So those disturbing flames of Hell
are really flames of virtual reality?’
Wonhyo* turned to ask after typing on the keyboard
and the Buddha at once replied:
‘Where is there any flame?’
Next, Wonhyo turned toward Jesus
who immediately whispered:
‘Hell is a life where this world’s relationships totally break up,
breaking one after another with even the very thought.’
‘What happens after that?’
‘You’ll have to wait and see where it leads!’
‘So the life beyond also happens in time.’
‘Right. Time too exists in time.’
*Wonhyo was a Buddhist monk in the Silla Dynasty. He is considered one of
the most eminent scholar-monks in Korean history.
HWANG Tong gyu (b. 1938) was born in Seoul, studied and taught English Literature at Seoul National University. His poetry collections include A Clear Day (1961), Snow Falling in Samnam (1975), When I See a Wheel, I Want to Make It Roll (1978), A Journey to Morundae (1991), Wind Burial (1995), A Love Song, Berkeley Style (2000), There Was the Moments When I Depended on Coincidence (2003), Silence of Flowers (2006) and 00:05, Winter Night (2009). He is the recipient of numerous honors, including Korean Literature Award (1980), Isan Literature Prize (1991), and Midang Literature Prize (2002), etc. His poetry, describing new awareness attained in the process of continual opening to the outer world and sincere conversation with the self, has always invited readers to participate in the process of awakening.
