프리미어리그의 인종차별은 비단 과거의 이야기만이 아니다. 현재 프리미어리그는 인종차별에 반대하는 의미로 경기가 시작할 때마다 전 선수들이 한쪽 무릎을 꿇는 ‘블랙 라이브 매터스(BLM) 캠페인’을 진행 중이다. 하지만 잊을만하면 경기장 안팎에선 인종차별 사건이 발생한다. 손흥민(토트넘)을 향해 ‘DVD나 팔아라’ 같은 아시아인을 비하하는 표현을 쓰는 극성팬들도 있었다. 일부 선수는 ‘의미없다’며 BLM 캠페인 참여를 아예 거부하고 있다.

이런 상황에서 박지성의 소신발언은 적잖은 용기가 필요했을 것이다. 오랜 시간 자신을 응원해준 팬들에게 각성을 촉구하는 일이기 때문이다. 실제로 그는 “팬들이 (응원가를) 만들어줬다는 사실은 여전히 자랑스럽다”면서도 “한국인들이 특정 부분에 대해 불편함을 느낄 것이다. 유럽에 진출한 어린 한국 선수들에게도 미안함을 느낀다”고 밝혔다. 그가 보여준 선배의 품격과 용기에 박수를 보낸다.

언젠가 나보다 열 살 위의 평생토록 도道 닦다 돌아가신 내 둘째 형님께서 서울에 있는 조계사에 들러 청담 스님과 여러 가지 토론을 하셨다고 한다. 한참 열띤 토론 끝에 더 이상 말로 이야기가 될 수 없자 형님이 한 스님보고 수고스럽지만, 뒷간에 가서 똥물 한 바가지만 퍼 갖다 달라 하시고는 바가지에 담긴 똥물을 천천히 쭈욱 들이키셨단다.

모르긴 해도 그 자리에 있던 스님들은 하나 같이 옛날에 원효대사께서 해골바가지에 고인 빗물을 마시고 크게 깨달음을 얻으셨다는 일화를 생각하게 되었으리라. 윌리엄 세익스피어가 ‘선도 악도 없다. 사람의 생각이 선도 악도 만든다’고 했다는 것처럼 형님도 세상에 깨끗한 것도 더러운 것도 없다는 것을 말 대신 행동으로 역설하신 모양이다.

그러고 보면 세상에 절대적인 선도 악도 없는데 사람이 제멋대로, 편리한 대로, 형편 따라, 선이니, 악이니 하며 아전인수식으로 억지 부리고 우겨 온 것 같다.

특히 서양의 기독교에서 악마니 천사니, 흑이니 백이니, 선민이니 이방인이니, 기독교 신자가 아니면 죄다 구원받지 못하고 영원히 저주받을 이교도로 낙인찍는가 하면, 하나님이 인간을 위한 제물로 다른 동물과 자연 만물을 창조하셨다느니, 정말 말도 안 되는 천하의 얌체 같은 소리를 벌써 몇천 년째 해오고 있지 않은가?

기독교인들이 식탁에 앉아 일용할 양식을 주셨다고 하나님이나 주님께 감사 기도할 때 식탁에 오른 제물들 입장에서 보면 이 얼마나 가증스러울까. 이는 마치 해적이나 강도, 강간범들이 실컷 노략질, 강도질, 계집질해 놓고 저희들 운수 좋았다고 저희들이 섬기는 귀신한테 고사 지내는 것과 같지 않을까.

어디 그뿐이랴. 서양 사람들이 예수의 상징이란 양고기를 즐겨 먹으면서 동양 사람들이 개고기 먹는다고 야만인이니 동물 학대니 떠들어대는 것이나, 저희들이 믿는 것은 종교요 신앙이고, 다른 사람들이 믿는 건 사교邪敎나 미신迷信이라 하는 것은 어불성설 語不成說이다.

프랑스 작가 빅토르 위고가 쓴 ‘레미제라블’의 주인공 장발장같이 배고파 빵 한 쪽 훔쳐 먹어도 벌 받는 세상에 전 세계 땅덩어리를 거의 다 훔치고 약탈하며 천하의 못된 짓을 다 해 온 자들이 대속代贖한다는 예수의 피로 속죄贖罪 받아 지옥에 안 가고 천당 가겠다는 발상부터가 너무너무 뻔뻔하고 가소로운 서양 사람 기독교인들의 ‘육갑’ 아닌가.

