Follow in the Footsteps of the Master TeacherI have been asked to write a few words about Master Hyunmoon Kim’s new books volumes 1&2– SUNDO an Ancient Taoist, Breathing Meditation Journey Toward Enlightenment. Every new and experienced Sundo practitioners should read and study these writings. These writings are an invitation into the life of a master – Master Kim –  his personal journey through life with all of its challenges sharing his struggles and moments of self-doubt, and yet his perseverance and commitment to find a way to bring the real value of the mountain peoples teachings to humanity –  their views and methods about how to live as an integrated human living between heaven sky and earth. Master Kim presents this in the light of how to live in the modern world which is so desperate for insight into a living process of how to be a true human being. What master would be so open and vulnerable in sharing his life and yet demonstrate such great strength, courage, perseverance, humility, generosity, and kindness while living amongst us? He shares his journey with us to inspire each of us in our own lives and yet showed his faithfulness in following in the footsteps of his Master Teacher and all the Ancestors before who developed and preserved these, until now, hidden teachings through generations and many thousands of years. Can we ever really know or understand the great effort required and demanded of those from the past and now Master Kim doing his part to accomplish this task. These books ask us to be a part of this task to join Master Kim in his efforts to fulfill the wish of Chung San to make these teachings available not only to the Korean people, but to the world. Each day we as individuals have the opportunity begin each day bowing to the Ancestors and our Master Teacher, reflect on the five precepts, and bring alive the Sundo chant within us as we appreciate our life, all of life, and the body mind we inhabit. Sundo practice certainly enlivens us. Let us listen to the teachings, example, and guidance that Master Hyunmoon Kim has so generously provided and made available for each of us with his life and his writings.

Master Kim dedicates his two books to the memory of his Master Teacher Chung San who descended the mountains under the instruction of the two mountain hermits he lived and trained with for years.  The life of Chung San is described in stories of his time with the two Master Teachers he trained under. The stories include mountain adept yogi like feats, yet the emphasis is on the trusting relationship developed between the two Master Teachers and a sincere student. A life full of hardship living in nature and discipline is described but the caring bond shines through with the two Master’s protection always there. The story relates that after years of training Chung San was instructed to descend the mountain and teach the Mountain Way of Sundo.  We could say that Chung San’s teaching began at the foot of the mountain when he entered back into the world below that he had been born into. He entered back into Korean society with the purpose of reminding the people of the old ways, the necessity of integrity and the need to recover internal strength. Overtime Chung San gathered students and established KSD training centers to provide and reestablish what had been lost – a way for everyone to recover and return to the true center that exist in the core of every human being. As a result, what was once only an oral teaching kept and practiced by a select few in the mountains for centuries was now being rediscovered by the people of the Morning Calm. One of these individuals was our Master Hyunmoon Kim.

Master Kim, with refinement, describes his early years of life, his family and hometown, the loss of his parents and grandmother in an intimate way and openly its impact. He goes onto to describe his early youth not having much meaning. He speaks to the experience that many humans find themselves in growing up trying to make sense of the world.  All of this before meeting his Master Teacher Chung San. Master Kim says that Chung San and KSD quickly became a central focus of his life. He describes how he learned from observing his teacher and especially how Chung San navigated his everyday life in his interactions with others in Korean society. This time led to Master Kim seeing that Sundo should include helping people live in society with their everyday lives. He realized that Sundo is not just a path for mountain ascetics but is meant to help humans become whole integrated people. Master Kim identified that a Sundo practitioner’s character is much more important than developing egoic powers and demonstrating feats of strength. Sundo is to help us learn to live and live better lives.  Master Kim tells of the challenge of moving to America, learning the English language, raising a family, making a living, adapting to western culture, and how this time contributed to his becoming clear on what was necessary to most effectively present Sundo culture to the world. This included becoming a PhD Doctor of Philosophy in Human Science which contributed to the development of his Sundology program and four-part vision laid out in book vol1 that he determined was necessary for expansion of Sundo culture into a global future. This has all occurred with Master Kim teaching and practicing with students over the years, traveling the US and the globe doing workshops spreading the teachings, setting up practice groups and in time establishing three retreat centers on three different continents.  Through his strength and determination his vision is coming into fruition. I think it is important for students to read the two SD books to fully grasp the vision and meaning of Master Kim’s efforts to develop a non-religious and nonsectarian living spiritual culture for humanity that includes respect for ourselves and each other and all of life. Sundo does not ask anyone to deny their religious beliefs – only be willing to practice self-refinement and character through engaging with the practice.

