SECRETS ON CULTIVATING THE MIND,
an outline of basic Seon practices, was written by Chinul between
1203 and 1205 to instruct the throngs coming to the newly completed
Suseonsa monastery. A seminal text of the Seon school, Secrets
presents simple yet cogent descriptions of two important elements
of Chinul's thought―sudden awakening/gradual cultivation and the
simultaneous practice of samadhi and prajna―interspersed with
edifying words to encourage Buddhist students in their practice.
Although Secrets was lost in Korea after the destruction wrought by
the Mongol invasions two decades after Chinul's death, it was
preserved in the Northern Ming edition of the tripitaka, produced
in the early fifteenth century. Reintroduced into Korea around that
time, it was translated in 1467 into the Korean vernacular language
using the newly invented han 'gul alphabet. It remains one of the
most popular Seon texts in Korea today.
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Chinul, Susim kyol (Secrets on Cultivating the Mind).
Translation from Robert E. Buswell, Jr., The Korean Approach to
Zen: The Collected Works of Chinul, pp. 140-159. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 1983. Reprinted with the permission of
the translator. For other translations of Chinul’s works, see
Robert E. Buswell, Jr. Tracing Back the Radiance: Chinul’s Korean
Way of Zen. Kuroda Institute Classics in East Asian Buddhism, no.
2. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, A Kuroda Institute Book,
1991.
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