Pomnyun

Venerable Pomnyun Sunim (Korean: 법륜스님, Hanja: 法輪; born 11 April 1953) is a Korean Seon master, author, and activist.^[1][2] He is widely recognized in South Korea as the founder of the Jungto Society, a wise mentor, and one of the most respected Buddhist figures in recent history.^[3][4] Internationally, he is known as a peace activist and one of the four patrons of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB) alongside the Dalai Lama, Ven. Maha Somchai Kusalacitto, and Ven. Bhikshuni Chao Hwei.^[5]

Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s vision of engaged Buddhism is centered around Jungto Society, a community of practitioners he founded in 1988 to overcome what he saw as shortcomings in the existing Buddhist order in South Korea.^[6] Since its inception, the volunteer-run community has founded four subsidiary NGOs – EcoBuddha for addressing environmental issues, Join Together Society for rendering aid in developing nations, the Peace Foundation for researching and promoting peace in the Korean peninsula, and Good Friends for protecting the rights of refugees in Asia – to reach their goal of creating Jungto, a land where individuals are happy, society is peaceful, and the environment is beautiful.^[6] Venerable Pomnyun Sunim has received various awards and recognitions for his efforts in driving these projects. Notably, in 2002, he received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding "for his compassionate attention to the human cost of Korea's bitter division and his hopeful appeal for reconciliation."^[7] And in 2020, he became the 37th recipient of the Niwano Peace Prize “in recognition of his extraordinary humanitarian work, environmental and social activism, and his inspiring effort to build relationships of trust and goodwill between those of different faiths and cultures as a central component of his work for peace.”^[8]

Venerable Pomnyun Sunim slowly gained recognition in South Korea during the 2000s through his public Dharma Q&As (즉문즉설), in which audience members can ask Venerable Pomnyun Sunim about anything that troubles their mind, from personal issues to global conflicts and Buddhist practice. These sessions were hosted free of charge in different cities across the country, with their recordings uploaded and shared on YouTube. To date, he has hosted over 12,000 Dharma Q&As in South Korea and approximately 300 Q&As in other countries worldwide, including the 115 talks he gave during his global tour in 2014.^[9] In 2012, after his appearance on the popular Korean TV show, Healing Camp, Aren’t You Happy, he became a nationally recognized and respected figure.

He wrote and published several best sellers in South Korea, including Words of Wisdom for Newlyweds, What Is Happiness?, Things Are Good as They Are Now, The Human Buddha, and Commentary on the Diamond Sutra. One of his bestsellers, titled “Happiness (Korean: 행복)” was released in the UK under the title “What is Happiness: A Monk’s Guide to a Happy Life” in March 2025, and is scheduled to be published in the U.S. in the near future.^[10]

In his childhood, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim dreamed of becoming a scientist. One day, while he was studying for his semester finals, he was approached by the abbot of the temple he sometimes visited. The abbot is Venerable Domoon Sunim, in direct lineage from Venerable Yongsung Sunim, one of the 33 leaders of the Korean independence movement in 1919. Trying to avoid conversation so he could return to his studies, the young Venerable Pomnyun Sunim attempted to leave quickly. Venerable Domoon Sunim then asked a series of questions to the fleeing student, changing the course of his entire life.^[6]

(Domoon) “Where did you come from?”

(Pomnyun) “I came from school.”

“Where did you come from before that?”

“I came from home.”

The questions and answers continued until they reached Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s birth.

(Domoon) “Where were you before you were inside your mother's womb?”

(Pomnyun) “I don’t know.”

“Is that so?”

There was a brief pause.

(Domoon) “So where are you going?”

(Pomnyun) “I am going to the library.”

“Where will you go after that?”

“I will go home.”

“Where will you go after you get home?”

Venerable Domoon Sunim continued to ask until they reached Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s death.

(Pomnyun) “...I will die.”

(Domoon) “Where will you go after that?”

“I don’t know.”

Then, Venerable Domoon Sunim shouted.

“Child! How can you be so busy when you have no idea where you’re coming from, and no idea where you’re going?”

Venerable Pomnyun Sunim recollects this as the pivotal moment that compelled him to enter monastic life as a Buddhist novice under Venerable Domoon Sunim's tutelage at the age of 16.^[6]

After becoming a monastic, he dreamed of restoring the main pagoda of Hwangnyongsa, a historic Buddhist site near where he took his vows. On weekdays, he wore regular civilian clothes and went to school. On weekends, he wore monastic robes and pushed a cart around town to collect any scrap metal he could find to contribute to rebuilding the pagoda.^[11]

Starting his second year of high school, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim borrowed Buddhism course materials from Dongguk University, a Buddhist-affiliated university in South Korea, to gain a deeper understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Having always recognized his disciple’s aptitude and spirit, Venerable Domoon Sunim encouraged him to pursue a professorship at Dongguk University and eventually serve as a government minister for the benefit of the people. However, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim declined his teacher’s suggestion by saying, “I have studied enough at Domoon University. I will practice in this world, among the people.”^[12]

After finishing high school, he became involved in civil rights movements and Buddhist educational programs during the dictatorship of President Park Chung Hee.^[13] In 1979, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim was teaching mathematics at a private learning center when he was arrested and tortured on the suspicion that he was sending money to an activist group.^[14][13] He was beaten and waterboarded for several days.^[6] During the torture, he felt such rage toward his interrogators that he believed he could have killed them if given the chance.^[15] However, this hatred dissolved when he overheard one of them expressing concern to a colleague about his daughter’s exam scores and tuition fees. Venerable Pomnyun Sunim realized that even his torturers were ordinary people working to support their families and, perhaps, proud to serve the country.^[15] As the interrogation continued and he drifted toward unconsciousness, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim had a vision of a frog. In his youth, he had captured many frogs to feed chickens and had thought that the first precept of Buddhism–to abstain from taking life–was overly idealistic. But as he found himself in the situation of the frogs he had killed, he was awakened to the true meaning of the precept.^[15]