그보다는 우리 동양의 음양오행설陰陽五行說의 이치가 훨씬 더 자연스럽고 무리가 없는 것 같다. 어두운 밤은 밤이고, 밝은 낮은 낮이지, 어떻게 어둠은 악이고 빛은 선이라 할 수 있으며, 산은 높아 좋고 계곡은 낮아 나쁘다 할 수가 있나. 그래서 하늘 천天 자字, 천국이니 땅 지地 자字 지옥이란 말이 생겼는지 몰라도, 남자는 선이고 여자는 악이란 말인가? 세상에 어둠이 없으면 빛도 있을 수 없고, 여자가 없으면 남자도 있을 수 없지 않은가.

둘이 서로 보완하고 서로에게 절대불가결絶對不可缺인 동전의 양면격인데, 어쩌자고 이쪽 아니면 저쪽, 나 아니면 남, 백이 아니면 흑이라 하는가? 어런 유치무쌍幼稚無雙한 억지놀음인 ‘서양유갑’에 ‘골빈당’처럼 맞장구치지 말고 우리 동양 고유의 ‘육십갑자六十甲子’ 떠는 것이 천만, 억만 배 낫지 않을까.

그리고 고양이가 쥐 사랑하듯 이웃을 사랑하는 대신 이웃을 존중해 줄 수 있으면 얼마나 좋을까? 기독교에서는 하나님의 형상대로 사람이 창조되었다고 하지만, 내 생각에는 인간, 특히 서양의 백인, 그중에서도 유대인들이 저희들 형상대로 저희들 하나님 여호와를 만든 것이 분명하다. 저들, 서양의 단군신화를….

어디 또 그뿐이랴. 우리 가운데 가장 천대받는 사람으로 창녀가 있다. 하지만 그런 창녀조차도 예수의 처나 벗이 아니었나? 신약성서 누가복음에 나오는 막달라 마리아 말이다. 동서고금을 통해 저지른 필설로 다 형언할 수 없는 잔악무도하고 천인공노할 남성들의 ‘마녀사냥’과 온갖 만행蠻行이 정복이니 승리니 하는 영광된 훈장으로 장식되어 왔다.

창녀는 몸을 판다기보다 몸으로 서비스를 제공한다. 창녀의 서비스는 다른 많은 직업적인 서비스보다 솔직하다. 눈 가리고 야옹 하지 않는다. 그리고 자선적이고 자비롭기까지 하다. 예를 들어 직업적인 날강도, 날도둑, 날사기꾼이라 할 수 있는 일부 정치인, 실업인, 종교인이 부리는 농간에 비하면 말이다.

파는 것으로 말할 것 같으면 창녀나 장사꾼만이 아니다. 우리 모두가 좋든 싫든 뭔가를 다 팔아먹고 산다. 육체노동이든 정신노동이든 감정노동이든 노동을 파는 자가 노동자라면 예술을 파는 자가 예술인이고, 법률지식이나 의료기술을 파는 자가 변호사나 의사라면, 하나님이나 귀신 또는 성인, 성자, 예수, 석가모니 등의 권능과 이름을 파는 기도 장사꾼이 종교인이라고 할 수 있지 않을까.

어디 이름뿐이랴. 기독교와 천주교에서는 성찬식으로 예수의 살과 피를 상징한다는 빵과 포도주를 나누지 않는가? 그렇다면 예수야말로 인류의 대속代贖을 위해서이든 아니면 그의 과대망상증에서이든 또는 예수 자신의 꿈보다는 기독교인들의 이기적인 ‘해몽解夢’이든 간에 어떻든 제 몸을 그 누구보다 더 많은 사람들에게 더 오래도록 팔아 온 남창男娼 중에 남창이라고 할 수도 있지 않을까.

우리 생각 좀 해보면 단군 할아버지와 곰할머니의 후손이든, 아니면 아담과 이브의 자손이든, 또는 닭의 알에서 태어났다는 신라 태조 박혁거세의 후예이든, 동정녀童貞女 마리아에게서 태어났다는 예수의 제자들이든, 그 어떻든 간에, 우리 모두 따져 보면 다 일종의 창녀나 남창들이 아닌가.

