ABSTRACT
Why Has Bodhi-Dharma Left for the East (Dharmaga tongjoguro kan kkadalgun, Young-Kyun Bae, South Korea, 1989) contrasts secular family life with Buddhist renunciation in the mountains of Korea. It focuses on three monks of different ages: Haejin (Hae-Jin Huang), who is a young orphan monk; Kibong (Sin Won-Sop), a middle-aged monk; and Hyegok (Yi Pan-Yong), the old master of a remote monastery on Mount Chonan where the three live alone except for the animals and plants. The story follows Kibong, who struggles with his shaky resolve to remain on the mountain and attain awakening in face of his deep guilt over leaving his blind mother to fend for herself in the city below. The film opens with a lengthy scene of Kibong standing at a railroad crossing, having just left his mother. He stares ahead sadly as if at his life on the other side of the tracks. A train passes, and through the spaces between cars we see glimpses of his face, emblematic of his broken life and indecisive self. Out of focus in the foreground, the train signal flashes stop, ringing a warning. In the life story of the Buddha, the prince leaving home to discover the truth is known as the Great Departure. Crossing the train tracks will be Kibong’s great departure from secular life.
