Editor’s note: The speaker, Pomnyun Sunim, spoke in Korean during the event, and an interpreter was present to translate.
On Friday, Sept. 21, Pomnyun Sunim, an acclaimed Korean Buddhist monk, delivered a public talk titled “Casual Conversation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim,” at Claremont McKenna College’s Bauer Center Pickford Auditorium. At the event, he provided guidance to audience members facing personal dilemmas and advised them to avoid self-suffering.
Sunim, the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient, is a popular Zen teacher renowned for his Dharma talks and his humanitarian engagement efforts with North Korea. He also founded the Jungto Society — a volunteer-based organization that seeks to spread Buddhist teachings — and has written several books on finding peace.
The event opened with a short video introducing Sunim and his work. Following that, Sunim walked on stage and the main event began. Structured as a Q&A, audience members could ask questions and receive advice about topics such as identity, self-suffering and choice. Sunim answered five pre-registered and three live questions.
Multiple attendees asked Sunim about balancing familial duties and obligations with personal desires. In answering them, Sunim emphasized the value of choice and self-prioritization.
“Taking care of your parents is an option,” Sunim said. “It’s a recommended option. You’re not bad just because you can’t take care of your parents. Based on that perspective, I think you should prioritize living your life.”
Another attendee asked Sunim about the role of personal happiness. Sunim responded that happiness is much more attainable if one equates happiness with the absence of suffering, rather than extreme highs.
“For me, in everyday life, I don’t really have a reason to suffer,” Sunim said. “I’m going to respond to your question by saying that I’m pretty much constantly happy. And I’m not referring to a state of over-excitement or overjoy.”
When asked how to balance the opinions of loved ones with the opinion of one’s self, Sunim argued that one’s perception of the self is a societal construct.
“There is no intrinsic thing called self,” he said. “If you have a sense of identity, it is constructed.”
Millicent Wanyeki, a student at Claremont Graduate University, explained that she came to the talk to learn more about Zen living.
“When he said that understanding is about being both loving and compassionate, it really resonated with me,” Wanyeki said. “It was also powerful [the] way he talked about identity as a construct.”
Pil Pak, one of the event organizers, appreciated how Sunim was able to share a different perspective with community members.
“Sometimes, you’re so involved in your emotions, but Sunim sees it in a different way, which can really help if you have a problem or question,” Pak said.
The Q&A lasted around two hours and was followed by a book signing where Sunim’s books were available for purchase. At the end of the event, Sunim imparted some final words of wisdom to the audience.
“Let’s walk the easiest path,” Sunim said. “Let’s not self-suffer.”
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