I'll read my question. Hello Sunny Are you watching your video? I can guess how busy you are every day. I have been going to church for over two years after moving to a new area I went with a friend but this spring, this year spring, there was a conflict in the church and the churches split into two sides and half of the people left and they opened a new church. One or two of the members close to me kept on telling me to come visit their church.
They asked me to come just once but I know that that one time is just the beginning. The attended that church. I do not belong to any church and now I am satisfied with a happy school and teachings and I am learning well, ah, if the people telling me to come to church I feel bothers me, please tell me how can I imagine I manag my mind come and the more I learn about Buddha's teachings, the more I reflect on myself and become humble. And so I love it. I don't want to go to church
miss your choice It's okay for you not to go to church. There's absolutely no problem
or you can just choose one of the two churches and go there occasionally
or you can go to both churches.
You don't have to tie down to one in a church nor do you have to deny both churches.
You just be free
the more you study Buddhism.
You also have to kind of open your minds up to other religions like Christianity.
The same thing with Islam. I'm not saying that you have to like
because each religion tradition has its own unique nature
but it's up to you because you're free to choose, not because you don't like the other traditions but you're free to choose whatever kind of draws you.
So basically this is not a problem of your friends or your former kind of church goers telling you or asking you to come visit their church. It's the problem that you don't want to hear them. That's the invitation.
The same thing when you get invited to a party, you want to go you don't want to go. So your family member asks you to do something you don't want to do. You just don't want sometimes
and you resist your hesitant because you know, you're always kind of calculating. What if I say no, I might lose that relationship or something you know, it might cause a loss to me.
But after all, they have the freedom to invite you to their church and you have the freedom to not go.
So just as your freedom is precious to you, their freedom is precious to them.
Yeah yes yeah
yeah I understand what you're saying. I didn't say don't tell me come to your church but I just says refuse nicely. Okay maybe next time not this moment I don't feel like to go right now maybe future I think about it I all the time say that but I knew I went to church since I immigrate to USA on and off over 25 years. If I attend one time they right away welcome me very, they are kind extremely and then they are looking for
what would you like to do and then oh, let's study Bible study Why don't you join this volunteer Why don't you join like a chorus? And they asked me more and more and then see you next to Sunday and then they asked more and if I just go one time and stop it, it's kind of to me it's foolish because I know I'm not going to go. So I just doesn't want to start go to church. And the reason the split is too sided is very complicated. They are 45 years of one church member but one issue they make split
so I'm just kind of tired of what they're doing yesterday they were like an old church member with a family and brother and sister and then after conflict it's become an enemy and then I don't want to embol that both church I don't want to go to church but since I learned the Buddha's teaching, I'm very joyful and find a more peaceful mind. Even I attended the church over 20 years, I never had that feeling. So I don't want to
go there. I want to just keep continue learning without teaching. I think that's more fit to me my personality, character and quiet peaceful and I just don't want to stick with this side.
It's a good thing that you know, studying Buddha's teachings brought you peace in your mind
but you have not really truly studied deeply yet because you still feel tension from watching the conflict within the Ch.
Conflicts actually in divisions is a natural phenomenon.
Now you see two different kind of sects emerging from the same kind of Judaea Christian tradition
and from within the Christianity itself you see the SCSM between the Catholicism and Protestanism
and within the within the same Protestantism, you get Presbyterians you get Baptists, episcopalians you get all different sects.
So you feel discomfort because you were there at the church when it was one then it split into two but somebody else who joined the church after it split we will not share the same discomfort.
You know, we have a lot of divorced couples who are raising kids who get divorced even after having kids and raising kids by themselves and what not. So we see separations and divisions, conflicts everywhere. So why is that a special problem?
It's almost as if you're acting like little kids who are seeing their parents divorce and opposing and being resentful that the parents are divorcing although parents themselves might have a good reason to separate.
The same thing with North and South Korea you know, regular ordinary people actually has have no reason to suffer the separations but the separation does serve a purpose for the ruling elite.
So if you actually ask the leadership of your church whether you want to ask the deacons or actually ask the minister, they will have reasons to separate.
So you feel discomfort over the split of the church because you're not a deacon or a minister not because you have this peace in your heart.
So basically there's no problem here. You know, whether that church splits or not is their work. You know, it's their scope, right their decision whether you go to that split church or not is your decision.
You know, we have thousands of Korean American churches in the US today and all these churches are probably split from each other
and even that church that you know, went to probably came resulted from somebody else actually splitting off from another Ch. So basically there's absolutely no problem here. So just stick to your own studies. You don't let their problems feed their problems.
One big thing it bothers me the reason split is the previously my church was belonged to United Methodist, the New England area this the regulation and policy is the pastor is sent to by union but the pastor is same sex person like a gay pastor. So that's why we split half member. We don't want to accept the pastor. The other half is okay but to me God loves everybody. The gay pastor and straight pastor is all the Gods child children
but in the church members those splet that's kind of comedy to me is very difficult to me
but there are plenty of reasons.
So people make huge things out of the littlest thing, right in Korean history actually the whole kingdom almost collapsed because of political dissonance having to do with the split on how long you should be in mourning, how you, how long you should be wearing your shroud to mourn a loved one. So you know whether it's three months, 6 months or 9 months. So there was a huge political scandal almost brought down the kingdom. So you know, discussion or splits or
differences of opinion or on somebody a pastor being gay or not that marits a discussion, a potential disagreement.
And this issue actually not just roiling one small church, right? It is actually splitting huge the nominations as well as it's still an issue in American politics today. No, I'm not saying that division or schism is a good thing.
I mean same thing like parents have a reason to divorce from each other but from a child's perspective they don't understand why.