“Breathe slowly. Feel the air in your nostrils. The slow rise and fall of your abdamon. Notice your breath throughout the day. Notice when you feel stressed or anger and irritation. The body reacts by stopping and holding the breath. So just when you need your oxygen to get to your brain to make mindful decisions, you’re abandoned by your breath. So go slowly throughout your day. Stop to take a breath. Think about your words, your actions that you’re going to take. Be steady and calm, and you’ll make the right choices.
The Art of Koan Practrice [TBT Dharma]
Throwback Thursday Dharma: If you've ever wondered how to get started with Koan practice, this is the place to start! In Rev. WonGong & Rev. Song's talk on September 24, 2017, they discuss how Won Koans, or Hwadu, are intended to both reveal our True Nature and Illuminate Human affairs and Universal Principles. A koan can be a profound question or simply the question of why our washing machine keeps leaving stains on our clothes.
Let The Practice Do The Talking
Our temple friend and member, Shauna Hay (Won SonHa), shares about how dedication and wisdom can help us master skills and learn things that we never imagined we could. Sometimes, the practice itself is our best teacher, even when the practice has you standing on your head!
The Founding Motive: Am I Using my Phone or is My Phone Using Me?
Depending upon our choices, technology can be a powerful gift...or, it can drag us into misery! Won Buddhism's founding motive speaks to this directly. In this insightful talk, Patty Daniel (Hwa Tawonim) highlights how our practice aids us to appreciate and control technology rather than having it smother our lives
Two Principles of True Nature
What is the essence of the true nature of the universe? Although words and concepts cannot give us the full answer, they do give us glimpses of this fundamental Truth. In this insightful and informative dharma talk, Rev. WonGong beautifully guides us through the teachings and illustrations of true nature.
Meditation: The Art of Balance
When it comes to meditation, have you ever wondered, "Am I doing this right?" Paige Doster-Grimes discusses the need for engaged calmness during meditation, emphasizing the importance of being alert and grounded in the present moment. Giving Master Sotesan's instructions for meditation, she tells us how to manage both drowsiness and/or a busy mind.
Linda (Won InDoh) The 2025 Dharma Name Recipient
Receiving a Dharma Name is a great honor that represents an absolute commitment to the Won Buddhist path. Linda Cato received her name in 2025. This is her reflection on the journey that brought her there.
Divine Pumpkin Vines
Dharma shines brightly from so many places – even pumpkin vines! In this delightful talk, Rev. WonGong shares insight into the way dedicated teachers help guide their students. Just as she carefully uncurls the tendrils of misdirected pumpkin vines, our teachers help us untwist our clenched tendrils, so we can grow in beneficial directions.
Christine (Do Banh) The 2024 Dharma Name Recipient
Receiving a Dharma Name is a great honor that represents an absolute commitment to the Won Buddhist path. Christine Donovan Ball received her name in 2024. This is her reflection on the journey that brought her there.
Is There a Place for Anger?
Telling the story of her father's imprisonment in an Indian internment camp, Yeeva Cheng talks about the way anger can ripple outward (and downwards) from an experience of powerlessness or trauma. However, Yeeva argues, Anger can also be used to correct an injustice. How can we learn to transmute our anger into a force for justice and spiritual growth?
Dying With Grace
We are often told how to live well, but rarely told how to die well. But death, in Won-Buddhism, is simply the reflection of life, so dying well is fundamental to practicing well. In this talk Nik shares some experiences he has had with dying through taking care of his grandfather and how that relates to the Won-Buddhist scriptures.
Do You Believe in Buddha?
Reverend Shaun was inspired to give this talk after receiving a call at the temple residence asking him if he believed in God. His answer may surprise you.
The Great Way Reaches Everywhere by Rev. WonGong
What, exactly, is Won Buddhism, and how does it contribute to the lives of sentient beings? We already have great religions like Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Rev. WonGong elucidates how Won Buddhism synthesizes the best parts of these wisdom traditions into the "Threefold Practice" of Cultivation, Inquiry, and Choice in Action. See just how Il-Won, one circle, symbolizes this practice into a wholistic, "...great Way that reaches everywhere." https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/donations
Gratitude: Realizing Connections by Rev. Shaun Song
Oftentimes, we do not appreciate how gratitude is connected with our original true nature or with impermanence. But, in this happily reflective dharma talk, Rev. Shaun Song highlights these truths and shares how they have unfolded in his life. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/donations
Pete's Retreat Reflections
What, exactly, happens during a Won Buddhist retreat? Long time temple practitioner Pete Warshaw (Won Jee Ho) details the many practices in which you may engage, and the impact they may have on your personal spiritual path. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/donations
Not, but Not Not by Cassie Hanson
Koan contemplations can be challenging, but in this dharma talk, Won Buddhist practitioner, Cassie Hanson, turns those challenges into poetry as she invites us to journey with her in a search for connection, meaning, and awakening. https://www.wonbuddhismnc.org/donations
Janice Marie's Retreat Reflections
In beautiful prose, dharma friend Janice Marie invokes the image of Mount Tai as an offering in gratitude to her retreat teachers, and also as the aspiration and model of her own practice.