Not Commiting to One Church
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0:08 - 0:10<Not Commiting to One Church>
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0:10 - 0:16(Questioner) Hello Sumin,
I watch your video. -
0:16 - 0:21I can guess how busy you are every day.
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0:21 - 0:28I have been going to church for
over two years after moving to a new area. -
0:28 - 0:37I went with a friend. But this spring,
there was a conflict in the church -
0:37 - 0:41and the church split into two sides.
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0:41 - 0:48And half of the people left and
they opened a new church. -
0:48 - 0:58One or two of the members close to me
kept on telling me to come visit their church. -
0:58 - 1:07They asked me to come just once but
I know that that one time is just the beginning. -
1:07 - 1:11The attended that church.
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1:11 - 1:13I do not belong to any church and
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1:13 - 1:19now I am satisfied with Happy School and teachings
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1:19 - 1:23and I am learning well.
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1:23 - 1:31If people telling me to come to church I feel it bothers me,
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1:31 - 1:38please tell me how can I manage my mind calm.
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1:38 - 1:42The more I learn about Buddha's teachings,
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1:42 - 1:48the more I reflect on myself and become humble.
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1:48 - 1:54And so I love it.
I don't want to go to church. -
1:58 - 2:04(Sunim) It's your choice.
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2:04 - 2:12It's okay for you not to go to church.
There's absolutely no problem. -
2:12 - 2:21Or you can just choose one of the two churches and go there occasionally,
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2:21 - 2:27or you can go to both churches.
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2:27 - 2:33You don't have to tie down to one church,
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2:33 - 2:37nor do you have to deny both churches.
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2:37 - 2:42Just be free.
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2:42 - 2:47The more you study Buddhism,
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2:47 - 2:57you also have to open your minds up to other religions like Christianity.
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2:57 - 3:02The same thing with Islam.
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3:02 - 3:06I'm not saying that you have to like,
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3:06 - 3:13because each religion and
tradition has its own unique nature. -
3:13 - 3:23But it's up to you because you're free to choose,
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3:23 - 3:26not because you don't like the other traditions,
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3:26 - 3:31but you're free to choose whatever draws you.
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3:31 - 3:42Basically this is not a problem of your friends
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3:42 - 3:48or your former church goers telling you
or asking you to come visit their church. -
3:48 - 3:52It's the problem that you don't want to hear them, that invitation.
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3:52 - 4:05The same thing when you get invited to a party,
you want to go, you don't want to go. -
4:05 - 4:12Your family member asks you to do something you don't want to do,
you just don't want, sometimes. -
4:12 - 4:26You resist, you're hesitant because you're always calculating,
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4:26 - 4:30what if I say no, I might lose that relationship, or something.
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4:30 - 4:33It might cause a loss to me.
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4:33 - 4:44But after all, they have the freedom to invite you to their church,
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4:44 - 4:48and you have the freedom to not go.
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4:48 - 4:56So just as your freedom is precious to you,
their freedom is precious to them. -
4:56 - 5:02(Questioner) I understand what you're saying.
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5:02 - 5:12I didn't say 'don't tell me come to your church'
but I just say, refuse nicely. -
5:12 - 5:15Okay maybe next time, not this moment
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5:15 - 5:19I don't feel like to go right now, maybe future,
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5:19 - 5:23I think about it.
I all the time say that. -
5:23 - 5:30I went to church since I immigrate to USA on and off over 25 years.
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5:30 - 5:35If I attend one time they right away welcome me,
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5:35 - 5:41they are kind extremely
and then they are looking for -
5:41 - 5:47what would you like to do
and then oh, let's study Bible study -
5:47 - 5:52Why don't you join this volunteer
Why don't you join like a chorus? -
5:52 - 5:58And they asked me more and more and then
see you next Sunday -
5:58 - 6:04and then they asked more and if I just go one time and stop
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6:04 - 6:11to me, it's foolish because I know I'm not going to go.
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6:11 - 6:18So I just don't want to start go to church.
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6:18 - 6:26And the reason the split is too sided is very complicated.
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6:26 - 6:33They are 45 years of one church member but one issue they make split.
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6:33 - 6:37So I'm just tired of what they're doing
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6:37 - 6:44Yesterday they were like an old church member, we're family and brother and sister
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6:44 - 6:48and then after conflict it's become an enemy
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6:48 - 6:55I don't want to envolve that both church. I don't want to go to church.
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6:55 - 7:02Since I learned the Buddha's teaching,
I'm very joyful and find a more peaceful mind. -
7:02 - 7:10Even I attended the church over 20 years, I never had that feeling.
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7:10 - 7:12So I don't want to go there.
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7:12 - 7:16I want to just keep continue learning Buddha's teaching.
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7:16 - 7:21I think that's more fit to me my personality, character and quiet peaceful
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7:21 - 7:27and I just want to stick with this side.
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7:27 - 7:41(Sunim) It's a good thing that studying Buddha's teachings brought you peace in your mind.
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7:41 - 7:51But you have not really truly studied deeply yet
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7:51 - 7:56because you still feel tension from watching the conflict within the Church.