In 1980, Chun Doo-hwan’s regime began systematically oppressing the Buddhist order in South Korea, among other democratic factions, to consolidate its power base. Venerable Pomnyun Sunim was again arrested for criticizing the regime.^[16] Having witnessed the sheer helplessness of the Buddhist community against injustice, he became deeply disillusioned and left for the United States to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a scientist.^[14][6] In 1981, while he stayed at a Jogye Order temple, he met an old monk and complained to him for hours about the state of the Korean Buddhist community.^[6]

The old monk, Venerable Seoam Sunim, answered calmly after listening to Venerable Pomnyun Sunim for over two hours, “Young man, when a person sits down to meditate next to a rice paddy and makes his mind pure, that person is a monk, and that place is a temple. That is Buddhism.”^[6]

This reply shook Venerable Pomnyun Sunim to the core. He realized, despite all his talks of reforming the Buddhist community, he had not really understood the core of Buddhism himself, and vowed to begin practicing the Buddha’s teachings instead of spending his time and energy criticizing others.^[6]

In the past, I was a warrior for democracy, fighting for social justice. I hated dictators and in protesting against them, I was prepared to sacrifice myself for the realization of justice. I was frequently voicing complaints about other people, as my mind was always in darkness. When I truly awakened to the teachings of the Buddha and could see the world as it really is, however, I realized that it did not matter who was right and who was wrong because these were just different points-of-view. Dictators, military leaders, imperialists, exclusionary religious organizations, and groups pursuing their own selfish interests.... they are not enemies to defeat, they are simply people or groups whose point-of-view is different from mine. I came to understand that from their position, they are also doing what they think is best.^[13]

After his return to South Korea in 1982, he became involved in democratization movements once again as the Dharma teacher of KBUF (Korea Buddhist University Federation). In 1988, he established the Jungto Society to unify social activism and Buddhism.^[13]

In 1988, at the age of 35, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim established Jungto Society with a handful of devoted members inside a bare-bones plastic greenhouse to realize “authentic, simple, and practical Buddhism” while embracing the bodhisattva ideal of Mahayana Buddhism – pursuing both personal enlightenment and service to all sentient beings.^[17] Through Jungto Society, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim sought "social activism and Buddhism to become one."^[13]

Today, the community remains entirely volunteer-run^[18] and has grown to include various non-governmental organizations that provide humanitarian relief in some of the most impoverished, underdeveloped, and/or volatile regions of the world.

Jungto Society is the parent organization that organizes a prolific number of public Dharma Q&As with Venerable Pomnyun Sunim around the world. Additionally, the organization offers courses on Buddhism and social issues, retreats focused on awakening and meditation, an annual pilgrimage to sacred sites around India and Nepal, and various historic tours around Korea and neighboring countries. In Korea, there is also a program called the Happiness School, which shares Venerable Pomnyun Sunim’s teachings in a non-religious setting.^[19]

In 2021, a special division called Jungto International was launched to spearhead efforts to share the Dharma with a global audience. Currently, Jungto Dharma School offers an online course titled “Introduction to Buddhism” – structured into Part 1 on the Buddha Dharma and Part 2 on the Life of the Buddha – in English, Korean, Japanese, French, and German.^[20]

Over the years, Venerable Pomnyun Sunim established four NGOs under the umbrella of Jungto Society to put the Buddha’s teachings into practice. He currently serves as the chairperson of all four organizations.

JTS ("Join Together Society") is an international NGO relief organization with the aim of fulfilling the goals that: #1) The hungry should have food. #2) The sick should receive treatment. #3) Children should have access to education.^[6]

Ecobuddha is a corporation originally established in 1994 under the name "Korean Buddhist Environmental Education Institute" that applies the teachings of the Buddha towards environmental preservation.^[6]

Good Friends was established in order to promote reconciliation and cooperation between the North and South Koreans, provide humanitarian aid to North Korean residents suffering from extreme economic hardship, carry out activities to improve the human rights situation of North Korean refugees, and advance peaceful reunification of the two Koreas through cooperation with Koreans living overseas.^[6]

The Peace Foundation focuses on ways to resolve North Korea's nuclear weapons stance, human rights issues, and to study how best to prepare for the unification of the two Koreas, including specifics of the systematic approach to achieving unification and building a unified Korea.^[6]

• 2011: POSCO TJ Park Prize, POSCO TJ Park Foundation

• Prayer: Letting Go. Jungto Publishing. 2014. ISBN 978-89-85961-84-4.
• True Wisdom: Ten Precious Guidelines from Bowang Sammaeron for a Happy Life. Jungto Publishing. 2013. ISBN 978-89-85961-80-6.
• True Freedom: The one Thing that Happy People Have in Common. Jungto Publishing. 2011. ISBN 978-89-85961-68-4.
• True Happiness: Here and Now. Jungto Publishing. 2010. ISBN 978-89-85961-64-6.
• Awakening. Jungto Publishing. 2015. ISBN 978-89-85961-98-1.
• A Monk's Reply to Everyday Problems. Jungto Publishing. 2018. ISBN 979-11-87297-16-1.

• Buddhism in Korea
• Buddhism in the United States
• List of peace activists

• JungtoSociety.org - Jungto International's website
• Pomnyun.com
• Jungto.org - Jungto Korea's website in English