On January 20, 2022, the national monks’ rally of the Jogye Order, which I had opposed, was held. Watching it, I could not contain my desolation as a Buddhist. Practitioners should have displayed great compassion, yet this rally deserved condemnation and should never have occurred.
The monks nevertheless presented their demands confidently, as if unaware of any wrongdoing. They strained their voices, chanted slogans, criticized the government, and raised their voices for institutional benefit. The scene made me consider what must come first if the Jogye Order is to be reformed. I concluded that I must explain what is currently wrong. I had just witnessed how frightening unawareness can be.
What did gathering thousands mean during COVID-19?
The first issue is how a national monks’ rally appeared to the public while everyone struggled through COVID-19. After the virus arrived, people endured fear, anger, frustration, and despair. Early on, some demanded a complete break with China and a ban on foreign entry. The government did not accept every extreme demand, but it made relatively prudent decisions and produced one of the world’s stronger responses.
The government did not accomplish this alone. It was possible because citizens participated voluntarily. Even when freedoms were restricted and finances suffered, people bore hardship because they judged that following national public-health guidance was right for the community.
Some people did ignore the rules. For two years we watched the news and asked: why do they gather when told not to? Why do religious people assemble and shout? Why does one gathering become an outbreak that spreads across the country? Other religions’ mass meetings embarrassed me, yet part of me felt relief because Buddhism produced fewer such headlines and generally seemed to follow the rules.
Was the national monks’ rally above public-health restrictions?
Did the Jogye rally comply with those restrictions? Even brief reflection makes it difficult to believe that an event of thousands matched the guidance of the time.
In Busan, restaurants closed after 9 p.m. Rules against gatherings of more than four people also continued, with some regional variation. Small-business owners suffered desperately because they could not earn income, while customers could hardly visit cafés, meet friends, or eat together. Human beings communicate by gathering, talking, complaining, laughing, and exchanging stories. Everyone felt suffocated when those relationships were cut.
People were repeatedly told not to travel or gather even during holidays. Families missed one another at Lunar New Year and Chuseok. I therefore ask the monks: did ordinary citizens avoid gathering because they were fools? Were laypeople stupid for following the rules while monks were exempt from government guidance? Could the Order pursue its benefit even when that endangered others?
The Order behaved like an interest group for institutional gain
The monks assembled to make demands and condemn the government. They acted like an interest group protecting institutional advantage. There is nothing inherently forbidden about demanding change. But why choose the very period when the entire public was refraining from gathering?
If the issue was serious enough to leave the winter retreat and raise voices in the street, citizens should have been able to recognize its importance. Yet as monks on stage strained their necks, shouted, and recited texts and slogans, I could not sympathize with a single point. Each demand seemed inappropriate to monastics and contrary to the spirit of practice.
I will continue explaining those errors one by one. What was more frustrating was that the monks appeared not even to know what they had done wrong. The national rally displayed the Jogye Order’s foolishness and lack of awakening before the entire public.
Reform is impossible when criticism is suppressed as anti-Order speech
I will continue publishing videos until the Jogye Order undergoes major reform. It may label me an anti-Order outlet if it wishes. I am not a media organization financially dependent on the institution, nor someone whose livelihood can be cut off to force submission. Threats will not make me retreat.
A religious institution rots when it lacks the capacity to hear self-criticism and public criticism. The Order should foster critical media itself. Large organizations find it difficult to see their own errors; they need uncomfortable voices and should use those criticisms to correct themselves.
But when a community of practice becomes an interest group, criticism feels intolerable. Leaders want to act as they please and protect only institutional benefit. The moment critics are treated as enemies and branded anti-Order, the possibility of reform closes.
Monks must remember the intention with which they renounced
Many Jogye monks presumably entered monastic life to become Buddhas and awaken. They must have held an intention and resolve when they shaved their heads. As that resolve faded, however, the Order began behaving as an interest group and publicly embodied the foolishness of the unawakened.
This was not a minor problem created by one or two unruly individuals. It became possible because the whole institution was disordered. Even after an event this serious, almost no internal voice of reflection and repentance emerged. That silence demonstrates how deep the failure runs.
If no voice for correction rises within, an external hammer is now required. The monks will hear, one by one, exactly what they did wrong. This criticism begins the work of returning an Order that placed its own interest before a public it treated as foolish to a genuine community of practitioners.
This article was edited by AI solely from the supplied video captions and description. No external sources were used.