Late Ven. Jaseung's additional notes on last will found at his residence
Kim Gi-hyeon, center, leader of the ruling People Power Party, pays tribute to the late Ven. Jaseung, a former head of the Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist sect, at Jogye Temple in Seoul, Dec. 1. Yonhap
Additional notes of the will from the late Ven. Jaseung have been found at his residence, the country's largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order, said Friday.
"Ven. Jaseung had always pursued nirvana, the world of enlightenment, and I think he decided to come to that moment by himself," Ven. Jinwoo, leader of the Jogye Order, said, while meeting with visitors to the memorial altar for Ven. Jaseung at Jogye Temple in Seoul.
Earlier in the week, Ven. Jaseung, who served as the president of the Jogye Order from 2009 to 2017 and assumed key positions at other religious groups, was found dead at a burnt dormitory at Chiljang Temple in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province.
The Jogye Order officially confirmed Thursday that he self-immolated, "praying for the stability of the religious group and the salvation of the world through the dissemination of the Dharma." Self-immolation is a Buddhist practice of burning oneself alive as an offering to Buddha.
The police later discovered notes from the monk's car that implied he was about to end his life.
"Given the various circumstances so far, I think he had considered the option for a long time and believed it was the right time (to act on it)," Ven. Jinwoo said.
Ven. Jaseung "seemed to have entered into the ultimate state of enlightenment" with his decision, he stressed, seemingly in an effort to tamp down speculation surrounding the influential monk's sudden death. (Yonhap)