From left: Venerable Seongcheol, Pastor Han Kyung-chik, Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan. [Photo=Yonhap News]

The 21st century can be called the era of AI. As what was applied in specialized fields becomes common and know-how in specific areas becomes generalized, social development is dazzling. On the other hand, social conflicts and divisions are reaching extremes.

History testifies. On the eve of the Imjin War, the factional strife that divided the nation into Eastern and Western factions and ignored the national defense crisis was a precursor to national calamity. Subsequently, the conflict between the Noron and Soron factions, and the confrontation between enlightenment and conservatism in the late Joseon Dynasty, were results of incompetence that focused on annihilating internal enemies without reading the tide of the times.

Academic purism and debates over legitimacy paralyzed the effectiveness of national management, and the division between the will to accept change and the stubbornness to adhere to tradition ultimately led to the harsh consequence of subjugation as a colony.

A community that forgets the lessons of history despite experiencing the unprecedented hardship of the Imjin War and becomes buried in the logic of factions must realize that it can be exposed defenselessly to foreseen disasters at any time.

Today's politics is like a forest emitting allelopathic substances that inhibit or kill the growth of surrounding plants. Hostile rhetoric and hatred directed at each other are becoming toxins that hinder the growth of the community and cause rivals to wither.

In this chaotic era, religious leaders should be 'spiritual breakwaters' protecting the world from the tsunami of money and power. However, it is lamentable that the reality is that an increasing number of 'irresponsible bystanders like hotel guests' who observe from a third-person perspective, without taking responsibility for the pain of the times, are emerging.

Therefore, we call again upon the great elders who illuminated the era. Seosandaesa, in his deathbed poem, said that the ten million human delusions (factional logic, factional strife) are all 'a speck of white snow on a red-hot brazier,' and Venerable Seongcheol, through his Nirvana Sutra, admonished himself by saying that even a lifetime of karma passes by Mount Sumeru (a giant mountain in the center of the Buddhist universe).

The severe scars of history, which testify that internal division was more fatal than foreign invasion, are casting a grave warning to us today, urging us to move towards reconciliation beyond factional logic.

At that time, Seosandaesa said in his deathbed poem that all ten million thoughts were 'a speck of white snow on a red-hot brazier.'

Furthermore, Venerable Seongcheol stated in his Nirvana Sutra, "For a lifetime, I have deceived men and women, accumulating sins that overflow the heavens, surpassing Mount Sumeru (the largest mountain in the center of the Buddhist universe)."

Pastor Han Kyung-chik, a towering figure in Protestantism, served in humble places throughout his life, shaming the divided world with his life of pure poverty, saying, "Nothing belongs to me – not my home, not my land, not my name."

Notably, upon receiving the Templeton Prize, he confessed, "I am a sinner who performed Shinto shrine worship," personally demonstrating that only genuine repentance and humility are the sole keys to dissolving conflict in this era of self-absorption in one's own righteousness.

Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan of the Catholic Church also served as a buffer zone for conflict during every period of upheaval in Korean society. Until the moment of his passing, he left behind the final resonance of "Thank you. Love one another," awakening in us, who are divided by ideology and factions, a reverence for human dignity.

His teaching, which emphasized "Be a fool," was the highest wisdom and the catalyst for integration that we must recover in this era of division where people lacerate each other with intelligent knowledge.

If Seosandaesa's 'a speck of snow on a red-hot brazier' and Venerable Seongcheol's 'Mount Sumeru' represent an aesthetic of emptiness that lets go of attachment, then Han Kyung-chik's 'humility' and Kim Sou-hwan's 'love' are the warmth of community that must fill that void.

In the 21st century, dominated by the cold technology of AI, the reason we must listen again to their voices is clear. While there are many who cry out for justice from the walls of their factions, benevolence and love that descend to humble places to fill the chasms of conflict have been depleted.

Faced with the grave warning cast by the scars of history, we must choose. Will we repeat the incompetence of the past and self-destruct, or will we embrace the legacy of integration left by these three elders and move towards a future of coexistence? We must not forget that true strength lies not in annihilating the opponent, but in the power of reconciliation that embraces differences and binds them into one.

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◆ Monk Eungcheon

President, Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism

First Commander, Monk Corps for National Defense