Living and Dying Well: Cross-Cultural Listening to the Ancient Korean Buddhist Mind-Conversion Song

Chan E. Park

Every society has its share of destruction and deconstruction, and ancient Korean society was no exception. The ancient Koreans promoted the ideal of living and dying well through the teachings of Buddha and other enlightened ones. Hoesimgok, the "mind-conversion" song, attributed to Master San of the 18th century, is a popularized Buddhist sutra that teaches ordinary people to follow the right path throughout life into the afterlife. A monk standing at the gate of a household would sing the long narrative, accompanied by a small gong. The lyrics described birth, growth, sickness, death, the journey to the other world, and the final judgment of merit and demerit. During the latter part of the 20th century, the song became detached from its traditional living context as Korea quickly urbanized. In this decontextualized form, the song entered the list of surviving national folklore phenomena that were preserved and showcased on stage.

The massive process of Westernization in the 20th century brought Christian ideologies and ritual practices into urban centers throughout Korea. These ideologies and practices came to be regarded as synonymous with modernity and cultural, economical, and technological superiority. Perhaps this is why Koreans, especially the younger generation, have become much more familiar with Christian hymns than the traditional Hoesimgok. Buddhist temples that have existed in Korea for 1700 years seem to have been eclipsed by modern Korean ways, preserved only as fengsui-favorable mountain sites for tourists seeking quiet meditation and lofty ideals when they need them. From a lay perspective, the teachings of Buddha offer healthy alternatives to address many global philosophical, environmental, and geophysical problems. Can Korean Buddhism provide sanctuary and leadership for the environmental health of the world today? Here I present the translated text and recorded music of Hoesimgok in hopes of inspiring our own mind conversion and meaning for living and dying well.