"A Human, Not a God: The Revolutionary Thinker Who Sparked a Quiet Rebellion"
In The Buddha-A True Revolutionary, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim, known for his Dharma Q&As invites us to reflect through the life of the Buddha: “Why have we stopped asking questions? Why have we ceased to think deeply?”
This book does not portray the Buddha merely as a mediator or a religious symbol. The Buddha confronted suffering head-on, attained enlightenment, challenged the social structures of his time, and brought changes through his actions. He allowed women to be ordained, built a community without class distinctions, and changed the world through critical thinking.
In this book, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim strips away the myths surrounding the Buddha and portrays him as a practitioner, a thinker, and an activist. Retelling the Buddha’s life in today’s language, the book ultimately asks us, living in the present, a profound question: "After enlightenment, what will you do?"
The Buddha said that anyone who attains enlightenment like he did can become a Buddha. We perceive only as much as we know and understand only as much as we perceive. Thus, before discussing abstract ideas beyond our grasp, we must first understand the Buddha as a human being and a practitioner within the three-dimensional world we live in.
From this perspective, Ven. Pomnyun Sunim reveals the Buddha as a revolutionary. It is easy to accept that the Buddha’s life was revolutionary, both personally and socially: Despite his position as a prince that guaranteed a comfortable life, he suffered from existential suffering. He eventually left home to live as an ascetic, subsisting on alms and sleeping under the open sky. He explored every path without hesitation to attain enlightenment, including six years of extreme asceticism. Ultimately, he attained enlightenment and became the Buddha.
The Buddha"s subsequent social revolution truly transcends his era. The society of the Buddha"s disciples and practitioners evokes the ideal democratic society we strive for today but have yet to perfect. His teachings to the people likewise embodied social engagement as a natural extension of enlightenment. Considering the rigid caste and monarchical systems of ancient India, the very existence of such a community was nothing short of a revolution. Perhaps it was only possible because of the Buddha.
Ven. Pomnyun Sunim says that it was his discovery of the "revolutionary Buddha" that caused him to turn back from abandoning his path as a monk. Disillusioned with the reality of institutional Buddhism, he almost walked away, but the Buddha’s revolutionary spirit reignited his commitment.
In The Buddha-A True Revolutionary, presents Ven. Pomnyun Sunim’s complete account of the Buddha’s life, from birth to parinirvana. Without relying on mythical elements, it sheds light on the Buddha as a human being and a practitioner who lived within the historical realities of India 2,600 years ago.
Anyone who reads this book will surely discover the revolutionary spirit in the Buddha’s life. Meeting him again in the context of our times, readers will be inspired to ask: What teachings would the Buddha offer to awaken and transform us in the face of today’s challenges of climate crisis, the threat of war, widening inequality, rampant materialism and consumerism, and rising collective selfishness?
