Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East? (1989) - full transcript
Three people live in a remote Buddhist monastery near Mount Chonan: Hyegok, the old master; Yong Nan, a young man who has left his extended family in the city to seek enlightenment - Hyegok calls him Kibong!; and, an orphan lad Haejin, whom Hyegok has brought to the monastery to raise as a monk. The story is mostly Yong Nan's, told in flashbacks: how he came to the monastery, his brief return to the city, his vacillation between the turbulence of the world and his hope to overcome passions and escape the idea of self. We also see Hyegok as a teacher, a protector, and a father figure, and we watch Haejin make his way as a curious and nearly self-sufficient child.
A BAE YONG-KYUN FILM
WHY HAS BODHl-DHARMA LEFT
FOR THE EAST?
Photographed by BAE YONG-KYUN
Music by CHIN KYU-YOUNG
Editor, Production designer
BAE YONG-KYUN
Produced, Written and Directed by
BAE YONG-KYUN
To the disciple
who asked him about the Truth
without a word
he showed a flower.
Haejin!
Haejin!
Forever and ever,
all is originally empty.
There is no beginning
and no end.
The thing which neither comes
into being nor perishes!
Sell your useless stuff.
Sell your bonds.
I buy broken T.V. Sets,
old watches...
When you go down this mountain,
there is a big temple.
What is next
if you keep going down?
This mundane world...
This mundane world?
You...
You came from the world?
Of course!
You too, Haejin.
And the Master?
Him too.
Why have we all left the world?
It's because in the world
there is no peace
nor freedom of mind.
Why?
Because people haven't
enough space in their soul
to hold all things in the world.
In fact, they do have it,
but it's full of the idea of self.
Are there in the world
children who don't have
their parents like me?
Sure!
Do you remember your mother?
Are you sad to have no mother?
No...
I don't remember...
How can I be sad
since I don't even remember?
Worldly affections lead to
ties and passions.
In the end you lose what you love.
That's why you experience suffering.
You, Haejin, you don't have any pain
because you have no ties?
I should empty my mind
to overcome agony...
Give me some thread.
It hurts!
If you don't pull out
the milk teeth at the right time,
you will have the tusks of a boar.
You want that?
You won't feel any pain.
Go on, open your mouth!
It's over.
What is this?
Do you feel better, Haejin?
You have to throw it
on the roof, don't you?
What a customary thought!
Yes, that's right!
Is that you?
You should have sheltered
from the rain.
I was destined
to burden myself with my family.
Did I commit
an immoral act
by freeing myself of that destiny,
by going my own way?
But I was thirsting
to liberate my soul.
First, I should renounce myself
to do so.
I couldn't do both things
at the same time.
I had to get away
from the narrow path,
where suffering was
piling up like dust,
to find myself
in an unlimited world.
When I decided to become a monk,
besides worldly desires
and pleasures,
morality and family love
seemed to be the chains
that I had to break.
I will
attain Enlightenment
and Buddhahood at any cost
to follow the way
of absolute freedom.
A letter came
to the temple for you.
To understand that
worthlessness is worthless
leads to the Buddha.
Now, be silent.
I'll introduce you to a master
armed with the power of the Truth
who will open your soul
and show you the way.
If you climb up Mt. Chonan,
following the valley,
you'll see a deserted hermitage.
An old monk who practices Zen
keeps the unfrequented place.
His name is Hyegok.
Although he is far away
from us in the mountains,
he is like a beacon lamp.
To be effective,
mustn't a beacon be
situated high up and far away?
This monk settled there,
unshakable,
and will never come down
until he sees
the roots of the Way.
I haven't seen him for five years,
and it was only by chance
that I saw him then.
He was devoting himself
to meditation days and nights.
To stay awake,
he was seated
against a wall of ice
which gave him
horrendous frostbite in his side.
He had to come down
to take care of his wounds.
I wanted to offer him
medical expenses,
but he wouldn't let me.
He told me
his wounds were the result
of his lack of ascetic fervor.
For one month
he begged from village
to village
to raise money
for the hospital expenses.
