Possession Is Not Necessarily Bad
By Shin Chul-ho
I know that severe criticism will be leveled at me from all sides but I cannot suppress the desire to express my view on ``non-possession" of Ven. Beop Jeong, the recently deceased Buddhist priest of high virtue.
In ``The Selfish Gene," Richard Dawkins reveals that all species are struggling against all kinds of adversity to pass down their genes to their next generation. Inevitably, all plants and animals, whether they are big or small, complicated or simple, compete with each other for more possessions and mates.
The human race is no exception. We just have moral and ethical principles. What matters is that non-possession runs counter to human nature. Ven. Beop Jeong insists on minimum possession, but human nature adheres to maximum possession. The reason that capitalism continues to prosper while communism faded away into history is because capitalism fundamentally recognizes the human instinct of desire for possessions.
The main theme of major religions unanimously revolves around love, peace and harmony. But history tells us that crusaders fought against the Muslims in Palestine during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. In the present day, fundamentalist Muslims perpetrate terrorist attacks on innocent civilians in Christian countries or elsewhere. In the current religious and secular chaos of the mundane world, he seems to look like a lotus flower in a dirty pond of warfare.
Ven. Beop Jeong led a secluded life in a distant mountain in Gangwon Province, authoring more than 30 books. A long time ago I read his column in a vernacular newspaper, in which he persuaded the readers to read less. Why did he write so many books for people to read? What a whim in his will it is to print no more copies! He should not have written them. King Sejong of the Joseon Kingdom, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Vice President Yun Songyi of NCsoft, etc. are all avid readers. Furthermore, Korean people should be required to read far more books to cope with rapid globalization.
All the countries on Earth also face limitless competition in international trade. At the end of last year, Korea sealed the $40-billion nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates, beating French and U.S.-Japanese rivals. Suppose everyone in this nation lived based on the spirit of non-possession. The Korean economy would collapse within a month. All companies, big or small, would have no interest any longer in earning money. All research centers would stop researching because the successful results of research are a kind of possession. There would be no need for Korean armies to defend this nation and the Korean government would give up the Dokdo islets to Japan.
In the early 70s, the Ven. Beop Jeong stood against the dictatorship but he went down to Songgwang Temple to pursue spiritual discipline, saying, ``I suffered oppression due to my involvement in democratization and hatred rose. It pained me to see myself deviating from a pure heart. So, I went up to the mountain to my original place." Mahatma Gandhi, from whom he claims to have learnt non-possession, was the preeminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He resisted tyranny through mass civil disobedience, which ultimately led India to independence.
Humans as a social animal know after much trial and error that the rule of law, public order and fair competition produce more wealth in market economy and that we can afford to make an appropriate investment in welfare. Possession is not guilt.
The writer teaches English at an elementary school in Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached atheemy123@hanmail.net.