Biography of Master Baekbong


Born in Yeongdo, Busan, he walked the path of anti-Japanese resistance.
He was born in Yeongdo, Busan on February 2, 1908, the eldest son of Kim Bong-han, a Korean medicine doctor. He entered Yeongdo Elementary School in 1920 at the age of 12, completed the four-year course, and entered Busan 2nd Commercial School in 1924. However, he dropped out after only one year, failing to complete the three-year course. The reason for this is unknown.

In 1930, he met Jeong Yeong-mo, a senior from his commercial school, joined the Busan Youth League, and participated in the nationalist movement which was very dangerous action under tight Japanese control. He was arrested and served a year in Busan Prison. His younger brother, who visited him in prison, brought him the book, "Byeokamrok(碧巖錄)" However, as an atheist, he was indifferent to its contents, and lacked the academic or Buddhist knowledge to understand its complex text. Coincidentally, an appendix included an introduction to Zen meditation, and he sat for a while, following the instructions for the first time. He was so amazed to see a sparrow perched on a power line outside the building.

After completing his sentence, he became a "person under surveillance" by the Japanese, subjected to surveillance, house searches, and interference. He eventually left Busan. He headed to Manchuria, but even there, Japanese surveillance and interference persisted, preventing him from settling down. He traveled between Manchuria and Busan until 1937, when he was arrested in Manchuria and taken away by the military police.

In prison, expecting execution he chanted the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara
The military police imprisoned him, arrested and tortured those he had contacted, and uncovered his whereabouts in Manchuria. The prison housed a diverse group of people, each executed and disappearing. There was no law there. Executions were decided solely at the discretion of the military police, and human dignity was not considered in those decisions. As he watched each person being executed and buried, he felt a sense of dread, knowing his own death was near.

Suddenly, he began chanting the name of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and writing the name on the prison wall. After six or seven months, the wall was covered with the name. After the military police discovered his graffiti during a search, he became even more anxious about this new situation of resisting and violating prison rules. However, unexpectedly, the military police summoned him and asked him if he would accept a conditional release: accept a high-ranking position in the Japanese military's Manchurian Command and be loyal to the Japanese, or die. He accepted this offer, not death. He resolved to live, saved his life, and took his position, but he could never act loyally to the Japanese. He made up an excuse, returned to Busan, and submitted his resignation to the headquarters. He then went into hiding and participated in the anti-Japanese movement until liberation.

Year 1945 and after
Just after liberation from Japanese occupation, he became the secretary-general of the Busan Jungyeongdo District of the National Establishment Preparation Committee, seeking to seize power from the Japanese. In the chaos of liberation, he saw citizens suffering from famine, opened a granary, and distributed rice. This was deemed a violation of US military government law, and he was imprisoned again in Busan Prison. A retrial later found him not guilty and he was released, but after serving two years.

He entered political society
he became a prominent figure in the Yeongdo region and engaged in various social activities, including the establishment of Busan Nam Middle School and Busan Nam High School. He then entered politics in 1958. Ahead of the 4th National Assembly election, he applied for the Liberal Party's nomination but was rejected. Undeterred, he ran as an independent candidate and was defeated. However, he achieved remarkable voter turnout. Despite lacking party support, he lost by a narrow margin over the top candidate, but by a significant margin over the Liberal Party candidate. The Liberal Party recognized his potential. They recognized him as a leader in Busan, where the opposition Democratic Party held strong power, and recruited him as Vice Chairman of the Gyeongnam Provincial Chapter. However, with the April 19 Revolution in 1960 and the collapse of the Liberal Party, he was politically bankrupt and was forced to flee Busan.

He met Buddhism
he spent his days drinking in Seoul and Incheon. Lamenting his fate, he worried he would die and go to hell. In the summer of 1963, while hanging out with friends in Incheon, he heard these words:

"If you encounter the Buddhist supreme doctrine,
if you meet someone who has attained enlightenment,
you will not fall into hell," and "There is no place for hell."

He was astonished to discover that there was a way to escape hell.

He visited a temple on Mount Gwanak with his companions. He had visited temples many times before, but those visits were for the scenic beauty, drinking, and having fun. As an atheist, he had no interest in Buddhism and dismissed those who believed in it as foolish. Finally, he came to the temple to hear about Buddhism. Later, he would describe himself as ignorant of Buddhism, ignorant in many ways—truly ignorant.

The temple was small, founded and owned by a person, but there was a monk as the manager, and this monk did a significant role. The monk rebuked him for wanting to learn occult practices, and guided him on the path of proper buddist practice, reciting dharani. He recited the dharani for the first three days, but when he saw no results, he returned to the monk and received "Muja(無字)" hwadu, a question to hold.