He laughed, saying it was only
a pound of flesh that was cut out.
He returned with a two or
three year old child on his back.
When I asked him,
he said the child was an orphan
who was abandoned by people,
and he made up his mind
to raise him.
An old celibate monk
carrying a small child
on his back
must have been an amusing sight
for people of the world to see.
According to the workman
who carries our grain
to them every season,
the child is now fully grown,
but the monk still suffers
from his unhealed wounds.
Now that he is old,
he needs someone
to look after him.
I'm afraid!
I'm afraid!
When you dig up the moon
in your inmost mind
to light up the sky and the earth,
its light will chase away
all the shadows of the universe.
If you get that One thing,
you will understand everything.
If you achieve this,
the good news will echo
through the universe.
If you see that One,
you will become the One.
You will inherit a universe
where days and nights fuse together.
That One is so perfect
it can accomplish everything.
It is free of obstacles
and total freedom prevails eternally.
When the moon in your mind
waxes beneath the water,
where does the master
of my being go?
Kibong! I give you this Koan (riddle).
You must be ardent and persevering
to perceive it
and show me the answer.
If you meditate solely
on this Koan days and nights,
if you concentrate on meditation,
you will at last seize it
and attain Enlightenment.
The Koan is a tool to expel
distracting thoughts and illusion
so as to reach the roots
of the true Self.
Please have a rest from your work.
Just let me cultivate the soil.
A body not used soon rusts out.
Who would have the gall
to eat without labor?
This old man hasn't got
one foot in the grave yet.
But your poor health
should be well attended.
I am aware of your health
even though you never mention it.
You must have your affected parts
treated, or they will get worse.
A weak body in a weak mind.
It's because
I don't have sufficient fervor!
I have a favor to ask of you.
You should grant it.
I wish to descend the mountains
to get some medicine.
You will be wasting your time.
It is time to rid myself of this body.
It's done me well.
Form does not differ from emptiness,
nor emptiness from form.
Form is emptiness,
emptiness is form.
So too are feeling, conception,
recognition and consciousness.
You're back already, Youngnan?
So soon?
Youngnan!
Not yet...
Is that you, Youngnan?
No! No!
He left the royal palace
and went alone into the forest.
His departure took place
more than 2,500 years ago.
Was his leaving
an abandonment of the world?
No, his leaving home was simply
a course of eternal returning.
Far from leaving,
he has come back to us all.
You know the reason for his leaving
was to come back wholly to all of us?
I became a hermit to free myself
from the dust and the dirt
of the world,
looking for perfection
on the other shore.
But I realized that
it was impossible to achieve it
without loving even the garbage,
the dust of the world,
and life's anguish.
Perfection can be achieved
through embracing all things.
While it is easy to fight
against reality and fate,
it is difficult to love them.
What a beautiful world
when you know how to love it!
The universe is by no means imperfect.
I think imperfection is
in our language,
our knowledge, our thought,
and our consciousness.
Isn't Enlightenment merely a dream?
Believing in attaining Buddhahood,
I laid down the world entirely.
But when I look at
the things I sacrificed,
I seem to be surrounded
by their rancor
and I am afraid of falling
into a hell of remorse.
"Saving living beings"?
What on earth does it mean to those
who abandoned father, mother,
wife and children
only for becoming a Buddha?
Who is Buddha?
Who is not Buddha?
Isn't it said that there is originally
no Buddha and no creature?
I am going back to the world,
to the turbulence of life.
Why do you stay
in the mountains?
You, swallow from the south,
what is the way to your homeland?
Have the golden narcissuses
opened their petals
from a grain of rice
you were carrying?
Far away
the stars balance the sky.
Idiot!
I must be here for fools like you
who are looking for me
in the mountains!
You must keep the Koan
between your teeth
even if you fall into a furnace.
A man who once has decided
to solve the Koan
must go on to the end.
When you reach Enlightenment,
you will find
freedom like the fresh wind
on the mountain top
and peace as unshakable
as a rock in a storm.
The place where you stood today
can be the Land
of Perfect Bliss itself, then.
