Presented by Tae Heung Films
Aje Aje Bara Aje (Come, Come, Come Upward)
Production and Planning Lee Tae-won
Original Novel and Adaptation Han Seung-won
Cinematography Koo Joong-mo
Lighting Cha Jeong-nam
Music Kim Jeong-gil
Editing Park Sun-deok
Recording Korea Film Organization, Kim Byeong-su
Developing Korea Film Organization
Art director Do Yong-u Prop Kim Ho-gil
Still Photography Yang Ki-ju
Assistant director Kim Yeong-bin Camera Assistant Park Seung-ho
Lighting Assistant Ham Hyeong-seok
Production officer Jeon Yung-haeng Production manager Noh Pyeong-cheol
Kang Soo-yeon
Jin Yeong-mi
Yu In-chon, Han Ji-il
Chon Moo-song, Yoon In-ja
Yoon Yang-ha, Kim Se-jun Ahn Byung-kyung, Choi Jong-won
Kim Bok-hee, Lee Jeong-ae Kim Ae-kyung, Shin Chaong-shik
Director Im Kwon-taek
I'm a disciple serving the head monk.
Are you here to try the life of a monk?
Yes.
Did you get scolded by your parents?
No.
Maybe some woman stole your man?
A temple is a place of ascetic training,
not some shelter for unfortunate women
or criminals on the run.
Please let me see Master Eun-seon.
We need your parents' permission in order to shave your head.
It's getting late. Sleep here and return home in the morning.
Where are you from?
- Pardon? - I asked where you are from.
Gwangju.
What about before that?
From my mother's body.
And before that?
I'm not sure...
If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't even be here.
Just because your body is away from home
does not mean you truly left it behind.
Here, you must lay down all the concerns
and attachments of the outside world.
You cannot hope to gain without losing first.
Only those who lose much can gain much.
Actually, junior monks Ko and Nam-won cleaned here already.
Just show some effort and come back in.
Okay.
Where do you think you are spitting at?
Remember that there lies something more foul
and ugly than this hole inside of you.
There are beings cleaner than you in there!
What an insolent girl!
Sweep and clean the room. That's the task of a newcomer.
I heard you are from a nursing school.
You may have been a university student out in the world,
but here, you must practice humility and patience.
You should have just endured whatever was bothering you,
instead of coming here.
Until the day you lose the junior title, your hands and feet will suffer.
You'll never sleep well, and you'll never eat well.
It's a difficult path.
Where in the world have you been? Crawling back home this late!
Look at this house. Why would I want to stick around?
What did you say?
You spoiled brat!
I was widowed at such a young, fiery age.
Yet I raised you until now with nothing but hard work!
Is it that hard for you to understand my feelings just a little bit?
You just live off the interest you collect from the poor.
What do you mean, "hard work"?
What? You ungrateful bastard!
You brat!
You think I did all that for myself? You idiot!
I want you to say hello.
He is a monk from the temple your grandmother and I used to visit often.
So what temple is he from?
Maybe I should follow him back there.
He's like the wind. Who knows where he actually lives?
How far would you go?
What are you doing here?
I'm traveling around. It's winter break.
What grade are you in now?
Why do you want to know that?
Why indeed...
Are you sick?
No...
Monk!
What made you decide to become a monk?
If you want to really train,
do you really have to forsake all your family?
Monk, do you know my father well?
I heard he was some kind of an army officer.
After he came back from Vietnam,
he abandoned his uniform and went into the mountains to be a monk.
I'm not sure what his monk name is.
His real name is Lee Jae-myeong.
Well if you ever meet someone like that, please tell him this.
I think he already repented enough for whatever he did in Vietnam.
Okay. I'll do that.
Mom told me to pick up your medicine.
She told me you have a stomach disease.
How futile...
When there is a disease of the soul,
what good can bodily comfort do?
Please just accept it.
I've never seen my mom worry about someone else
enough to open up her wallet like this.
These are medicinal pills.
Take twenty after each meal.
Thank you very much.
Well, you gave me the medicine like your mom told you,
and I need to be on my way.
I think it's time we say goodbye.
You have your own path, and I have mine.
I just want to learn about what you do and where you work.
Let me follow you just until there.
You see that cloud up there?
That is your father.
Once you pass that hill,
you'll find your father's small temple.
Your father failed in his mission.
He wanted to go live in the mountain, to learn from Buddha.
He wanted only to make himself clean and receive a revelation.
That was his mistake.
He failed to see that, in living among the poor and the suffering,
and in sharing their pain, there is something to be gained.
When he realized that this something is the most valuable
his illness had already affected his body deeply.
What's the difference between Buddhists speak of mercy, while Christians speak of love?
I think they are fundamentally the same,
especially when both emphasize altruism.