다만 우리 보통 사람들은 그 속 살과 피(붉은 피든 흰 피든 간에)만 즐기는데 성인聖人/性人 도사導師/道士들은 그 껍데기 털까지 좋아하나 보다. 예수는 눈물로 그 발을 적시고 자기 머리털로 씻고 그 발에 입 맞추고 향유를 부은 막달라 마리아의 죄罪(?)를 용서 사赦하여 주었다 했고, 한때 우리 사회에 물의를 일으켰던 용화교龍華敎 교주敎主 서백일 徐白日(본명은 서한춘 徐漢春 1888년 또는 1893년-1966)은 수많은 여신도들을 농락 겁탈하고 그들로부터 뽑은 음모陰毛로 만든 음모방석陰毛 方席을 즐겨 깔고 앉았었다 하지 않는가!

서두에 언급한 나의 도道 닦던 형님 이야기와 우리 모든 코스미안의 분신分身이자 soulmate인 어레인보Arainbow와의 (가상假想) 대화 일부를 지난 2019년 가을 영문으로 출간된 우생愚生의 졸저拙著 ‘Cosmian’ By Lee Tae-Sang (AUSTIN MACAULEY PUBLISHERS, LONDON, CAMBRIDGE, NEW YORK, SHARJAH)에서 발췌해 아래와 같이 옮겨 본다.

I might tell you, Arainbow, about another weird dream I had about my brother Myung-Sang, who was ten years older than me.

Again, while we were living in England, in my dream one night he came and went without saying much as usual. The next day, I got the news that he passed away. It must have been a ‘goodbye’ from him in my dream.

Myung-Sang dropped out of school in his adolescence and went on a life-long journey, seeking after ‘the way’ or ‘the truth,’ whatever it might mean.

From then on, he was never concerned what to wear, what to eat, or how to make a living. He wandered around the country, always on foot, visiting different spiritual teachers and reading books about different philosophies and religions of the world. He stayed in caves of the mountains, for days, meditating and nibbling uncooked grains and pine nuts.

Like a tramp, he was dressed in rags with his hair grown long, a disgrace to his family. To his widowed mother, he was simply a crazy and lazy bum, irresponsible to no end but not quite irredeemable. So she got him married so that he could have a family and wake up to reality on earth, off from his highfalutin mumbo jumbo, once and for all. But it was no avail, and he was a vagabond all the same, spreading words of love and peace.

Although he was written off as good-for-nothing bum by his family, he was regarded by some people as a guru and a healer. He was even credited for having cured some in-curable, by prescribing herbal medicine, such as pine needles brewed in honeyed water for coughing, asthma, pneumonia, and tuberculosis. But he was saying that what- ever he suggested worked only for those who believed in its efficacy, and that our body has the built-in self-healing mechanism.

Although he was deemed and dismissed as insane, I was curious about what he was saying about many things, especially about ‘chukjibop’-축지법 in Korean alphabet and 縮地法 in Chinese characters-‘a method of making a long distance close in by the magic of contracting space.’

One day, I asked him how I could do it. He took me to a small brook. Holding his hand as I walked backward from the water, the width of the stream grew narrower to the point of appearing to be a silvery line. Then I was told to run toward the edge of the water, and then to jump. He forewarned me that as I came closer to the water, its width would look wider.

“Don’t look at the widening stream of water. If you just fix the image of that silvery line in your mind and focus on it, you can easily jump over the brook.”

Once he was debating metaphysical issues with top-ranking Buddhist monks at Jogyesa, the head temple of Korea. When they got to the point beyond which they couldn’t discuss further with words, he politely asked one of the monks to fetch a gourd-full of night soil from the outhouses. When his request was obliged, he swallowed it to the last drop. All those Buddhists were reminded of the well-known episode of Wonhyo, I was told later by one of these monks who had participated in the debate.

The story ‘Water in a Skull’ goes like this:

About fourteen hundred years ago, there was a famous monk named Wonhyo (617-686) in Korea. He thought he would become a better monk if he went to China to attain more knowledge about Buddhism. He embarked on a long journey with his fellow seeker/student, Euisang.

He continued his journey on foot and, one day, he was passing through one region in Baekje (one of the three kingdoms: Koguryo in the north, Baekje in the middle and Silla in the south of the peninsula). They faced heavy rain, so they sought some shelter. They took shelter in a very safe-looking cave and decided to stay the night inside the cave.

While he was sleeping, Wonhyo woke up and felt extremely thirsty. He was searching, in the darkness, for something to drink. He found water in a gourd and drank it without hesitation. The water was cool and refreshing, and quenched his thirst. He fell asleep again.