So what are you going to do?
Seen through bloodshot eyes
troubled by the world,
are Hell and Heaven different?
Answer! Answer me!
When the moon in your mind
waxes beneath the water,
where does the master
of my being go?
Master?
In his room...
He is very sick.
He tried to save you...
Let me sit up.
What wretched shape
I am in before your eyes!
Look at this evanescent body.
Please take your medicine.
I am so sorry.
I could never expect such a mishap...
You must be suffering very much
from your wounds?
All is due to my lack of prudence.
Take it easy.
It's not your fault.
My body's ties
with this world are ending.
When the time comes,
the fleeting body goes naturally
its own way.
Well, how is your Koan?
You must stay longer with us.
Don't say such things.
I am not making any progress
in my studies.
Are you going to leave us
without showing me the way?
Who else will be able
to teach me the way to follow?
Mountains, rivers,
plants, universe.
Here and there everything is
in the same enclosure.
To leave...
is to arrive.
To arrive is to leave
Doesn't the wind blow
as it wants in all directions?
As my body returns
to its original condition,
blood and pus from my wounds
will fall as dew
from the night sky.
After all, I exist nowhere
in the universe.
But in the universe,
there is nothing which is not me.
Listen to me carefully, Kibong!
You must follow
what I am going to tell you for sure.
When I pass away someday,
you will be entrusted
with my remains.
Kibong, you must put it back
to its original place.
Master!
Hear me out!
Don't warn the temple monks.
It will only disturb them.
You should do everything yourself
with your own hands.
All rituals should be ignored.
Leave me dressed as I am.
You know the chest in the back?
It will serve as a coffin.
Be careful not to cause
a fire in the mountains.
Kibong!
It must be done
in a day and a half.
You must anyhow
observe that strictly.
Consider this work
as another Koan I give you!
You will be obliged
to pursue it practically.
Carry out your task
as soon as I am dead.
When the ties
which hold 6,000 joints
of the body together decay,
when the body gets scattered
to be earth, water, fire and wind,
where does the master
of my being go?
The sound of a bell
overcomes agony.
It increases wisdom
and gives birth to Enlightenment.
It will release from Hell
and Three Realms of illusion
those who make the vows
to seek for Enlightenment
and save living beings.
The secret formula
which destroys Hell is:
Om Karajya
Svaha.
Om karajya
Svaha.
Om karajya
Svaha.
Kibong!
Can you do me a favor?
You see my hair?
It is not so long,
but since you are a bit better...
Let's go to the stream.
This evening,
there will be a ceremony
in the temple down in the valley.
What? Will they dance
to the sound of cymbals?
Did the wind bring you the news
from the foot of mountains?
How do you know!
I found it out the other day
when I went down.
I thought Haejin
would be delighted to go there.
Very good idea!
And very good excuse!
In the court of the harmony
of sounds and colors,
a body that will be called back
to nothing dances like bubbles.
Is it dream or reality?
Originally
nothing has existed
in this empty court.
Attaining Enlightenment is
nothing but waking up from the dream.
It is a full moon
and it will be bright enough.
Be careful not to get lost, though.
I worry about your medicine.
Never mind.
I can decoct and take it by myself.
Well, I am going to put
the pot on the coals.
Bring me enough kerosene.
Don't forget!
There will be a full moon tonight.
Why do we have to wait so long
till the moon rises
over the dark mountains?
As the universe is deep
in the shadows now,
kindle the wick in your mind
to light the way yourself.
Come quickly!
I can smell the medicine burning!
Brother!
The medicine is
completely boiled down.
Having no experience,
I do not know how to do...
I have never seen this work before.
You ordered me not to exceed
one and a half days,
but almost an entire day
has already passed
and it is gloomy and drizzling
all day long.
What do you want
to teach me from those signs?
The Master has gone. I stay.
Winter advances
through the dense forest
and summer approaches
the naked branches.
In the eternal cycle,
without beginning or end,
they say to live is to die
and to die is to live,
but life is for those who stay.
In the everlasting stream,
there is no birth, no death,
but for those who stay,
death is an insoluble problem.