They say that Korean Buddhism is Mahayana Buddhism.
The way I see it, Hinayana Buddhism is actually closer to what we have here.
What do you think about that?
Yes. This is something us Buddhists should try to improve upon, in my opinion.
We can no longer just isolate ourselves in the mountains.
We must live among people, and become a part of their lives.
We must search for our light from within that life.
I haven't seen Nam-won anywhere.
I saw her pack up and leave at dawn.
I guess if you are going to quit,
it's better to leave before they become a disciple of Buddha.
Please think carefully, everyone.
If you want to leave here,
don't sneak out like Nam-won did.
Just tell us that you wish to quit.
Those who no longer wish to train
are free to leave. We don't force anyone here.
The senior monks are here.
Please, get up and get dressed.
Lee, please stay here.
This is Master Eun-seon's request.
What is your plan with me?
Why do you refuse to shave my head?
What will you do?
No one can do anything to you except yourself.
You had already learned everything even before coming here.
You are already as close to Buddha as you will ever be.
But that Buddha may lead to your demise.
If it's just you, I'd have no problems.
But here, you put everyone at risk.
You don't need any new training.
That hasty Buddha within you. You must train to silence her!
According to the ancient maps,
thousands of Buddha statues and stone pillars used to be here.
That so many statues and pillars were contained within a single temple ground
indicates the widespread influence of Buddhism at the time.
Now look closely at the shapes of these Buddha statues.
While they are quite flat,
you may notice that they have very native looking faces.
In a way they seem to resemble the face of merciful Buddha.
And in a way, they resemble the faces of humble farmers.
Actually, they even seem to resemble Seung-ju here a bit.
This is my name.
Hyeon is my family name. The given name is just Jong.
I'm very glad to be teaching a class of such nice and beautiful girls.
I am 29 this year.
Yes, I'm married. I even have a baby.
Is it a boy or a girl?
A boy.
But I have yet to fully mature.
In that aspect, as I teach this class, I hope to grow with you as well.
Hey, I heard Mr. Hyeon is actually single.
What? Really?
Rumor says his wife passed away.
Either that, or they got divorced.
That's terrible...
And the kid is not actually a son, but a five year old daughter.
Apparently her grandmother is raising her in the countryside.
That can't be right.
Hey! Hey! Listen to this!
Gather around! I got some crazy news!
- What? - What is it?
So last night I saw him in an alley by my house.
Saw whom?
Mr. Hyeon was stumbling home completely drunk.
That sad appearance... He looked so lonely but cool.
Sheesh! Give me a break!
If that's how you feel, why don't you pay him a visit and keep him company?
Mr. Hyeon!
Hey, it's you, Sun-nyeo.
Where are you going?
I'm headed to Gangwon-do.
What business do you have there?
There's a Buddhist monk I know who is staying at a temple there.
Wow! When did you make monk friends?
I'm headed to Daejeon.
So I guess we can be travel buddies until we reach there.
Oh!
So who lives in Daejeon?
Well, no one that I know. I'm just traveling.
To Buyeo... to Gongju...
For a few years now, I've been using the breaks in summer and winter
to travel around that area twice a year.
Just traveling by yourself?
Yup.
Mr. Hyeon.
Can I follow you there?
Huh? What?
I really don't have to go to Gangwon-do.
I'm not even exactly sure where that temple is.
It's not like that monk is just sitting around waiting for me.
Well aren't you a reckless kid...
History says that, 3,000 maids threw themselves off the cliff at Naghwaam.
3,000 maids? That's ridiculous.
My guess is that women from the capital city of Buyeo
and from the palace were fleeing from
the hands of the Silla and Tang soldiers.
It makes more sense to think that they were driven here and fell down.
There probably were some actual palace maids among them as well.
Anyhow, when it comes to history, regardless of where or when,
it's never fair for the losing side.
Think about how Kim Yu-shin and Kim Chun-chu
accomplished the unification of the three kingdoms.
It was the first time in our history where an outside force was called in.
In order to beautify and justify this,
King Uija was probably framed as a cruel and twisted tyrant
who knew nothing but earthly pleasures.
This is Goransa Temple.
King Uija himself drank this spring water.
When he was here drinking this in the middle of the night,
he could probably hear the roar of Baekma River,
as well as the cries of Baekje women
and the drum sound of the Goransa Temple.
All right. Time for bed.
I'm tired.
When you finish reading, make sure you turn off the light,
turn off the fan, and cover your belly.
And then go to bed.
The Donghak peasant troops never got past this Ugeumchi Hill.
Here they were eliminated by the Japanese troops.
In order to appease their souls, on this very location
that looks down on Gongsanseong Fortress that the peasants tried to capture,
we built this memorial pillar.
What if they actually reached the fortress and captured Seoul?
