Summary Kim Hye-jin
& Photographs Choi Chang-won
Park Jin-soo (36), a deputy chief of an outsource purchasing team, SK C&C. People often call him, who always seem energetic and flexible, “mànmàndi deputy” or energy-filled “battery.” But he had his share of a difficult time before entering the present position at work, such as experiencing multiple rejections while seeking employment and death of a close friend. He credits his transformation from an irritable and tiresome self to a positive “energizer,” to Maum Meditation. Through a subtraction of his mind, he started to understand the logics of the world which he had questioned; and changed himself fundamentally. The story about wisdom of work life and subtraction by Mr. Park, a deputy for the last 4 years.
“Something good happened, Mr. Park?” “Do you have a trusty backer?”
Because he laughs and gets along easily even in today’s economically challenged times, people tend to comment thusly. I work when I work, I eat when I eat, and I sleep when I sleep…. I am thankful for living a moment by moment to the best of my ability.
When I had just started this job in 2010, I was very irritable and angry person. I fought with my bosses and others when I disagreed with them. They had called me “the fighter”.
My health wasn’t good either. I had insomnia for a long time. In my personal life, there were many deaths. In my twenties, my good friend since high school died and also my brother who I was close to passed away… and then I was having a very difficult time when at twentynine, my best friend passed away.
Park Jin-soo (36), a deputy chief of an outsource purchasing team, SK C&C. People often call him, who always seem energetic and flexible, “mànmàndi deputy” or energy-filled “battery.” But he had his share of a difficult time before entering the present position at work, such as experiencing multiple rejections while seeking employment and death of a close friend. He credits his transformation from an irritable and tiresome self to a positive “energizer,” to Maum Meditation. Through a subtraction of his mind, he started to understand the logics of the world which he had questioned; and changed himself fundamentally. The story about wisdom of work life and subtraction by Mr. Park, a deputy for the last 4 years.
Why were human beings born? How should I live? I felt guilty about not being able to help my friend. I felt like the unluckiest person and that’s when I developed insomnia. I only slept one hour a night, tossing and turning the rest of the night, and then struggling during the daytime hours…. I looked like a zombie. In order to sleep, I exercised and consulted with psychologists, but none of this helped me. My insomnia got worse, as I was rejected for jobs over and over, at least a hundred times, and could not get employment anywhere. I thought since I went to a good college and university with research experience and internship, I would be accepted. Anxiety, selfconsciousness, inferiority complex…all those minds rose up in me and it was a hell. Around that time, I read a monthly magazine called <Maum Meditation> at a health center.
“A man takes pictures in his mind using his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and body and lives in his own videotape which he made. By eliminating this videotape and becoming the world, he would become and live as a saint with wisdom to know all of the logics of the world.” The writings in “World Beyond World by Woo Myung” inspired me. Ah, this is what I was seeking ~! Fortunately I was accepted for a job position at that time and I soon started Maum Meditation .
From the main center of Maum Meditation in Nonsan, Choongnam.
Jin-soo goes to the main center every weekend. After subtracting his mind in its rural country setting, he says he is energized for yet another week.
During my first level of meditation, I reflected on my life and I was surprised to see that I really lived in my own picture world. After discarding the picture world and the self that was me, I was the vast Universe. Ah, the Universe is me, I never existed…. It was as if I was dreaming and after waking up, I saw that I was living in a non-existing world. One could live a true life by escaping a dream. I started to understand the meaning of holy words from scriptures and the logics of the world. I was able to let go of my best friend finally. Soon, I was able to sleep progressively well. I was very, very happy.
The most difficult in work life was human relationships. I had bosses that I hated. The boss who gave all of his own work to his subordinates, the boss who picked on me…during the meditation, I saw that I hated them in a picture world that only I had. I saw me objectively for the first time and realized that I was the worst person. I was often selfish, having been brought up in a family where I was the youngest and only son. I was stubbornly assertive – who would like such a person? I cried a lot, repenting about what I did. I also changed in my attitude toward others. I started to listen and hear others out to see what they really wanted….
“Park Jin-soo really changed these days. I was surprised that he changed.” My bosses, who knew me since I started the job, commented and I also realized, “Ah, I have changed.” I had read many books about a good work life to no avail, but I was amazed at my fundamental transformation through the mind-subtraction.
Long ago I had seen a phrase, “the wealth is in self-satisfaction” in Seokguram, Kyungju. A true happiness really begins with satisfaction about one’s situations. When I reflected on my life, I had lived with a sense of inferiority, being jealous of others with better circumstances. I had lived a good life, but I was jealous of others in better financial situations during my school years. I felt the same way in college, graduate school, and this job. Other jobs and other teams seemed even better than mine…with a mind that constantly compared self with others, one could never be happy no matter what conditions.
Even though I work for a large corporation, there still are many uncertainties, especially uncertainties about economy. Because of this, there are some people who buy lotteries or gamble on stocks. In the past, I also had not lived in the present moment because I was worried about my future, some 10 years later. But the uncertain future was only in my mind and knowing that only this moment exists, I am able to live every day to the best of me.
“Enjoy your work. Focus on this very moment now!”
Becoming the god of work? It’s not hard ~ ^^