These are the Master's relics.
I am entrusting them to you.
I will send someone
from the temple to replace me.
Brother!
Where are you going?
Hyegok: LEE PAN-YONG
Kibong: SHIN WON-SUP
Haejin: HWANG HAE-JIN
Superior: KO SOU-MYOUNG
WHY HAS BODHl-DHARMA LEFT
FOR THE EAST?
Photographed by BAE YONG-KYUN
Music by CHIN KYU-YOUNG
Editor, Production designer
BAE YONG-KYUN
Produced, Written and Directed by
BAE YONG-KYUN
To the disciple
who asked him about the Truth
without a word
he showed a flower.
Haejin!
Haejin!
Forever and ever,
all is originally empty.
There is no beginning
and no end.
The thing which neither comes
into being nor perishes!
Sell your useless stuff.
Sell your bonds.
I buy broken T.V. Sets,
old watches...
When you go down this mountain,
there is a big temple.
What is next
if you keep going down?
This mundane world...
This mundane world?
You...
You came from the world?
Of course!
You too, Haejin.
And the Master?
Him too.
Why have we all left the world?
It's because in the world
there is no peace
nor freedom of mind.
Why?
Because people haven't
enough space in their soul
to hold all things in the world.
In fact, they do have it,
but it's full of the idea of self.
Are there in the world
children who don't have
their parents like me?
Sure!
Do you remember your mother?
Are you sad to have no mother?
No...
I don't remember...
How can I be sad
since I don't even remember?
Worldly affections lead to
ties and passions.
In the end you lose what you love.
That's why you experience suffering.
You, Haejin, you don't have any pain
because you have no ties?
I should empty my mind
to overcome agony...
Give me some thread.
It hurts!
If you don't pull out
the milk teeth at the right time,
you will have the tusks of a boar.
You want that?
You won't feel any pain.
Go on, open your mouth!
It's over.
What is this?
Do you feel better, Haejin?
You have to throw it
on the roof, don't you?
What a customary thought!
Yes, that's right!
Is that you?
You should have sheltered
from the rain.
I was destined
to burden myself with my family.
Did I commit
an immoral act
by freeing myself of that destiny,
by going my own way?
But I was thirsting
to liberate my soul.
First, I should renounce myself
to do so.
I couldn't do both things
at the same time.
I had to get away
from the narrow path,
where suffering was
piling up like dust,
to find myself
in an unlimited world.
When I decided to become a monk,
besides worldly desires
and pleasures,
morality and family love
seemed to be the chains
that I had to break.
I will
attain Enlightenment
and Buddhahood at any cost
to follow the way
of absolute freedom.
A letter came
to the temple for you.
To understand that
worthlessness is worthless
leads to the Buddha.
Now, be silent.
I'll introduce you to a master
armed with the power of the Truth
who will open your soul
and show you the way.
If you climb up Mt. Chonan,
following the valley,
you'll see a deserted hermitage.
An old monk who practices Zen
keeps the unfrequented place.
His name is Hyegok.
Although he is far away
from us in the mountains,
he is like a beacon lamp.
To be effective,
mustn't a beacon be
situated high up and far away?
This monk settled there,
unshakable,
and will never come down
until he sees
the roots of the Way.
I haven't seen him for five years,
and it was only by chance
that I saw him then.
He was devoting himself
to meditation days and nights.
To stay awake,
he was seated
against a wall of ice
which gave him
horrendous frostbite in his side.
He had to come down
to take care of his wounds.
I wanted to offer him
medical expenses,
but he wouldn't let me.
He told me
his wounds were the result
of his lack of ascetic fervor.
For one month
he begged from village
to village
to raise money
for the hospital expenses.
He laughed, saying it was only
a pound of flesh that was cut out.
He returned with a two or
three year old child on his back.
When I asked him,
he said the child was an orphan
who was abandoned by people,
and he made up his mind
to raise him.
An old celibate monk
carrying a small child
on his back
must have been an amusing sight
for people of the world to see.