How would that have changed our history?
But on this Ugeumchi Hill, blood flowed like a river.
All because of the Japanese soldiers' new rifles.
This used to be a national road.
After General Nokdu was captured in Sunchang,
he was probably escorted on this road, all tied up.
I made a promise to her.
She was a poet.
She was carrying an eight month old baby.
But she was killed during the Gwangju incident.
She had a life long dream.
To gather the stories of Baekje's fall,
of the last failed attack of the Donghak peasant troops,
and how they were scattered away,
and telling these stories in a grand epic.
So I promised her I'd write it for her.
Let's be honest here.
Just tell the truth.
You are a woman, and so am I.
During your travel, you stayed at a remote inn somewhere far away.
So a pair of young, hot blooded man and woman slept in the same room.
Does that make any sense that nothing happened?
You couldn't fool a three year old kid with a lie like that!
You leave me no choice.
The curtains are closed here. It's just you and I in this room.
If you really think you are innocent, then remove your clothes.
I had three kids of my own.
When a woman has an intercourse with a man,
her body changes in certain ways.
When a woman becomes pregnant,
certain parts of her body go through specific changes.
So do as I say while you still can.
Whether or not you get expelled is up to you.
Remove everything.
Ms. Oh, it's me.
It's Hyeon Jong.
I just submitted my resignation letter.
I swear that girl is innocent.
Please believe me.
She will be graduating in a few months.
Please think of her future. Be lenient on her.
I beg of you.
Don't you have a daughter of your own?
How can images of Buddha be so ugly?
Maybe what's really ugly is the heart that perceives them as ugly.
Speaking of others' hearts like that may betray one's own stubbornness.
We can call an ugly object ugly. Wouldn't you agree?
Someone who found the image of Buddha
from the faces of countryside farmers and poor people probably grabbed
whatever tools he had and started carving away, producing these as results.
You shouldn't talk about sacred objects that way.
If you insult Buddha like that, you won't find salvation anywhere.
The whole point of our training is
to have a clean heart like Buddha.
To be a Buddha is to have a clean heart. Am I not right?
Whoever carved these figures here probably believed that
the poor and the ignorant are, in fact,
as clean as Buddha at their hearts.
And don't you think that where they lived was in fact, the paradise itself?
That's nothing more than sophistry. You are misinformed.
I believe that even Gautama Buddha himself
was just a human being. Nothing more, nothing less.
Whether you've achieved nirvana or not, that's the only real difference.
Junior monk Gwangju.
That's not something a Buddhist disciple should say.
Well, that's what the scripture says.
There are still a lot of rough edges to carve away from within your mind.
Those who call themselves scholars tend to have their own narrow views
and believe they are the absolute truth.
These people often attack those who have different opinions.
The ones who attack, and the ones who are attacked...
Which side is speaking the truth?
The fact is, neither of them are right.
The truth lies only within Buddha's teaching itself.
First, the law of no killing.
You must not kill any living being.
Will you uphold this law, or not?
I shall.
Second, the law of no stealing.
You must not steal or commit theft.
Will you uphold this law, or not?
I shall.
You should go study at a university.
Pardon?
A monk needs to know about secular writings as well.
Pass your tasks on to Cheong-hwa.
Master...
Just being able to study under your wings
is more than enough for me.
I'm afraid and sad to step outside your shadow.
Give this to Master Ja-wun.
Don't just do what he tells you to do.
Clean his room. Prepare his tea.
Run his errands.
If you want any allowance from him, be prepared to live like a servant.
Look at this drawing.
Why is Bodhidharma drawn without a beard?
Look closely.
Why does he not have a beard?
That is for you to figure out, even if it takes your whole life.
Make sure you are the only one doing master's laundries.
Yes.
When she goes to bed,
if even the tiniest corner of the sheet is in the wrong angle,
she will have trouble sleeping.
I've been waiting here for two hours to meet you.
Can we go grab a cup of tea and just have a little talk?
There are so many things I want to say and hear from you.
You picked a wrong monk, mister.
I suggest you go find someone else.
Isn't listening to the stories of a poor, lowly soul
an act of kindness befitting of a monk?
My name is Woo Jong-nam.
I just came back to school after military service.
I am a junior working on writing a novel.
I actually dabbled a bit in the principles of Buddhism.
Of course, compared to your understanding, my knowledge is insignificant.
What exactly do you want to talk to me about?
I have no time to just leisurely exchange empty words.
Each person has what's called a phantom.
I think of it as something similar to a false vision, if you will.
I mean people overlook the important core and focus only on superficial things.
Why on earth did you decide to shave your head and wear the grey robe?
In my opinion, the monk's robe is a type of uniform.
A uniform has the power to turn its wearer into a slave.
So why did you choose the path of a slave?
