances
does not make your body healthier.
It harms you.
Normally, what your body craves is good for you.
What your body denies is bad.
But in this case, your body craves for something that's bad for you.
The most common example of this is cigarettes and alcohol.
Both are addictive.
What about drugs such as marijuana, opium, meth, etc?
They are all addictive.
Even certain cold medicines in the old days were addictive.
Addictive substances form habits.
When a habit becomes strong, we call it an addiction.
We yearn for it even when it's bad for us.
It's not like water that the body needs.
In an addiction, you crave something even when it's bad for your well-being.
There are many habits that you already have.
Coffee forms habits, doesn't it?
You know if you're a coffee drinker.
For those who don't drink coffee, they don't really need it.
But once you start drinking it, you become nervous if you don't drink it.
You feel okay only after you have a cup.
While cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs form serious addictions,
coffee is also addictive.
But the damage of coffee isn't so great, so we consider it a personal preference.
Most preferred products are habit-forming.
Thus, consuming them can harm your body.
If you're obese but can't quit certain food,
it's because that food is habit-forming and addictive.
If you must eat rice constantly, that too is a kind of habit, an addiction.
Even if it's harmful to your body, you have to keep eating it.
You can't resist it.
There are not only material addictions, but also mental addictions.
Video games that kids play are addictive, aren't they?
At first, it's fun, but once you really focus on playing it, it becomes a habit.
If you don't play, you can't help but feel anxious.
What about gambling? Isn't it addictive? It is.
Watching cartoons can also be habitual if you get too deeply into it.
Even sex is addictive, sometimes outside marital relationships.
What happens when it becomes habitual?
Even when it's dangerous and harmful, you can't stop having it.
Even when it causes marital issues, some people continue to sleep around.
Those addicted to sex even assault other people and end up in jail.
People who behave like that are addicted to sex.
Sex is addictive.
Once you go overboard, anything can be an addiction.
You basically cannot control yourself.
The same applies to the mind.
There are things that are addictive to the mind.
Religion can be addictive.
Do you understand?
Just as the body can become addicted, the mind can also become addicted.
There's no difference between opium
and religion once you become addicted.
What did Marx once say?
He said religion is opium.
Religion doesn't make you calmer and happier.
Not having it makes one nervous and impatient.
It's just as you feel when you can't smoke opium all of a sudden.
Just as people sell their houses and wives to smoke opium,
addiction to religious beliefs leads people to do crazy things.
When you're anxious and frustrated,
you're much more likely to succumb to addiction.
The more mentally unstable you are,
the easier it is that you are brainwashed and addicted to religion.
Once you become addicted, it's hard to escape it.
Religion feeds into this addiction but you yourself keep yourself mired in it.
Suppose that you didn't want the opium in the beginning,
but someone kidnapped you and drugged you with opium for a year.
Even if you're rescued eventually, what happens?
You yourself cannot live without opium.
At first they brainwash you.
But once you become brainwashed, you become part of that religion.
If not, you can't help but become unstable and anxious.
Have you heard of the Rapture doctrine in 2000?
Didn't some people fall prey to that and surrender all their possessions?
If you're emotionally and mentally unstable,
you can't make rational decisions.
You become blind to faith.
This phenomenon happens in our society
in the name of both established and new religions.
There are also many smaller cults.
Most people who fall prey to this type of organization have certain anxieties.
In today's society, there are many people with anxieties.
A lot of people fall for such religions and fail to come out of them.
Those with mental anxiety easily fall prey to addictions, including drugs.
Also, when living conditions are poor, people become easily deceived.
In places like North Korea where living is difficult,
doctrines of religious cults instantaneously spread,
even under constant surveillance.
While our society is materially more affluent,
our younger generations feel very helpless and anxious.
Most of you feel emotionally unstable right now.
Because you're unsure of your future.
You're not living with a clear mind with hope or a definite goal.
When you're constantly anxious about the future you can't predict,
you can easily get sucked into such cults.
And because these cults are classified as "religious beliefs",
they are not punishable by law.
When the cults come under attack,
it becomes an assault on religious freedom.
So all we can do is to make sure we keep away from these with a clear mind.
But people of young generation today
live with more anxieties and emotional instabilities.
So we're likely to see more of these phenomena happen around us.
Even in the US, we hear of mass suicides happening from time to time, right?
Hundreds of people kill themselves at once.
It's because they are caught up in an illusion.
Just as smoking opium leads to hallucinations,
cult religious beliefs trap you in illusions.
You fail to hear what others say, as if you're dreaming.
Such dangers have always been around since the past.
As today's society provides so many factors leading to mental instability,
we are likely to see more of such phenomena.
This is why we're campaigning to make the world a better place.
Once politics and social structure function correctly,
these phenomena will decrease.
When politics and society are unstable, what happens?
You see more of these things happen.
Thus, we need to approach this issue in two ways.
First, we need to make sure our society becomes more transparent and ethical.
Second, we as individuals need to make sure we live with clear minds.
The reason why I do these dharma talks is to help people live with a clear mindset,
and to help them overcome mental instability.
The reason why I frequently comment on social, political issues,
such as Korean reunification, is to help stabilize our society.
It's not a problem that politicians alone can solve.
This involves individual lives too.
It's not a problem that can be solved at the individual level either.
When the society at large is unstable,
individuals feel the pressure and become unstable.
In such an unstable environment,
it's not good to force religious beliefs onto children.
That involves brainwashing children.
It's better to inspire them through example.
They follow their parents' actions.
It's better to allow them to make their own decisions.
No matter how great your religion is,
it is not right to force it upon a young child.
All human beings should choose their own faith to follow.
It shouldn't be forced on them.
Many people suggest we should run
Buddhism programs for children to proselytize.
I tell them we don't have the capacity to run such things.
More importantly, little children don't understand religious choice.
Parents forcing such decisions on children are
harming the children's mental health.
Just allow your children to come here with you and play and meditate for fun.
It's good for children to have a clear mind
and grow a liking for Buddhism on their own.
It's not right to force Buddhism onto them at early ages.
I advise you not to force any religion on children.
It's better for them naturally to gravitate
toward a religion from their parents' examples.
(Questioner) I understand. Thank you. (Sunim) Sure.
(Audience) Applause
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét