When the Question Stops, It Answers Itself

The book holds ways to live without being deceived by oneself and the world, shared by a venerable monk, a Buddhist practitioner.

Category : Humanities
Target : Adults
Published Date : 01-Nov-2019
ISBN : 9788974797447
Pages : 280
Book Size : 142 x 215 paperback
Keywords : Buddhism, way of thinking, practicing Zen, study, life

This book contains records from thirteen years of research by a Buddhist practitioner of Zen (Seon). The writer shares the truth that he came to realize through all his experiences, including his life in a Zen center, two years of traveling around the world, Buddhist doctrine, films, games, and so on. Monk Wonje renounced the world and entered the Buddhist order in 2006. This book is a collection of writings by a Zen master who triggered a fresh response and understanding from the public with posts of his Zen practice on his blog and on Facebook from 2011. In college, when the writer studied religion, he had a lot of questions about life, because the world seemed so fake. He was terribly lost, enough to inflict self-injury, and eventually opted for the path of a Buddhist practitioner. Strict self-discipline and his fierce life in the Zen center was a process of diving into numerous questions. What answer did the writer find at the end of those questions? One is bound to live life to the extent of his knowledge. So, in a way, we endlessly struggle to broaden our knowledge. But that knowledge actually blocks life. The knowledge of the essential, which penetrates all questions on life, this book is a record of the writer’s research into that knowledge. Through the conflicts and reflections that the writer experienced in the course of his practice, as well as in the moment of enlightenment, readers will experience an understanding and complete acceptance of this “unknowable life.”

Ven. Wonje
The venerable Wonje is a monk of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. He majored in religion at Sogang University. He renounced the world and entered Haeinsa Temple in search of truth in 2006. He became a Buddhist monk as a disciple of Monk Beopjeon. However, practicing Buddhism in the Zen center was not easy. For a more extensive experience, he began to travel the world, visiting forty-five countries on five continents over a period of two years, starting from Mount Kailash in Tibet in September 2012. After countless struggles, it became much easier for him to practice Buddhism. He has written—on his blog and on Facebook—about the experiences he had on his world trip and the truth he experienced by practicing Buddhism. He is currently devoting himself to the practice of Buddhism at the small Sudoam Temple in Gimcheon.