🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

2022.2.4

🔹Question: It's a real pleasure to see you again, Sunim. I have two questions. The first question is last week you've responded about being in the death bed, diagnosed with acancer and still being grateful. How can I start training myself today so I can get to that state of gratefulness?

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’s social platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

Selection from Live Dharma Talk with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim(March 6, 2022)

🔹Question: Hello! It's nice to meet you in person. I'm Catholic and about to graduate from medical school. I am pro-choice and believe in using contraception. It's something thatI will recommend to my patients if medically necessary. Is it okay to be Catholic and have conflicting values with my religion?

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’ssocial platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

Selection from Live Dharma Talk withVen. Pomnyun Sunim (March 6, 2022)

🔹Question: It seems like if I'm not mistaken, Russia's claim is they don't want Ukraine to join these western forces, which is like NATO, and Ukraine leader, including their president, is trying to protect their independence. So in that situation, ofcourse, the citizens are dying daily. So do you think that, like in this kind of situation, a country like Ukraine should try to give up the fighting against Russia for citizens and should they stay neutral? That was my first question. And then the second question is do you see the possibility of the new cold war between NATO countries, western countries and maybe possibly Russia, China, and North Korea, joining forces together?

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’s social platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

Selection from Casual Conversation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim(October 17, 2021)

🔹Question: During the past year I took your online Buddhism and Sutra classes. I gained a good understanding of original Buddhism and its teaching as a spiritual practice. Iwork as a mental health and addiction counselor. I’ve been applying what I’ve learned from Sutra and Dharma talks to my patients. Most of my patients suffer from prolonged drug use and as a result, have experienced a lot of loss in their life, loved ones, housing, jobs, and their hopes and some become very suicidal. My question has two parts, first what’s the Buddhist perspective on suicide? And second, how can this perspective help my patients and manage my own anxiety while helping them. Thank you.

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’ssocial platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

2023. 9. 18

🔹Question: Hi, thank you for the opportunity to ask a question. I'm actually a neurologist. I decided to go to a rural Florida to work in the community, thinking that I wanted to build a Parkinson's and movement disorder program from scratch. So, I was brought in and I received no support. It's because of the tight budget in the hospital. I thought that if I started it there, they'll give more support, but in the end, I didn't. So, I decided to leave the hospital. I'm in between deciding whether I want to go into a private practice or look for a hospital that would be more supportive. The one hospital that I found that actually is very supportive is located in another rural setting away from Asian community. And now I'm thinking about going to private practice in Atlanta, Georgia, possibly thinking that I want to be close to an Asian community. The reason is that I have elderly parents turning close to be 80s now, and I don't know how long I will have them. And I do miss the amenities that a city offers, as well as the Korean community, the Asian community that I missed because I'm pretty isolated in this rural Florida. There is a part of me wanting to serve this area just because there's no other Parkinson's neurologist within a 3-hour radius and I have established my reputation. So, I want to be here and practice because it will be easy for me. And yet, my personal other happiness not having access to an Asian community is going to be a disadvantage. If I were to go to Atlanta, yes, it's a new start, and building a program from ground zero is a pretty daunting process. It's not easy. A lot of effort goes into it. It's either that or do I just go to a supportive hospital and not worry about building a private practice. I fly to the city to be close to the Asian community whenever I have a break. So, I don't know which path would be the right one.

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’ssocial platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

2024. 9. 23.

🔹Question: Hello, Sunim.Thank you so much for being accessible to ordinary people like me. Thank you. What you just answered felt like you were talking to me directly. I feel like you answered my question. I live in Vancouver, Canada. My job is to help customers achieve their financial goals and their financial well being. So, I'm in a very competitive financial industry. I have sales targets to meet, and how we get business is from referrals from my coworkers. I'm in a specialized work, and there are two people in my office

who do this specialized work, myself and my buddy. We have a very good working relationship. But my coworkers send all the business to my buddy, not so much to me. I was very hurt and angry, and I asked my coworkers the reason. They said it's because many of our clientele are Punjabi, Indians. They're looking for a Punjabi speaker although they speak English very well, and my partner can speak Punjabi. I think it's an excuse. I blamed my coworkers up until yesterday for my low number on sales because my partner's sales are high and mine is low. I realized it's my responsibility, and I should not blame others. I have learned from you and the Jungto Buddhism Course. My question to you is this. I want to meet my sales goals It's probably unrealistic because the sales target is unrealistic, but I want to do better than my buddy.

I know that gives me suffering because I'm putting that onmyself like you just said. How can I do well and meet my sales target, but, at the same time, surrender this want? I feel like I'm stuck.

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’ssocial platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

2024. 8. 26

🔹Question: Good afternoon, Sunim. Thank you for answering my question and giving me another chance to ask. I suddenly had a couple of situations where I start to realize that I'm get older. I'm hitting 40 now, and the time shocked me. "Oh my God. I'm already at this age." I also did some review of my life and my current evaluation on how I'm working right now. I was thinking, "Is this really how I want to live, and is there something else I need to be doing?" I just kept doing calculations and reviewing. And then, I realize that, at some point, there's a part of me thinking that maybe I should start considering or thinking about retirement a bit earlier, or reduction of workload sooner than expected to consider or pursue other projects or things. That idea came about when I was asking for a vacation to go to the India trip that you're planning in January. It took a lot of effort and begging to the work to be able to take time off. In Jungto Society and other organizations you're running, there are a lot of volunteer projects and a lot of requests. There are a lot of things that I feel bad about that I can't really volunteer or participate in it. Workwise, I also realized, when going to work, there's always an exchange for making money. For making money, they're not going to give money for doing a stress-free job. It's always going to be a stressful job. So, I feel that, in part, I'm trading my health for making money. That is eating at me or bothering me as well. Ultimately, my main question is, "When is it really a good time to retire?" And some of those factors are what's going on in my mind.

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’ssocial platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint

🔹Ven Pomnyun’s Dharma Q&A

Selection from a Dharma Q&A session at George WashingtonUniversity (Oct. 8, 2014)

🔹Question: I'm a medical doctor in Korea. As you know, the doctor's mistakes can be directly connected to patients' death or life. How can I manage it? Or how can I take care of it?

🔻Jungto Dharma School(Introduction to Buddhism):https://www.jungtosociety.org/jungto-dharma-school-online-course/

🔻 All Jungto Society’ssocial platforms: http://linktr.ee/jungtoint