美国国家公共电台 NPR Monk Spreads Buddhist Philosophy With 140-Character Tweets

 

LAKSHMI SINGH, HOST:

It's a tale as old as Twitter. In a spare moment maybe in the elevator or at work or waiting in line at the grocery store, you open up a social media app on your phone and suddenly the floodgates are open, a deluge¹ of memes, news alerts, complaints, annoyances² - not exactly a place to find your zen, unless perhaps you've discovered Haemin Sunim's page. The Buddhist³ monk⁴ is a sensation in South Korea where his daily 140-character tweets promote peace and mindfulness on the otherwise hectic⁵ social media platform.

Haemin Sunim's tweets are available offline, too, in his book "The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down." South Korean book sales have taken off with his ideas in paperback⁶ as viral as his tweets. Now the books hit the U.S. market. Haemin Sunim is with me now from the Buddhist radio station in Seoul. Thank you for joining us.

HAEMIN SUNIM: Thank you.

SINGH: So this book is in part a collection of 140-character or less tweets, and they read almost like haikus. So can you share with us one of your tweets from this week?

SUNIM: OK. (Reading) Do only one thing at a time. When you walk, just enjoy walking. When you listen, really listen. You will become happier and more center.

SINGH: That's wonderful. We mention your Twitter account because this book is a collection of tweets - we know - but you also have a podcast, and you have a YouTube channel, a Facebook page. When did you first get the idea to bring Buddhist philosophy to social media?

SUNIM: Like about five or six years ago. I realized that it's very difficult to give a talk in front of, you know, 100 or 200 people. But I found it much easier by doing it online. People are holding onto their cell phone every day, so I tried that. And then little did I imagine that this will become a huge success.

SINGH: The word unplug - we've heard that a lot, and it's become sort of shorthand for mindfulness when you can just pick up a phone and instantly find out what's trending on the other side of the world, right? It's a distraction⁷ from living in the moment, right? So some might argue, Haemin, that social media and mindfulness are directly opposed to each other. I mean, what you've hit is a contradiction.

SUNIM: Right. I thought about it, too. You can also fight against the technology, but I realize that it's difficult to fight against technology. So rather than fighting it, why don't I provide better content?

SINGH: The first chapter in your book is "Rest." Was that intentional⁸?

SUNIM: Yes (laughter). Because we are living in a very unsettling and busy life nowadays, and we always feel pressured to produce. So I thought that maybe I can provide my readers a moment of reflections and meditations⁹.

SINGH: One of the portions of that chapter was really intriguing¹⁰. On page 41, the beginning of the chapter called "Befriend Your Emotions." Would you mind reading a bit of that for me?

SUNIM: OK. (Reading) Imagine that a strong negative emotion is like a mud swirling¹¹ inside a fish tank. To get the mud to sink to the bottom of the tank so that you can have a clear view of the fish, the last thing you want to do is submerging your hands in the muddy water and try to push the mud to the bottom. The more you try to push it down, the more you turn it up. Similarly, you know, attempt to control a negative emotion, you may try to push it down. Unfortunately, the harder you try, the more it resurfaces.

SINGH: How do we take that message? How do we put that into practice?

SUNIM: Well, you can certainly return to your breathing. And also when you are feeling angry or agitated¹² or frustrated¹³, rather than, you know, being lost in that emotion, see if you can become aware of the fact that you are agitated and you are angry. As soon as you are aware of it, you will notice that you are actually stepping outside the emotions and thereby¹⁴ you are not lost in them. So my - one of my core messages is that your mind has much more power and don't think that your mind is just powerless and just vulnerable.

SINGH: Your book was released here in the United States where the power of Twitter has become much more pronounced since it became sort of a go-to mode of communication for our current President Donald Trump¹⁵. How has this influenced your hopes or your expectations for the impact your work will have on a U.S. audience?

SUNIM: Well, I - to be honest, I don't know how it's going to impact. However, I hope that my message can bring some moment of calmness and reflections, especially in this very unsettling period of time. So that rather than we are lost in those messages, we can take a moment and then bring our attention to our inner side.

SINGH: I'm curious. Tell me about the people who've responded to your daily tweets. Can you give me one or two of your favorite stories most moving to you so far?

SUNIM: I still remember there was a woman who just lost her husband. It was a sudden death, I think, by car accident, and she didn't know what to do. And she was able to read some of my tweets. And she was able to find some moment of peace and calmness. And so she sent me a very heartfelt tweet message to me. And I feel very grateful because I didn't know my little message can have so much meaning to some people.

SINGH: Tell me, Haemin, how do you keep balance in your life between your online presence and your real life? What do you do on a daily basis?

SUNIM: Well, I try to practice mindfulness, and so whenever I feel agitated or unhappy and - you know, try to become aware of it. And also when I'm with friends or people around me, I try to really listen to what they're saying, and that's my - one of my main practice.

SINGH: Haemin Sunim. His book is called "The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down." Thank you.

SUNIM: Thank you.

1 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

2 annoyances   

n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事

参考例句：

• At dinner that evening two annoyances kept General Zaroff from perfect enjoyment one. 当天晚上吃饭时，有两件不称心的事令沙洛夫吃得不很香。 来自辞典例句
• Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances-don't we all? 事实上我有很多类似的小烦恼，我们不都有这种小烦恼吗？ 来自互联网

3 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

4 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

5 hectic   

adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的

参考例句：

• I spent a very hectic Sunday.我度过了一个忙乱的星期天。
• The two days we spent there were enjoyable but hectic.我们在那里度过的两天愉快但闹哄哄的。

6 paperback   

n.平装本，简装本

参考例句：

• A paperback edition is now available at bookshops.平装本现在在书店可以买到。
• Many books that are out of print are reissued in paperback form.许多绝版的书籍又以平装本形式重新出现。

7 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

8 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

9 meditations   

默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想

参考例句：

• Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉，打断你思考问题了。

10 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

12 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

13 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

15 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。