You don't understand what freedom us slaves enjoy
and the happiness one receives by serving Buddha.
A person who leaves the material world must first sever the ties with his parents.
At the same time, he must relinquish everything.
By giving up, one can aspire to achieve a greater, higher freedom that lasts forever.
That's not true.
That kind of freedom and happiness just limits yourself and one's world.
It's the happiness of being bound.
Let's say a person lives his whole life as a devout Christian.
There is nothing for him in this life. Everything goes to Jesus.
Here you are living only within the teachings of Buddha.
That devotion is no different from what I just described.
Since we've been born as human beings, we should experience love.
We should experience hatred and envy.
Have physical relationships. Have kids.
Find joy from small, worldly things.
That's how one should build his own world.
You are digging a ditch to divert a stream from its path.
Do not try to drag other people into your own little delusion.
Do not treat me like one of the characters you created in your novel.
Every living being in this world has its own unique purpose.
You say everyone has his own purpose.
Then what is the purpose of you monks?
Just ignore the pain of those in need?
Is it your purpose to do nothing but meditate in the mountains?
In order for Buddhism to remain strong
here in this day and age,
monks need to come out into the world and live among the farmers and the urban laborers.
They must try to bring warmth to the painful lives of the people.
That is the right way to save mankind.
When the Christians are offering to ease the people's burden,
what do we have to say?
Do we talk about the Tripitaka Koreana?
Do we talk about the paradise after death?
The release from captivity.
Yes, I agree.
The mankind must be released from its captivity.
Those enslaved by money. Those chained within the system.
We must release those trapped within the cave of greed.
Also, we must free those
who sought social justice and were imprisoned for it.
Corruption. Tyranny.
Purging those who stand by these values
and bringing Buddha's mercy onto this world!
That is the duty of monks.
Of course. But I do not like violence.
It's an evil deed that only leads to bigger violence.
Master, may your devotion to Buddha and his teachings be great.
It is now almost winter.
Master, ever since I met a man named Woo Jong-nam,
I've been facing unexpected difficulties.
There are fundamental questions we must face as human beings.
There are also things we must resist in order to maintain our humanity.
These are the questions this man laid out.
Those who rule by oppression are committing tyranny.
The resisting forces are fighting this tyranny
using similarly violent actions.
Master, within this meshwork of the world,
what must I do, and how can I do it?
What is this?
Sesame porridge.
Did you steal this again?
No! Black sesame is good for your eyes and turns your hair black.
Silly child!
Try it.
Which way is Yaksaam Temple?
Don't you know where Yaksaam is?
That temple is gone now.
It burned down to the ground during the Korean War.
I mean, there's still got to be the site remaining, at least.
Just go up this slope, and you'll see an empty ground.
It's where I was born.
Way back when commies were roaming about here.
Monks, what is nothingness?
What does it mean for there to be nothing?
What does it mean to empty one's mind?
Nothingness is not necessarily about being the opposite of existence.
It refers to the most fundamental force of the universe.
To train is to gather this force and
an attempt to accumulate this energy in one's body, so to speak.
If you think about it, death simply means
returning to some fundamental entity of the universe.
Don't you people always say that nirvana can be achieved in death?
You have a long road ahead of you.
Why do you suddenly talk about death?
Because I want to give back.
What a scoundrel!
What did he do over there to end up like that?
Please come with us to the station and tell us what happened.
I should go see him at the hospital.
Just to check if he is still alive.
Wouldn't we hear it from the seniors?
I feel responsible somehow.
I'm the one who told him where Yaksaam is.
I don't know.
If that's how you feel, you can go alone.
Mister. Wake up.
This is the monk who saved your life.
At least say thank you.
And would you please tell us your address?
We have to contact a family member.
You should have left me to die. Why did you save me?
Why choose death?
You can't be the only one
who have too much burden to carry it on its own.
If you end your life without cleansing your negative deeds,
you'll become a lost spirit, wandering through the netherworld.
You must live and accumulate positive deeds.
We finally have a room.
We're transferring you to the in patient room.
Take care of yourself. Stay healthy!
- See you later. - Yes.
Monk!
You can't just barge in like this! Where do you think you are?
Please save me.
If you've regained your health, go live diligently.
Actually, that's why I'm here.
Thanks to you, I've been reborn.
You are like my mother now.
In this new life of mine, I absolutely need you.
If I can't stay next to you,
my new life has no meaning whatsoever.
What a weird man!
It's like save a stranger from the sea, and he'll turn your enemy.
She got into a lot of trouble already for checking on you at the hospital.
The senior monks will be here soon. Get out of here!
I can't leave!
I am a monk who trains for life. Please leave now.
If you won't grant my wish and leave me here,
I have no choice but to kill myself again.
If you don't leave now, we'll call the police.