According to the workman
who carries our grain
to them every season,
the child is now fully grown,
but the monk still suffers
from his unhealed wounds.
Now that he is old,
he needs someone
to look after him.
I'm afraid!
I'm afraid!
When you dig up the moon
in your inmost mind
to light up the sky and the earth,
its light will chase away
all the shadows of the universe.
If you get that One thing,
you will understand everything.
If you achieve this,
the good news will echo
through the universe.
If you see that One,
you will become the One.
You will inherit a universe
where days and nights fuse together.
That One is so perfect
it can accomplish everything.
It is free of obstacles
and total freedom prevails eternally.
When the moon in your mind
waxes beneath the water,
where does the master
of my being go?
Kibong! I give you this Koan (riddle).
You must be ardent and persevering
to perceive it
and show me the answer.
If you meditate solely
on this Koan days and nights,
if you concentrate on meditation,
you will at last seize it
and attain Enlightenment.
The Koan is a tool to expel
distracting thoughts and illusion
so as to reach the roots
of the true Self.
Please have a rest from your work.
Just let me cultivate the soil.
A body not used soon rusts out.
Who would have the gall
to eat without labor?
This old man hasn't got
one foot in the grave yet.
But your poor health
should be well attended.
I am aware of your health
even though you never mention it.
You must have your affected parts
treated, or they will get worse.
A weak body in a weak mind.
It's because
I don't have sufficient fervor!
I have a favor to ask of you.
You should grant it.
I wish to descend the mountains
to get some medicine.
You will be wasting your time.
It is time to rid myself of this body.
It's done me well.
Form does not differ from emptiness,
nor emptiness from form.
Form is emptiness,
emptiness is form.
So too are feeling, conception,
recognition and consciousness.
You're back already, Youngnan?
So soon?
Youngnan!
Not yet...
Is that you, Youngnan?
No! No!
He left the royal palace
and went alone into the forest.
His departure took place
more than 2,500 years ago.
Was his leaving
an abandonment of the world?
No, his leaving home was simply
a course of eternal returning.
Far from leaving,
he has come back to us all.
You know the reason for his leaving
was to come back wholly to all of us?
I became a hermit to free myself
from the dust and the dirt
of the world,
looking for perfection
on the other shore.
But I realized that
it was impossible to achieve it
without loving even the garbage,
the dust of the world,
and life's anguish.
Perfection can be achieved
through embracing all things.
While it is easy to fight
against reality and fate,
it is difficult to love them.
What a beautiful world
when you know how to love it!
The universe is by no means imperfect.
I think imperfection is
in our language,
our knowledge, our thought,
and our consciousness.
Isn't Enlightenment merely a dream?
Believing in attaining Buddhahood,
I laid down the world entirely.
But when I look at
the things I sacrificed,
I seem to be surrounded
by their rancor
and I am afraid of falling
into a hell of remorse.
"Saving living beings"?
What on earth does it mean to those
who abandoned father, mother,
wife and children
only for becoming a Buddha?
Who is Buddha?
Who is not Buddha?
Isn't it said that there is originally
no Buddha and no creature?
I am going back to the world,
to the turbulence of life.
Why do you stay
in the mountains?
You, swallow from the south,
what is the way to your homeland?
Have the golden narcissuses
opened their petals
from a grain of rice
you were carrying?
Far away
the stars balance the sky.
Idiot!
I must be here for fools like you
who are looking for me
in the mountains!
You must keep the Koan
between your teeth
even if you fall into a furnace.
A man who once has decided
to solve the Koan
must go on to the end.
When you reach Enlightenment,
you will find
freedom like the fresh wind
on the mountain top
and peace as unshakable
as a rock in a storm.
The place where you stood today
can be the Land
of Perfect Bliss itself, then.
So what are you going to do?
Seen through bloodshot eyes
troubled by the world,
are Hell and Heaven different?
Answer! Answer me!
When the moon in your mind
waxes beneath the water,
where does the master
of my being go?
Master?
In his room...
He is very sick.
He tried to save you...
Let me sit up.
What wretched shape
I am in before your eyes!