Next morning, Wonhyo and Euisang woke up and were frightened by the skulls scattered around them. The shelter they had spent one night in was not a cave but an old grave. Also, Wonhyo realized that the fresh water in the gourd that quenched his thirst was actually some stagnant water in a skull. The moment he realized this, he threw up.

Through this experience, Wonhyo attained a big enlighten-ment about how important one’s mind was. He then reflected and realized that he had been trying to become a good monk by attaining more knowledge about Buddhism. Wonhyo then cancelled his plan to study in China and relinquished his position as a monk. He became a laity again and reverentially devoted himself to meditation throughout his entire life. He gave inspiration to many laity.

Arainbow, don’t you think my brother Myung-Sang paraphrased by his action, not in words, what William Shakespeare said?

‘There is nothing either clean (good) or dirty (bad) but thinking makes it so?’

Arainbow, I should add that no matter how ill-treated by some people, I have never seen my brother Myung-Sang speak ill of anybody. I believe that he literally practiced all his life this famous phrase: “With malice toward to none, with charity for all,” as quoted from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address.

One thing I still cannot comprehend by any sense and wits is how he could have predicted the outbreak of the war exact-ly one year ahead of time. One day he came home to tell our mother to stock up some extra supply of provisions in preparation for the hard times to face. After dismissing his warning as a ‘madman talk,’ she nevertheless prepared just in case. We were surprised that it indeed did happen as he had prewarned. What would you say about this? Was it a kind of prophecy, or a case of clairvoyance?

Tae-Sang, you must understand, stand under, or underlook, look under, to realize there are much more than what’s audible, tangible, and visible to our senses. You may call them supernatural phenomena, but they are really and truly extra, or rather ultra-scheme of things. Mind you, there’s the first principle of the so-called General Semantics: Nobody knows everything about anything.

Arainbow, while clearing a blocked gutter under the edge of the roof of our house in a suburb of London, I found some- thing strange growing there. I couldn’t tell if they were plants or mineral deposits. They were hard, in the shape of tiny stars; strange objects of curiosity, wonder and mystery. I gave some of them to my children so that they could show them to their teachers and friends.

Whatever their substance might have been, I thought, they must have come to bear an uncanny resemblance to the stars. They were singing and whispering through the night and the day. It recalled a fairy tale of a hunchback Persian princess who became straight and tall by stretching herself daily in front of her straight-backed statue.

I had a sudden awakening to the natural phenomena common everywhere, in the air, on land and beneath the ocean, with sunflowers and starfish serving as constant reminders. We all know that sunflowers look for the sunlight. But what I didn’t know was that on a cloudy day, they looked at each other, looking for the energy they give one another, standing high and tall. How better it would be, if humans could do the same!

One summer day, years ago, my family vacationed in the Caribbean. Early one morning, I went out for a walk on the shore. It just so happened that I spotted a tropical fish jumping up and down, unable to return to the water after the ebb tide. I quickly scooped the fish up in my two hands formed into a bowl and let it go back to the sea. The next morning, I found a beautiful conch shell at the same spot where I‘d rescued the fish. To me, the conch shell seemed to be a ‘thank-you gift’ from the fish.

As someone said, ‘to be certain about anything in life was the privilege of a fool, because there was only one thing to be certain about: that there was nothing to be certain of.’

What decided how you started in life and how you developed? Was it happenstance or heavenly providence? Be that as it may, there is no denying that you are a product of birth (love-making, that is, isn’t it?) and circumstance. If you were eagle-born, how could you laugh at a snail for being so low and slow? It might have been possible that the snail dying to be an eagle became a frog after trying so hard for so long, just as animals wishing to be godlike developed into humans.

Yes, Arainbow, there’s our ‘froglike’ self-portrait. I can’t recall whether I saw this lyrically unflattering and un-grammatical portrait, drawn by somebody, of humans from the swamplands in a dream or in my waking hours:

What a wonderful bird

The frog are!

When he stand, he sits

Almost.

When he hops he fly almost.

He ain’t got no sense hardly,

He ain’t got no tail hardly,

Either.

When he sit, he sit on what

He ain’t got, almost.

Arainbow, when I first read this famous poem “The Rainbow” (1802) as a boy, I felt my own soliloquy was voiced by a kindred spirit by the name of William Wordsworth (1770-1850), the celebrated English poet laureate, about one hundred fifty years earlier.