My life is in your hands!
Will you show kindness by saving a man's soul?
Or will you leave him to die a second death?
Hey! Where do you think you are?
Let me go!
Let me go! Now!
Let me go!
I swear nothing happened there.
I was simply trying to help him start a new life
by giving him courage.
However...
Of course I know that you had good intentions.
But sometimes, to a person in training, a good intention can lead to negativity.
We call it Seongeunma.
If you become too obsessed with your actions,
even a good deed can fail to take root.
It can distract you from your training.
3,000 bows every day for one whole week.
I know that you are being punished...
Why are you doing this to me? What's your goal here?
If you keep bothering me like this, it'll be bad for both of us.
Unimaginable misfortune will strike us.
Please leave immediately.
I was born between a communist guerrilla
and a woman who followed him to live in the mountains.
They were both killed in a communist mop up operation.
When my grandfather was still alive,
I was at least able to attend night classes at a small, mediocre college.
I passed a low rank administer exam to feed myself.
But the implicative system blocked my path.
I even tried to join the laborers working in the Middle East.
But the implicative system prevented me from leaving the country.
Since then, I got involved in many crimes. Theft, robbery, rape, gang activities...
Just all kinds of crime you can imagine. I've done 'em all.
But then one day, I began to despise myself.
I wished to kill myself.
I wanted to go back to the temple I was born in
and return my body there.
So I just let my feet take me to my destination.
But I have been saved by your hands.
Now, this life of mine no longer belongs to me. It belongs to you now.
I don't have the strength and confidence to live on by myself anymore.
I don't even know where to go from here.
If I return to my life as I am right now,
I'll become a seed of darkness
and a cancer cell that will plague the world.
You had the courage to decide to end yourself.
Try using that courage to live.
Undo the darkness you've accumulated until now.
Build good karma and bring your darkness out into the light.
But Monk Cheong-hwa!
In order for me to do that, I need you with me.
You allowed me to be born again!
You must become my mother! My friend! My wife!
Please, be my light. Please?
Please be my partner in life!
Monk Cheong-hwa!
What are you doing here? Come out!
Get out of here!
Monk Cheong-hwa!
I'll wait!
Monk Cheong-hwa! I'll wait for you!
I'll wait until every drop of blood has been dried from my body!
Monk Cheong-hwa!
- Monk Cheong-hwa! - I said shut it!
Monk Cheong-hwa!
I came back before the break, thinking I should join the winter meditation.
Monk Cheong-hwa.
Master calls for you.
The senior monks are showing no signs of forgiveness.
The mountain isn't the only place one can train and meditate in.
Though I'm sending you away,
I do not believe you are really leaving.
When you have finally removed everything from yourself
and you are truly by yourself again,
we may yet see each other again.
While you live in the village,
make sure to wear this at all times.
Show people this proof that you once lived as a monk.
Do not dishonor your fellow monks.
Sun-nyeo! Wait!
Sun-nyeo Lee.
This is from master.
Please, keep it with you.
Your soul remains here now
while your body leaves to the outside world.
Or perhaps it's your earthly self that is left here
and it's your soul that is leaving.
While you live out in the world,
you must find an answer to this question.
Is the part of you that is leaving the real you?
Or is your true self the part that remains here?
When you figure this out,
all the distractions that are bothering you will finally disappear.
May your devotion to Buddha and his teachings be great.
I fear your room is always too dry and that causes of your coughs.
Please get yourself a humidifier.
Also, please install a proper heater with a stove pipe this winter.
Sincerely, Yoon from Gwangmyeongri
Now, I'm prepared to do anything you ask of me.
But never in my life have I worked in a coal mine.
Then we'll go back.
No, wait!
I could really use alcohol right now.
Would you buy me some?
Here. Just a sip.
Please, just one sip.
What's wrong?
You only had one shot!
Mark my words.
I'm going to make a human being out of you.
Why is Bodhidharma drawn without a beard?
Look closely.
Why does he not have a beard?
Why did you hit me? I wasn't sleeping!
Master, I am making no progress in my training.
I wish to take a leave from the meditation chamber
as well as from the secular studies.
I'm considering training on foot.
In your journey...
There are things you can learn while wandering,
and there are things you can learn in the meditation chamber.
At any rate,
you may do as you plan.
Gosh, it's cold!
How did it get this cold this fast?
So did you go to the hospital?
What is it?
I'm three months pregnant!
What?
And what's more,
the owner of the hospital told me that
after the baby is born, I can work there as an assistant nurse!
Oh, wow!
Hey, what's with you? Put me down!
In the old days,
a pregnant woman would take a good look
at the shoes she just took off before entering the delivery room,
Will I survive the childbirth?
Will I get to wear these shoes again? That's what she thought.
Must have been the fear of death.