Look at this evanescent body.
Please take your medicine.
I am so sorry.
I could never expect such a mishap...
You must be suffering very much
from your wounds?
All is due to my lack of prudence.
Take it easy.
It's not your fault.
My body's ties
with this world are ending.
When the time comes,
the fleeting body goes naturally
its own way.
Well, how is your Koan?
You must stay longer with us.
Don't say such things.
I am not making any progress
in my studies.
Are you going to leave us
without showing me the way?
Who else will be able
to teach me the way to follow?
Mountains, rivers,
plants, universe.
Here and there everything is
in the same enclosure.
To leave...
is to arrive.
To arrive is to leave
Doesn't the wind blow
as it wants in all directions?
As my body returns
to its original condition,
blood and pus from my wounds
will fall as dew
from the night sky.
After all, I exist nowhere
in the universe.
But in the universe,
there is nothing which is not me.
Listen to me carefully, Kibong!
You must follow
what I am going to tell you for sure.
When I pass away someday,
you will be entrusted
with my remains.
Kibong, you must put it back
to its original place.
Master!
Hear me out!
Don't warn the temple monks.
It will only disturb them.
You should do everything yourself
with your own hands.
All rituals should be ignored.
Leave me dressed as I am.
You know the chest in the back?
It will serve as a coffin.
Be careful not to cause
a fire in the mountains.
Kibong!
It must be done
in a day and a half.
You must anyhow
observe that strictly.
Consider this work
as another Koan I give you!
You will be obliged
to pursue it practically.
Carry out your task
as soon as I am dead.
When the ties
which hold 6,000 joints
of the body together decay,
when the body gets scattered
to be earth, water, fire and wind,
where does the master
of my being go?
The sound of a bell
overcomes agony.
It increases wisdom
and gives birth to Enlightenment.
It will release from Hell
and Three Realms of illusion
those who make the vows
to seek for Enlightenment
and save living beings.
The secret formula
which destroys Hell is:
Om Karajya
Svaha.
Om karajya
Svaha.
Om karajya
Svaha.
Kibong!
Can you do me a favor?
You see my hair?
It is not so long,
but since you are a bit better...
Let's go to the stream.
This evening,
there will be a ceremony
in the temple down in the valley.
What? Will they dance
to the sound of cymbals?
Did the wind bring you the news
from the foot of mountains?
How do you know!
I found it out the other day
when I went down.
I thought Haejin
would be delighted to go there.
Very good idea!
And very good excuse!
In the court of the harmony
of sounds and colors,
a body that will be called back
to nothing dances like bubbles.
Is it dream or reality?
Originally
nothing has existed
in this empty court.
Attaining Enlightenment is
nothing but waking up from the dream.
It is a full moon
and it will be bright enough.
Be careful not to get lost, though.
I worry about your medicine.
Never mind.
I can decoct and take it by myself.
Well, I am going to put
the pot on the coals.
Bring me enough kerosene.
Don't forget!
There will be a full moon tonight.
Why do we have to wait so long
till the moon rises
over the dark mountains?
As the universe is deep
in the shadows now,
kindle the wick in your mind
to light the way yourself.
Come quickly!
I can smell the medicine burning!
Brother!
The medicine is
completely boiled down.
Having no experience,
I do not know how to do...
I have never seen this work before.
You ordered me not to exceed
one and a half days,
but almost an entire day
has already passed
and it is gloomy and drizzling
all day long.
What do you want
to teach me from those signs?
The Master has gone. I stay.
Winter advances
through the dense forest
and summer approaches
the naked branches.
In the eternal cycle,
without beginning or end,
they say to live is to die
and to die is to live,
but life is for those who stay.
In the everlasting stream,
there is no birth, no death,
but for those who stay,
death is an insoluble problem.
These are the Master's relics.
I am entrusting them to you.
I will send someone
from the temple to replace me.
Brother!
Where are you going?
Hyegok: LEE PAN-YONG
Kibong: SHIN WON-SUP
Haejin: HWANG HAE-JIN
Superior: KO SOU-MYOUNG