For World Peace The Second Annual Contest of the Earth Peace Festival: “Essays” and “Artwork” > 공지사항

For World Peace The Second Annual Contest of the Earth Peace Festival: “Essays” and “Artwork”

It is our greatest wish to share myriad messages of love and hope, so we may achieve peacein our world.In support of that goal, we areconstructing“the Great Pagodas for Peace,” as well as holding this contest for essays and artwork. We look forward to the enthusiastic participation of many children who love peace around the world.

·         Topics

a.       Love, Peace, and Happiness

b.      A Mind of Understanding, Forgiveness, Thoughtfulness, and Kind-heartedness

c.       Love for Nature; Love for Earth; Anything Related to World Peace

d.      The Ways to Develop Character, The Importance of Character

e.       Topics related to major themes in educating youngRahula

·         Categories: Essays and artwork

·         Eligibility: kindergarteners and elementary schoolers from domestic or international schools (all nationalities).

·         Submission Period: May 1^st ~ August 31^st, 2023

·         Results: The results will be announced on Saturday, September 23^rd, 2023 on the homepage (www.peacep.net).

·         Awards: The awards will be given on Saturday, September 23^rd, 2023 at 1 P.M. at the future site of the Great Pagodas of World Peace, in the temple Yukjijangsa in Yangju City.

·         DetailedCategories

Essay Read the story of young Rahula below, and write an essay in response. Format: MS Word document, font: Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced
Kindergarten	Free format
Elementary	200 to 400 words (maximum: twosheets of A4 paper)
Artwork Place your application in an envelopealong with the artwork and send it by post.
Kindergarten	free format (paper size: A2 or A3)
Elementary	free format (paper size: A2)

 

 

·         Awardswill be presented by the President of Dongguk University, the Superintendents of the Office of Education (provincial and city officials), the President of the Federation of Arts and Culture Organization of Korea, and other officials. (Subject to change)

a.       One Grand-Prize Winner (the President of the Federation of Arts and Culture Organization of Korea, award of 1,000,000 KRW)

b.      TwoGrand-Prize Winners for Each Category (the President of Dongguk University, award of 300,000 KRW each)

c.       FourAwards for theFirst-Prize Winnersin Each Category(the Superintendents of the Office of Education [provincial and city officials], award of 200,000 KRW each)

d.      Eight Winners of Awards of Excellencein Each Category(the Superintendents of the Office of Education [provincial and city officials], award of 100,000 KRW each)

e.       Ten Honorable Mentionsfor Each Category (Contest Catalogue)

f.       Thirty Awards of Recognitionfor Each Category (Contest Catalogue)

 

·         Submission Documents

Send the application, the consent agreement, and an entry submission (www.peacep.net).

 

·         Submission Methods

a)      Essay: Submissions must be written in English.One copy, written in MS Office Word format,must be attached to the email submission,and one must be printed on A4 paper andsent by post.

b)      Artwork: Submissions must be on A2 or A3 paper, and sent by post.

**Address:              190 Gisan-ro, 471-gil, Baekseok-eup,

Yangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, 11518Republic of Korea

Tel: (031) 871-0101; (02) 352-6406

 

● Inquiries:                   

a)      Homepage:        www.peacep.net

b)      Contact:            Woohyun Kim

                                        Office (02) 352-6406, (031) 871- 0101

                                        Cell-phone: (010)6349-9952

                                        Email:yuk354@gmail.com

 

·         Host/Organizer

Host: The Promotion Committee of the Great Pagodas of World Peace

Organizer: The Steering Committee of the Great Pagodas of World Peace

Sponsors: Dongguk University,the Gyeonggi-do Provincial Government, and the Gyeonggi-do Office of Education

 

 

Rahula, the Rascal

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Rahula. He wasn’t interested in studying. He often made fun of others and told lies that hurt other people. He was a reallymischievous boy, who swore and even bullied others.

Rahula was the one and only son of Sakyamuni Buddha. Rahula was born before his father renounced, or gave up, his old life. As the grandson of the king, he was everyone’s favorite ever since he was born. Everyone loved and paid attention to him while he was growing up. A few years aftergiving up his princehood,his father visited the palace in his hometown,Kapila. While he was visiting, the compassionate Lady Yasodahara, Rahula’s mother, spoke to her son, saying, “Go and ask your father to give you your inheritance.”

Upon hearing the request, the Buddha grinned and responded, “I shall pass ona precious inheritance to you. There is no precious gift as valuable as renunciation, giving up your worldly desiresin order to reach spiritual enlightenment.”

After hearing this, Rahula gave up his princehoodand decided to become a monk, like his father. Among the monks, he was the youngest of all. However, he followed nobody and only cared about himself. Around the palace, he was still the proud prince. Though he was the only son of the Buddha,who was respected by all, he himself was indifferent to others, cared for nobody, and did whatever he felt like doing. He was lazy, wasting his time, but worse than that, he got into all kinds of trouble.

So, the headaches he created for others got worse and worse.One day, the Buddha told Rahula to go to the home of a man named Hyunjae, where there were many people cultivating their minds. No matter what his parents tried, Rahula was not even close to fixing his awful behavior.So finally, the Buddha came to visit his son.

During the time of the Buddha, a common custom was to wash the teacher’s feet. Naturally, when the Buddha came to visit Rahula, he also washed his teacher’s feet in a basin of water. Then, the Buddha asked Rahula, “Dear Rahula, look at the water that you just used to washed my feet. Can you drink this water?”

Rahula shook his head, refusing, “How can I drink such dirty water? This water needs to be thrown away.” Then, the Buddha explained, “You are correct. The dirty water can’t be used again. It’s just like you! Even though you are my student,werebornin a high position in the Palace of Kapila, and abandoned your comfortable life, your mind is like dirty water. It is filled with three poisons: greed, anger, and foolishness.”

After watching him for a whilewith a compassionate and solemn face, the Buddha told Rahula to go and get rid of the water, and bring back the empty basin. When Rahula came back with the empty basin, the Buddha asked him again, “Now the basin is empty, so can you put some food in there?” 

“No, Buddha. We should not put any food into this basin. It is still dirty because we used it to wash people’s feet,” replied Rahula.

The Buddha responded, “You’re right again. Although you left your comfortable home and became a monk, your thoughts are still raw. Your words are empty, lacking sincerity, and you procrastinate, lazily avoiding your practiceeven now. That’s why you can’t hold any food ina dirty basin like yours, where you just washed someone’s feet.”

Afterwards, the Buddha gave the basin a real, loud kick. Once again, the Buddha asked the startled Rahula, “Dear Rahula, by any chance, were you afraid that I was going to break the basin?” Rahula replied, “Not at all! It’s only a basin for washing feet, which is quite cheap.”

Then, the Buddha firmly declared, “Rahula, you are correct. You are like this basin. Your body acts mindlessly and your mouth spits out swears and curses. Most people don’t even care about you, let alone like you. If you continue your ways, not only will you nevergrow up to be a great monk, but also you might end up paying for your bad karma, being reborn as a hungry ghost or an animal.

Rather than criticizing young Rahula, the Buddha used the waterin the basin, dirty from washing feet, to teach his son at the right time. Afterwards, Rahulabegan to cultivate his mind diligently and finally reached the high state of arhat, the state of enlightenment. As one of the ten disciples of the Buddha, he carried out good deedsmore often than anyone else, without telling others. So, he was praised as Arhat Rahula, “the Foremost in Esoteric Practices.”