The scholarship in Master Kim’s two Sundo books reflect academic excellence fulfilling one of the four pillars of his vision for Sundo’s future – academic systemization of Sundo. History, cosmology and forms of Taoism including Sundo are presented. His deep, yet concise words on the origins of Sundo are insightful and likely an accurate interpretation about how the practices were unknown as the mountain people lived remotely and passed on the practice orally to the generation that followed writing nothing down. Though there are few actual records, Master Kim traces the thread of Sundo influence through Korean historical periods. Of interest, he mentions that Sundo like principles which had helped keep the country intact was nearly lost at one point due to Buddhism and shamanism becoming so dominant. He writes during that time it was considered to be the end of the Sundo idea. Master Kim goes on to say that there is evidence that not only Koreans, but foreign practitioners lived and practiced Sundo in the mountains during the Joseon Dynasty (1392 AD -1910 AD) which help preserve Sundo during a time when it could have been lost.  Although it is said that Sundo is 9700 years old, Master Kim states that the origins of Sundo are not verifiable due to lack of documentation. He identifies its principles are consistent with the ideas that grew out of the agricultural period that developed over those thousands of years where humans began to see more the value and benefit of unity with nature.  All of this speaks to Master Kim’s rigorous efforts to trace Sundo’s unknown historical origins seeing it in the context of human development and the natural evolution of living. He presents a logical sociological perspective in how Sundo came to be without promoting mystical and other worldly origins that might be questioned by certain readers.

In these two new Sundo books volumes 1&2, not only are the essential Sundo precepts and principles identified in a very meaningful way, but there is also a clear and in-depth presentation of the Three Sundo Ways – the Way of Enlightenment, the Way of Life, and the Way of Immortality. The role of the three treasures (chung, ki, shin) and three danjeon centers in each of the nine stages of Sundo development that comprise the Three Ways are laid out in sequential steps in quite a profound way for those that want to look into the depth of the Sundo system. Even a serious experienced Taoist who does not practice Sundo would find new understanding of higher stages of cultivation written about here. The writings of Master Kim do not just feed the intellect but more the feeling soul of the reader. This makes them understandable to the reader. Master Kim states that the terms heaven, eternal life and immortality, must be clearly examined by the student and offers a detailed look at those words and how they might be understood in terms of spiritual cultivation and realization.

Sundo’s actual practical method requires endurance. Volume two presents the first two stages of the standard Sundo practice. Each practice begins with a bow to our ancestors and reciting of the five precepts. The warm-ups, breathing meditation postures, the cool downs and the internal organ meridian stretching are all illustrated with descriptions of detailed movement, ki flow, anatomy, physiology, and the energetic benefits described. The Sundo words and meaning of the chant used during the breathing meditation postures is included to give purposeful orientation to the Sundo practice. Overtime with perseverance one learns how to use the body, increase the mind of awareness to realize the spirit’s unity with all under heaven. Master Kim has stated that “Sundo does not have any written scripture. That you could say its scripture comes from a series of breathing meditation postures that produce a non-intellectual and non-conceptual learning experience. Each posture awakens the wisdom of life which is stored in different parts of the body. Sundo practice is designed for awakening this hidden wisdom.”

Once an individual begins to see through the things of the world and desires to get a deeper understanding of the world one lives in so as to find one’s place in it, most often an outer master teacher is essential to give us true insight into the reality factor and help us reconstruct our limited view of life. More than a philosophy or a good conduct is necessary to traverse the world we find ourselves in. We need clarity and method to re-orient ourselves. We need guidance from an Achieved One. Someone who can provide a living example of their own navigation of the path in their life. The Master Teacher not only shows us the way by their example but brings us back to our own root – the center of our own being. It is from here we must do the real work of self-refinement. By listening and observing closely the Master Teacher, a student with self-honesty and sincere effort will gradually transform and develop a stable relationship with the truth that will bring real nourishment into one’s daily life. The rarity of finding a Master Teacher in a student’s life is one thing, but fulfilling the potential of this relationship comes through deep attunement to the Master’s presence whether near or far. The living presence of a true Master Teacher can be found in these two books if we read, study and feel the writings. Through listening to and following the Master Teacher we may awaken and realize our own teacher within. It is Master Kim’s belief that self-realization “can only come true through the journey of each Individual’s own life.”

Through Sundo the Mountain Way has been opened up in our time for the world. Do we want to? are we willing to be a part of supporting and living these precious teachings now to help preserve them for future generations? This path is open to us if we are willing to follow in the footsteps of our Master and the Masters before him. Let us not hesitate. All those seeking the Way enter the mountain (of consciousness) tracing the threads of the Tao left by the Ancient Ones. The writings of Master Hyunmoon Kim make this available to us. My notes here cannot even come close to describing what is in these two new books. Do not miss them.  Please read them. And then read them again and again and make them our life.