Every time I enter the mine,
I also take a moment to look back.
It's been a year already, but
I always feel like I'm entering my own death.
I had no idea.
Why are you telling me this now?
Let's look for a new job.
What new job?
Do you want me to go back to the past?
A thief, a robber...
a rapist, a gang member...
I forgot about them all.
You are a new man now.
The old Park Hyeon-wu no longer exists.
But I still like the mine work.
It makes me feel like I'm really atoning for my sins.
Just a little bit more, and we can buy a Buddhist encyclopedia.
It's strange.
When you are at the front people line up to donate.
But when I ask, it's not even close.
They say the result of collection is correlated to the level of training.
It seems my training has a long way to go compared to you.
Baldies! Baldhead monks!
Monk Jin-seong.
How can I sever this long chain of obsession?
Every time I think I have a clue,
I see my mother sitting at the other end,
distracting me and sabotaging me.
My mother is the only family I have.
I heard she is very ill.
I wonder who is feeding her.
I wonder if someone is there to turn on the heater for her.
I wonder if she is taking her medicine.
If you see a Buddha in your way, you should kill him.
If you see an arhat in your way, you should kill him as well.
Eliminate everything in your path.
You must be bound by nothing.
Only then can you transcend and achieve the greatest freedom, I've been told.
Ah, freedom... Freedom...
The greatest freedom...
When will we ever achieve this?
You must be able to abandon even the desire to achieve it.
Only then can you reach this world.
We may never reach it in our lifetime.
It may be forever unattainable.
Chop the tree.
Never stop chopping the tree.
The tree is the source of all evil.
When you finally cut it down to its roots,
Monks, you shall then transcend.
Transcend...
I can't go on.
I can't walk anymore.
Cheongjeongam is just over this hill.
Endure it just until there.
I can't go on. I want to go back.
What are you doing?
Huh? Thief!
My chicken! It's a thief!
Catch the thief!
It's a chicken thief!
Leave the chicken! My chicken!
Leave it here!
Darn it! That baldhead monk is getting away!
Ugh!
So, how was it? That did the trick, right?
Why did you do something so reckless?
Among the Ten Laws,
the second is the law of no stealing.
Stealing severs your good karma.
Throughout the whole eternity,
you will be constantly reborn into lowly existence, the law says.
I applied what Master Man-gong learned from his senior, Master Gyeong-heo.
Master Gyeong-heo told him this: Ilcheyooshimjo.
It means your mind creates everything.
If you think something is heavy, it's eternally heavy.
If you think positively,
everything opens up to you in a positive manner.
I'm going to visit my mother and then return.
Will you continue to wander?
I hear there is a decent cave in Danyang.
I'm going to train there for about three years, testing my limits.
May you achieve enlightenment.
Oh, my! Sun-nyeo Lee!
Monk Jin-seong!
It's been so long. What are you doing here?
I'm headed to an island afar to work as a nurse there.
Are you training on foot?
Yes.
I've wandered here and there, but I haven't gained much.
How is Master Eun-seon?
Still suffering from bronchi problems.
Are you still living with that man you met back then?
He died in the coal mine.
There was a cave in.
Oh no...
I was carrying his child, but it was a stillborn.
I met another man after that.
He had lost both his legs in a factory accident.
I volunteered to be his wife. I wanted to give him the courage to live.
But he died in about a year.
The thing is...
Although I've given my body and heart to all these people,
I don't regret any of it.
Life. Happiness.
Misfortune.
These aren't that big of a deal, wouldn't you agree?
But you shouldn't just give up and let things be.
I haven't given up yet.
Every time I met a new person,
I tried my best, like a virgin treating a man for the first time.
I thought maybe that could be a form of Buddha's mercy.
I'm sorry.
I should not talk about Buddha's mercy in front of you.
I have to take that boat.
Monk Jin-seong. I hope you attain enlightenment.
Do not lose courage.
May Buddha's mercy be with you.
Tell Master Eun-seon...
No. Never mind.
Wow. Take a look at this lady monk.
You think you can just come in here without permission and take over my home?
A female monk should greet the male monk first.
Doesn't matter if it's a hundred year old female monk and a junior male monk.
She is required to show him respect and bow down first.
How should I know if you aren't just a bum pretending to be a monk?
Look here, woman.
Master Heug-am once asked why Bodhidharma is drawn without a beard.
Here is the reason.
It's a warning to those fools who act like they already attained Buddhahood.
A warning to phonies like yourself!
You are so full of pride with your tiny bit of knowledge.
Without the guidance of your seniors,
you attempt to train alone. Do you even realize the dangers?
Make one careless mistake,
and you'll find yourself making a living as a fortuneteller down by the Miari Pass.
Look at me closely!
I am the Buddha of Compassion!