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7:56 - 8:05Conflicts and divisions is a natural phenomenon.
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8:05 - 8:20Now you see two different kind of sects emerging from the same Judaea Christian tradition.
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8:20 - 8:28And from within the Christianity itself
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8:28 - 8:34you see the schism between the Catholicism and Protestanism.
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8:34 - 8:44And within the same Protestantism,
you get Presbyterians, you get Baptists, -
8:44 - 8:49Episcopalians, you get all different sects.
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8:49 - 9:04You feel discomfort because
you were there at the church when it was one, -
9:04 - 9:07then it split into two
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9:07 - 9:09but somebody else who joined the church after it split
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9:09 - 9:14will not share the same discomfort.
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9:14 - 9:22We have a lot of divorced couples who are raising kids
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9:22 - 9:26who get divorced even after having kids and raising kids by themselves.
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9:26 - 9:30So we see separations and divisions, conflicts everywhere.
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9:30 - 9:33So why is that a special problem?
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9:33 - 9:44It's almost as if you're acting like little kids
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9:44 - 9:48who are seeing their parents divorce and opposing and being resentful
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9:48 - 9:49that the parents are divorcing
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9:49 - 9:54although parents themselves might have a good reason to separate.
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9:54 - 10:04The same thing with North and South Korea.
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10:04 - 10:09Regular ordinary people actually have no reason to suffer the separations
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10:09 - 10:15but the separation does serve a purpose for the ruling elite.
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10:15 - 10:23So if you actually ask the leadership of your church
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10:23 - 10:27whether you want to ask the deacons or actually ask the minister,
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10:27 - 10:33they will have reasons to separate.
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10:33 - 10:42So you feel discomfort over the split of the church
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10:42 - 10:49because you're not a deacon or a minister
not because you have this peace in your heart. -
10:49 - 11:02So basically there's no problem here.
Whether that church splits or not is their work, -
11:02 - 11:05it's their scope, their decision ,
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11:05 - 11:10whether you go to that split church or not is your decision.
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11:10 - 11:18We have thousands of Korean American churches in the US today
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11:18 - 11:23and all these churches are probably split from each other.
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11:23 - 11:35and even that church that you went to, probably resulted from
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11:35 - 11:40somebody else actually splitting off from another church.
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11:40 - 11:44So basically there's absolutely no problem here.
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11:44 - 11:49Just stick to your own studies.
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11:49 - 11:56Let their problems be their problems.
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11:59 - 12:02(Questioner) One big thing that bothers me,
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12:02 - 12:07the reason split is previously,
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12:07 - 12:14my church was belonged to United Methodist in New England area,
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12:14 - 12:23the regulation and policy is the pastor is sent by union,
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12:23 - 12:31but the pastor is a gay pastor.
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12:31 - 12:36So that's why we split. Half member, we don't want to accept the pastor.
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12:36 - 12:42The other half is okay,
but to me God loves everybody. -
12:42 - 12:49The gay pastor and straight pastor is all the God's children.
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12:49 - 12:53But in the church members those split,
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12:53 - 13:01that's comedy to me.
It's very difficult to me. -
13:01 - 13:08(Sunim) There are plenty of reasons.
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13:08 - 13:36People make huge things out of the littlest thing, in Korean history, actually
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13:36 - 13:40the whole kingdom almost collapsed because of political dissonance
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13:40 - 13:44having to do with the split on how long you should be in mourning,
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13:44 - 13:51how long you should be wearing your shroud to mourn a loved one.
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13:51 - 13:54Whether it's three months, 6 months or 9 months.
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13:54 - 13:58That was a huge political scandal almost brought down the kingdom.
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13:58 - 14:03So discussion or splits or differences of opinion
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14:03 - 14:11over a pastor being gay or not that
merits a discussion, or a potential disagreement. -
14:11 - 14:25And this issue actually not just roiling one small church.
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14:25 - 14:30It is actually splitting huge denominations,
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14:30 - 14:35as well as, it's still an issue in American politics today.
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14:35 - 14:41No, I'm not saying that division or schism is a good thing.
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14:41 - 14:50Same thing like parents have a reason to divorce from each other,
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14:50 - 14:54but from a child's perspective,
they don't understand why.
- Title:
- Not Commiting to One Church
- Description:
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Ven. Pomnyun's Answer to “Not Commiting to One Church”
Selection from Casual Conversation with Ven. Pomnyun Sunim (Dec. 10, 2023)Question:
The church I used to attend split into two different churches after conflicts arose among believers. My friend keeps asking me to attend one of the new churches. However, I don't want to go because I prefer not to tie myself down to one religion. - Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 15:03
Venus95 edited English subtitles for Not Commiting to One Church | ||
Venus95 edited English subtitles for Not Commiting to One Church | ||
Venus95 edited English subtitles for Not Commiting to One Church | ||
_146702 EunSook(Sook) Kim_김은숙 edited English subtitles for Not Commiting to One Church | ||
_146702 EunSook(Sook) Kim_김은숙 edited English subtitles for Not Commiting to One Church |