He studied the Hwadu intensely.
At first, he struggled to grasp the hwadu, but after two or three months, it came naturally. He couldn't sleep. His lack of sleep made him emaciated and even afflicted him with stomach ailments. Thinking, "I'm going to die," he tried to abandon the hwadu, but it wouldn't go away. He finally gave up on abandoning it.

In late December 1963, he went to a small temple near Cheongju city with fellow lay people from Incheon and Seoul to meditate. It was a secluded house in a mountain valley, and one of the fellows purchased it and named it Simwoo Temple (尋牛寺). While he was praying with companion at dawn, he heard crackling sound of two moktaks although he saw only one moktak tapped, and he saw a divine general standing beside him. Those matters puzzled him. He lamented himself. "There are even problems in my ears and eyes" A fellow sensed something was off about him and that something was about to happen..

Enlightment
The fellow sat down next to him and opened a book named Mumungwan (無門關). He saw "Immediate mind, immediately Buddha(即心即佛)" He thought, "Isn't that obvious?" and passed it by without much thought. The fellow turned a few more pages. It said, "Non-mind, not Buddha(非心非佛)" He was shocked. Without realizing it, he got up, opened the window, and looked outside. The world of 'Immediate mind, immediately Buddha' had come into his mind. He realized that the one mirroring the three realms runs the body along, that the physical body is but a shadow, that life and death are mere names. All fellows bowed three times to him. It was early January 1964. Just then, the church bell in the village about a mile away rang. It was unlike any bell he ever heard before

"Suddenly I hear the sound of a bell. Where did it come from?
The quiet, limitless and empty sky is my home.
With one sip, I swallowed the three thousand realms.
Water and water, mountain and mountain. They are bright by themselves"
"忽聞鐘聲何處來 寥寥長天是吾家 一口呑盡三千界 水水山山却自明""

He wrote a commentary on the Diamond Sutra
The night he returned to Incheon he opened Diamond Sutra for the first time. Overjoyed to see that it described what he had known through enlightenment, he stayed up all night reading, composing poetry for 32 parts. Then, determined to use the Diamond Sutra as a means to teach his family what he had learned through enlightenment, he began writing the manuscript for his commentary.

His fellows, witnessing his enlightenment, asked him to give a Dharma teachings, and he immediately began preaching with the manuscript. Professor Jeon Jun-ryeol of the Department of Buddhist Studies at Dongguk University published the textbook in book form and released it to the world. The world opened its eyes to Baekbong Kim Ki-chu. It was only a year after his enlightenment.

University students enthusiastically embraced his teachings.
He moved to Seoul, where he lectured on the Diamond Sutra to his followers at Bulam Mountain and Jeongneung, introducing the Supreme Dharma doctrine. In the spring of 1968, Lee Su-yeol, a sophomore at Yonsei University, visited Jeongneung to hear a Diamond Sutra sermon, leading university students to seek out Master Baekbong. From then on, he held intensive retreats lasting about a month during summer and winter vacations, lecturing six times a day and guiding Zen practice. In the winter of 1969, he guided Daejeon High School students in their meditation training at Gyeryong Mountain. In 1970, he stayed at Simgwangsa Temple in Daejeon and taught students from the Daejeon Buddhist Student Association. Subsequently, countless university students met him at the Borim Seonwon in Busan, attending all-night meditation sessions in the summer and winter, and came to regard him as their Dharma teacher.


The Venerable Cheongdam and Daeui Urged Him to Become a Monk
While he was staying at Simgwangsa Temple, Venerable Cheongdam and Venerable Daeui visited him. They urged him to become a monk, offering him a place in the monastery. After careful consideration, he declined. To achieve fruitful studies, he needed to reform the monastic community, but he knew he could not achieve this on his own. He had even greater hopes for lay Buddhism. His vision is evident in his words, "I want to have every household build a Buddhist temple," as he declined to become a monk. Even after his departure, Venerable Daeui continued to urge him to become a monk. While in Busan, he even brought him a forged letter from the highly respected Venerable Hyeam, urging him to become a monk. However, he refused, citing his advanced age as an excuse.


He preached the highest Dharma throughout Busan and the nation.
He opened Borim Seonwon in Yuseong and taught Seon(禪,Zen) to university students and monks. In 1972, he moved the center to Busan. From then on, he resided in Sajik-dong, Gwangan-dong, and Namcheon-dong for 12 years, presenting new ways of Seon (禪,Zen) practice in Busan, Seoul, Daegu, Mokpo, and other places, and greatly fostered Geosapung(居士風, Zen practice for lay person). In November 1984, he built a center at the foot of Jirisan Mountain and moved there, where he passed away on August 2nd of the following year.