I came down here to test the depth of your devotion.
Even a single thread of instinctive lust
will block your path to enlightenment.
I can already tell...
You won't be able to resist a single thing!
Since we've met here already,
how about we share our love here?
Even if I push you to the ground and violate you,
you won't do a thing.
It'll be like a stick floating in the air
stirring your insides. That's how you'll think.
No.
Maybe it's more like a finger in a sack of flour
just twitching about. Is that how you'll see it?
Am I wrong?
Look carefully!
Tens, even hundreds of times a day,
a great pillar that used to be here rose up uncontrollably!
Now look at what happened to that place! Look with your own eyes!
Look!
Look! Look!
I said look at it!
You should've cut the root of your heart, not that...
What pointless act is that?
Among those in training,
one monk cut off all ten of his fingers.
I could find no other way to eliminate my insatiable lust.
I thought cutting it off would
free me from my obsessions and distractions.
Why did Gautama have to come into this world
and torment us like this, I wonder.
Did anything happen?
Nothing major, but
Cheol-ho from the house with the jujube tree hurt his leg.
It seemed to be getting better but then it started festering.
Ok-ja's grandmother is still spewing out phlegm.
She needs to quit smoking.
Ugh! My tooth is killing me! Can you take a look at it?
Please wait. I'll get to everyone in order.
Sun-yeop's blood pressure went down a lot.
On-nyeo told me she stopped getting her periods.
She's probably pregnant.
And Yeong-ran who recently had a navel surgery
told me that her back hurts.
I present this book to Sun-nyeo,
wandering around in monk's robe with shaven head.
You still haven't read that book?
Jang Geum-ok from Sangaepo told me that
she cried so much reading it, so I borrowed it.
It has some really heartbreaking themes.
Sun-nyeo, I climb Busosan Mt. again, alone.
Here on Naghwaam, where thousands of Baekje women fell to their deaths,
I stand again, alone.
My eight month old child
and my murdered wife. To appease their souls,
I write the stories of King Uija and General Gyebaek.
I heard you shaved your head, went into the mountain, and put on a monk's robe.
As I hold you,
I become prayer beads on a broken string,
and just like the Baekje women from a thousand years ago,
I fall to the bottom of the cliff.
What's wrong? Is something broken?
Just overheated.
The shock absorber looks busted too. Just my rotten luck.
Sheesh, where did he run off to?
Gwang-nam!
Huh?
Gwang-nam!
Darn kid!
Gwang-nam!
Gwang-nam! Gwang-nam!
- Gwang-nam! - Dad, I'm right here.
Dad! I caught a river snail!
Darn it, you brat!
Who told you to find a snail? You idiot!
Rotten kid!
Mommy!
Shut up! Shut up!
That no good woman! Dying so early like that...
Shut it!
Quiet! Stop crying!
Stay in there!
Huh? Where in the world did his shoes go?
Just tell him to stay at the hospital. Why take him with you and ask for trouble?
He can't just stay in one place.
He always runs around causing trouble everywhere.
Everyone gives him the glare now.
Except you, Nurse Lee.
You are on your way to Maepo, right?
Load the scooter in the back, and sit with Gwang-nam.
We can go back together.
Sun-nyeo.
We may meet again, somewhere, in some form.
In the swell of the blue water of Gomnaru,
I see your face, pure and fragrant with the smell of prayer beads.
I see your eyes, so dark and faultless.
Over the blue water General Nokdu crossed, all tied up,
I paddle my oars, carrying your face.
Please open the door! A person is dying!
Hurry and open the door! Hurry!
Quick! Open it up! Hurry!
Hurry up and open it!
A person is dying!
Just hold on!
This the operation room.
Find someone with the right blood type and prepare for transfusion.
Open your fist now.
She had twins. Two girls.
Untying them must have been very hard on the mother.
Nurse Lee's blood and my own blood
are both in the mother's body now,
circulating the same vessels.
You could say that's a connection.
Oh gosh!
We were all just eating clams.
But then people began vomiting and having diarrhea and fever and whatnot.
And then they began falling unconscious!
We requested biopsy at the Health Ministry and are waiting for the results.
But from what I'm seeing, this is cholera without a doubt.
We should contact the authorities and organize a quarantine.
This is a public service announcement.
Any family with a person suffering from diarrhea,
please bring the patient directly to the village head's house.
I repeat...
Hello?
What?
How many are there?
All right.
- Hey, Mr. Song. - Yes?
Go to Yanghari. We got more patients there.
Yanghari?
Stand up, please.
Just give us two eggs.
No one is eating anything because everyone is sick to the stomach.
I can't eat right either.
Sheesh! I'm reaching my limit here.
Haven't slept a bit in four days. I can't do this anymore.
The engine is starting to give out.
