The generation of completion is the generation of subtracting the human mind

According to a recent poll, 6 out of 10 employees think their jobs are something they do only for money. However, ‘a job’ refers to all activities one does to achieve the precious values in one’s life; not just to maintain one’s life financially. There must be a job where one can devote his life out of a sense of duty, or for self-actualization, even though he may not earn much money.

However, having an ‘occupation’ to earn money is much more prioritized than a ‘vocation’ in the current society. As a result, many high-paid professionals are not sure what their goal in life is, although they are successful in society. They have spent most of the time in their life earning money, but they have not had a chance to think about what they truly value.

So let’s put aside money and think about which job will fulfill your values. If you did not have to worry about money for the rest of your life, how would you want to live? You could travel, devote your time to helping others, or you could live a simple life in the country writing and farming. Or, you may find out that your current job is your vocation.

You may still have to work in a different field other than your ‘true job’, because it may be difficult to manage life by only working at the ‘true job’. However, it will still make a great difference when you start to earn money and plan your life for your ‘true job’, your true vocation. Your internal values and physical outcome will be in harmony, and you will be able to live your life pursuing what you value.

                                If You Disconnect the Link between Money and Occupation…

1. You will have a broader choice of jobs.

If you consider money-making work separately from the vocation that fulfills your values, you can arrange and use time much more freely. For example, you can work for money as a janitor during the daytime and work as a playwright at night;, or you could work at a convenience store for six months, then work as a disaster relief volunteer for the next six months. This will enable you to focus your time on the work you truly want to do.

2. You start to respect unpaid work.

When money and work are not related, you may realize the importance of a job is irrelevant to a high income. Look back at whether you considered taking care of a baby, or working as a volunteer disturbed your work; or whether you disrespected housewives who work without pay. Inexperience or unemployed people are not incompetent. In fact, those who perform unpaid work such as housework or work involving human relations tend to be very creative, respectful and focused.

3. You can enjoy your job like a hobby.

The only difference between a job and a hobby is whether or not you receive a salary. Except for that, a job involves everything (such as competition, cooperation, concentration, technique and satisfaction) just as a hobby does. If you consider your work as a hobby, you will enjoy it more. This way, you can have fun and as a bonus get paid at the end of a month too.

4. Your life after retirement becomes more energetic.

If you relate retirement to negative words which remind you of the end of life, such as “incapability” or ”separation”, it is because you consider one’s financial capability as the measure of success. Yet retirement means retirement from salaried work. Just as you still have your value and talent even though you are not paid, the ‘true work’ continues as long as your life continues. Retirement is not as bad as you think. Look at retirement as a new start where you can spend more time doing what you want.

Reference Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez.

[Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence]. Penguin

When I was a college student, I had to take flights a number of times every year because I studied in China, but flying in an airplane was my greatest fear. The minute the front wheels of the plane left the ground, my hands and feet grew cold and my whole body broke into a cold sweat.

A few years later, my sister got married and moved to the USA. Whenever I visited her, I was overwhelmed with apprehension for the ten long hours of the flight. Later, even looking at an airplane gave me a fright, and at last I gave up going abroad at all.

The following year I started Maum Meditation. A guide at the center said ‘we take pictures with our eyes, ears, nose, mouth and our senses, and these pictures controls our every behavior and thoughts. As I heard that, I could see the cause of my phobia. In fact, I remember that I enjoyed flying until I was in high school. Then one day my cousin told me that his plane almost crashed while he was returning from a business trip.

“My plane was flying and it suddenly dropped for about three seconds. I almost died!” He vividly described his fear at the time. From that time on, I started to relate flying to a frightful ride on a rollercoaster, and my joyful plane trips changed to my greatest fear.

When I started Maum Meditation I finally found hope. ‘I could be changed.’ I discarded all pictures about airplanes in my mind, what I heard and saw, and even what I felt. When I was actually onboard, I continuously threw away the thought that ‘I am on an airplane’; and then I could stay calm as if I was just riding on a bus. My fear about death was another cause of the phobia. After I saw my father pass away from a stroke when I was seven years old, I began to think obsessively that the world is full of danger and I must not die. I discarded those pictures as well.

Now I can go anywhere and face any challenge. I am free of those invisible shackles which had bound me.

In my entire life I had never been confident. When I had something to say, the thought that I could be wrong kept me from speaking up. So I relied on alcohol.

As I grew older, life became very lonely and empty. I was not satisfied at all even though I had my own house and a beloved family. To fill this void, I called my friends to go drinking with me seven days a week. As a result, in my fifty’s I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism from stress and drinking.

One day, in 2000, an acquaintance of mine introduced me to Maum Meditation. As I meditated, I found out what held me back were my childhood memories and my feelings of inferiority: when I was young I could not eat what I wanted, as much I wanted; and I was embarrassed by my level of education.   I always had been a slave to the past, and had been trying to cure myself with alcohol. As much I discarded the fake mind, that much I came to know the infinite universe was my original self. Nothing lacks in the mind of the universe. Whether how much money I have or whether my life was well-off were not important. Once I realized this, I became confident. I could be easy and composed no matter who I met. There was no need to rely on alcohol anymore.

Since I have a business, there are still times I must have a drink, but I can control the amount I drink naturally by saying “I don’t drink much these days”. Three to four months after beginning Maum Meditation my illness was completely cured. What would I be like if I had not practiced Maum Meditation? I’m just so grateful to this miracle.