My heart leaps up,

When I behold

A rainbow in the sky;

So was it when I was a Child

So is it now I am a Man

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is Father of the Man;

And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each

By natural piety.

Truth to tell, Arainbow, I wasn’t satisfied with this poem, just looking up to behold a rainbow in the sky. So I created you to be right on The Rainbow, ‘upgressing,’ or rather ascending on top of the Rainbow (of Love). Hence, you were born of me!

아울러 (아, 어서 모든 진짜 미신迷信과 우상偶像들을 타파하고 우리 모두 '하나님'으로 거듭나 아우르기 위해) 지난해 가을 영문으로 출간된 우생愚生의 졸저拙著 <COSMIAN PHAPSODY> By Lee Tae-Sang (Published in 2020 by AUSTIN MACAULEY PUBLISHERS, LONDON, CAMBRIDGE, NEW YORK, SHARJAH)에 실린 다음과 같은 공개 편지 'An Open Letter to Ms. Liane Moriarty'와 'How to Be Cosmian'을 사족蛇足, 아니 사족思足 또는 오족悟足으로 옮겨 보리라.

An Open Letter to Ms. Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author of <Big Lies>

Dear Ms. Liane Moriarty,

Reading your interview article with Ms. Belinda Luscombe of TIME, Nov. 26/Dec. 3, 2018, I'm prompted to take the liberty of writing this unsolicited open letter to you.

Please kindly understand my sincere intent to commiserate with all the poor souls including myself (in my early life), still imprisoned in the arbitrary dungeon of the Dark Age of the most inhuman and unnatural self-righteous religious dogma, full of falsehood and hypocrisy.

Asked in 10 Questions: “The main character in your new novel, <Nine Perfect Strangers,> is a genre fiction writer who gets little respect. Is she a mouthpiece for you?”

You answered: “A little bit. But I didn't want the book becoming a soapbox or preachy. But, of course, because this character was close to my heart, she has feelings that would be similar to mine.”

Further asked: “In some ways, <Nine Perfect Strangers> reminded me of the Stanford Prison Experiment, where 'inmates' did what they were told even when it seemed inhuman. Why do we do what we're told?”

You answered: “For this book, I read about Jonestown, so I did want to give that feeling of being in a cult. We're all basically obedient. I think that the desire to be someone new is so strong that it's easy to believe the most ridiculous things.”

Asked again: “This novel explores what people think about when they're facing death. Do you think that reflects your Catholic (uncatholic in this letter-writer's view) school education?”

You answered: “I don't like to analyze how much of myself goes into my books. The fact that little parts of myself might find their way into these books-it's mortifying, to be honest. But I definitely have that Catholic feeling of guilt; I feel guilty about my success. In the early days, I used to think, You're going to pay for this; something terrible will happen next. Nothing has yet. But if it does, I'll think, Well, there you go; you deserve it.”

Unlike, or rather in stark contrast to, the <Nine Perfect Strangers>, the 'Nine Ladies' of my book, <Cosmian>, published in 2019, I trust, will enlighten, inspire and uplift us all, originally blessed cosmically as ‘Cosmians Arainbow of Love.’

Sincerely,  

Lee Tae-Sang

How to Be Cosmian

Leftist or rightist, liberal or conservative, progressive or reactionary ideology; black or white racism; male or female sexism; right or wrong, good or bad judgment; the chosen or heathen, upper or lower class elitism; us or them mentality and mindset, etc.; all these divisive discriminations imprison us all earthlings, bound for self-destruction, forsaking the win-win solution, causing the current climate change and all sorts of other human-made calamities, catastrophes, conflicts, diseases, wars and what not.

If so, what would be more imperative and urgent than to be awakened to appreciate the magical and miraculous experience of being born arainbow of love through the union of our parents on this most beautiful and wonderful planet earth as brief sojourners to return to the Cosmos, to be aware of our true identity as Cosmians to share our common cosmic vision in living and loving during our short stay here on earth?

In order to come to this realization, every one of us has to be enlightened and inspired to learn that one is not separate from each other, being a microcosmos reflecting the macrocosmos, all that existed in the past, all that exists at present and all that will exist in the future. Thus we're all in it together, all on our separate, uplifting journeys to realize that loving someone or something is loving oneself and the whole of the Cosmos itself.

May each one of us be the Sea of Cosmos!

[이태상]

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