The roads are so messy the tires are getting punctured everywhere.
Plus I have to drive around those men from the Health Ministry.
And new patients are still popping up from all over the place.
Gosh!
I told you to hold still.
The needle is popping out because you are moving your arm.
Mom! Dad is looking for you.
Mom! Dad is sick!
What is it? I'm busy right now.
It's an emergency.
You be careful too.
After carrying around so many patients,
I'm starting to get a little afraid.
It feels like those germs are crawling all over me.
I told them the clutch broke down in the ambulance.
That's why it's in the garage.
But I lied to them.
Are you insane?
Get up.
We got more patients in Dangpo. It's a complete chaos.
Get out there.
No. I'm scared.
What are you doing?
Sheesh!
Why, you!
Get up.
- Sorry I'm late. - Come! Sit!
- Sorry! - Hey! Here.
Thankfully, there was no casualty throughout the whole incident.
Everyone, thank you for your hard work!
Especially Ms. Lee and Mr. Song.
You two were really selfless out there.
To celebrate, how about both of you stand up and sing us a song?
Great!
In the spring breeze, the pink skirt flutters about.
Biting down on my shirt ribbon,
I walk on the Seonghwangdang Pass.
When the flowers bloom, we smile together.
When the flowers die, we cry together.
To our stern oath,
the spring passes away.
Bravo!
Monk Jin-seong!
Where have you been these days? We haven't heard from you in a while.
Master Eun-seon is in a critical state.
When she sees even a single falling leaf, she tells us to look out the window.
She is waiting for you.
Jin-seong has returned.
So why is it that Bodhidharma
has no beard on his face?
All you did was imitating the great monks
or some senior monks, I suspect.
You must perform real work.
Open the door.
It's just a tourist.
Why are you burning those books?
The knowledge of the secular world is nothing but distraction to my training.
Us monks have one theme in our minds.
We ask, "what is this?"
In order to answer the question of what something is,
we must empty our minds.
However, those who claim to be educated try to explain everything using
approaches such as physics, chemistry, or anthropology.
It was a fatal flaw.
That's the conclusion I reached from three years of training in a cave.
Monk Jin-seong.
I became a wanted man after I wrote an article criticizing the current dictatorship.
On this divided peninsula, I couldn't find a single place to hide myself in.
I sought you out as the last resort.
Is there any way you can help me?
If it's a problem like that,
I'll talk to the head monk about it.
No, you can't do that.
No one else must know about my identity.
All my previous ties.
Everything from the secular world. I must leave them all behind.
As a training monk, this is a crisis of the soul.
Please understand.
Mister!
Monk Jin-seong sent me.
Go to the address below and ask for help.
My secular name is Min Hye-yeong.
Mokpo-si, Yeon-dong 156-2, Min Ki-taek.
Look outside.
She is back.
Who is it?
Sun-nyeo is here.
Yes, yes...
Your spirit that stayed here
and your body that wandered the secular world.
Between those two, which one is the real you?
I knew she would return here some day.
Please allow her to live here,
even if it means doing menial tasks in a corner somewhere.
Observe her yourselves. Be it five years,
or even ten years. Then judge for yourselves
whether to shave her head again or not.
Then you may cast her out again...
Following the laws
and living by them isn't everything.
Master.
We understand your wishes.
Please refrain from speaking, and calm yourself.
Even as one rolls around in the lowest of pits,
one may reach a great realization.
Like a lotus flower that blooms from a muddy puddle.
Rest assured.
We'll consult with the senior monks
and make sure your request is approved.
Elder...
I'm counting on you...
I understand.
Don't you worry about anything.
Just focus on reaching the nirvana.
Jin-seong.
Yes, master.
Hyo-jeong.
Yes, master.
When I'm gone, take care of everything quietly.
Also,
after the cremation,
don't be looking for sarira.
Leave no traces.
Not even a tombstone.
You should wait outside.
Go outside.
Step aside, please.
Please stay down the stairs.
We don't need any help here.
You filthy wench. Where do you think you are?
Get out of here!
Master.
My spirit that remained with you
and my body that travelled the land.
Neither of them was my true self.
Only when both have joined under a single robe,
I can call it my true self. I realized this too late.
But still...
I do not know how I can fuse the two under one robe.
Master.
Please grant me strength.
Looking for sarira?
What will you do with something so meaningless?
I'll grind these bones into a thousand pieces.
And at every place I stay
I'll put a piece in a stone pillar.
To every heart in this world, these will be a source of light.
I'll build a thousand of such pillars.
What a sad delusion.
Without having a delusion of my own,
how can I hope to save those trapped in their own delusion?
To a person who cannot sleep, the night is long.
To a person who is tired, the road stretches far.
To a foolish person ignorant of the right path
the journey of life and death is long and arduous.
The End