Tradition
Hyo Jin Moon November 5, 2006
Here are my notes from Hyo Jin nim’s speech Sunday 05 November 2006. My ability to convey what was actually said is limited. These, at most, convey some sense of what Hyo Jin nim said and are not a verbatim record. Hyo Jin nim’s website is: http://www.canaanstation.com/ To see one of the projects that Hyo Jin nim is working on log on to: http://definingmoment.tv/
Joe Kinney
Rev. Andrew Compton is the MC.
All welcome Hyo Jin nim and offer a bow.
(Hyo Jin nim bows to the audience as he approaches the stage.)
How are you doing? Today’s topic is tradition. We talk about tradition. We all have it right? Regardless of who you are, we all have it. We inherited something from somewhere; we belonged to something prior to coming here. Everybody has tradition. To people in general, tradition is important because it deals with survivability. Time ticks forward in the timeline of history. In order to be something, in order to have something, in order to hold on to something, secure something you need to have tradition.
The value of tradition is about that; it is about securing something. It's about prolonging something, defining something, setting some kind of standard that will define you beyond your existence. That’s what tradition is. That’s why it’s important to a lot of people.
Even on a nationalistic fervor it goes to the tradition itself to promote that kind of encouragement or that kind of fervor. You can get galvanized because people can excite you; you can get stimulated because you think you’re part of something great, not just based on survival, but it has to have something…
Just like everybody else in a free democratic society, you want to be something special. It has to have that kind of essence in the end. That defined essence, if that is true, should stand the test of time. It should go on and on and on as long as we procreate, as long as we survive on this planet. That’s why people think tradition is important; because there is a sense of joy in knowing right? Yes, when you define joy, it always has to define a certain understanding, a clear understanding, the more clear the better, then the depth of joy will become greater.
How can we position ourselves or present ourselves to the world in terms of tradition that we want to be part of. That’s the question everybody asks. If they think they belong to something then that’s what we’re competing with. Everybody out there who believes in God or who believes in a higher power… It might not be a monotheistic value; it might be polytheistic. But still they have their own tradition that they want to present to the world and compete. It’s a never ending struggle. Why? Because I think there’s only one God, at least that what I have chosen to believe for the rest of my life. That’s the challenge. That’s where you start. You have to ask your self; how do I fit into this tradition. In what way can I be the best that I can be to represent the tradition?
How many people here clearly can say that I know my absolute true value; I know what give me absolute joy till the day that I die? Why, because joy comes from knowing. Divine joy comes from knowing the divine truth and it starts from you. Do I really understand my divine truth about myself? How do I fit in if I do? What can I do in knowing who I am? The divine truth, how does it configure into the greater picture of creating an ideal world? Everybody, idiosyncratic as they may be, has something that is divine, that is unique to you. You must find that and you must some how figure out how you can fit it into the greater picture. Achieving that is very difficult. It is easy said, but doing that is very difficult. Why, because if you just based on the concept of order, even in a free society like America you have… I guess it’s kind of healthy to a point… this doubt.
Remember, America allows religious freedom. At the same time it separates religion and the state. The state is pretty much secular. Why, just to be fair. That’s the basic premise, the basic fundamental argument because historically speaking religion hasn’t been that much a kind of model institution. The cliché people say is "absolute power absolutely corrupts." Because of that, because of their distain of the founding fathers of America towards the British, their church decided this American system of government.