Jogye Order: "Additional Will of Monk Jaseung Discovered... Seems to Have Been Thought Over for a Long Time"

"Seemingly Welcoming the World of Enlightenment on Their Own"

The will of Jaseung, the former Chief Executive of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, who passed away in a fire on the 29th of last month, has been additionally discovered.

Jinwoo Sunim, the current Chief Executive of the Jogye Order, stated on the 1st that several pages of Jaseung Sunim's will were found the previous day at Jaseung Sunim's residence.

On the morning of the 1st, monks visited the incense altar of Venerable Jaseung set up at the Daeungjeon Hall of Jogyesa Temple in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to pay their respects. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On that morning, Jinwoo Sunim made these remarks while welcoming Kim Gi-hyeon, leader of the People Power Party, and other mourners at the altar for Jaseung Sunim set up in the Daeungjeon Hall of Jogyesa Temple, the headquarters of the Jogye Order in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Jinwoo Sunim conveyed that Jaseung Sunim "always pursued the world of Jeongto, paradise, Nirvana, and enlightenment, so I believe he faced that moment by himself."

He added, "Based on various circumstances that have emerged so far, it seems to me that he had been contemplating this for a considerable period, and I think the timing was this moment."

Meanwhile, Jaseung Sunim was a senior official of the Jogye Order who served as the 33rd and 34th Chief Executive. Since the 1980s, he held key positions in the Executive Office, served as the Chair of the Central Council of the Jogye Order from 2006 to 2008, and was the 33rd and 34th Chief Executive from 2009 to 2017.

Even after retirement, he served as the head of the Sangwol Gyeolsa (霜月結社), president of the Buddhist Plaza, the legislative body of the Jogye Order, president of the Dongguk University Founding Committee, and head of Bongeunsa Temple, directing major decision-making processes of the Jogye Order.