Tree The tree lives its life. Its life is one that is lived standing firm. No matter how much distress may befall it, it remains silent. The tree has no mind that it is living, but people call it a tree because it is of its image. The tree simply lives its life. The tree is able to live of its own accord even though it has no sense of self. There is no mind of self-inflicted turmoil in the tree. The tree is an existence that must exist in the world. It dislikes neither wind nor rain. It just exists as it is in the world and then leaves one day without demanding to know why. The tree has no attachments of its own – only its instincts. The tree simply lives but does everything it needs to do.144 The tree lives of its own accord and dies of its own accord, while man has his discernments of what is good and what is bad. The tree is a representation of the Universe, and it lives and dies due to the conditions of Nature. The tree exists in order for the whole of creation to exist. It exists in... View Article
Any human being gets concerned as he lives his life. In a case of younger people, many are concerned about their abilities and befitting career choices. Currently being in a young age, I also had many concerns in regard to my future. Comparing others’ expectations and my own abilities, I was spending fruitless time when I read this book upon recommendation of a friend and I self-reflected many times. Up to this point I acted and thought as if I was the owner of this world. But from the perspective of this world, the existence of me was truly small and inadequate. Before I read this book, I was self-centered and lived while focused on my thoughts and actions just for my own benefit. After reading this book, I was able to think objectively and escape the selfish mind at least a bit. The result was very surprising. Presently, I behave and think in benefit of others instead of me; I was really amazed that such actions came about as a result of being thankful about life, not patronization toward others. If there were anyone with many concerns and worries, I would like to definitely recommend this book. You will... View Article
I am a middle school teacher currently but my first job assignment was at a vocational high school. The school had many problematic students with absenteeism, violence, robbery…. As a home room teacher, I was at police stations quite often. To become a perfect and outstanding teacher in order to control and impress students, I attended martial arts classes in early mornings and audited courses at a learning center after work. But the students did not change and I was exhausted after a few years. The world (school and students) were the same. Since the world did not change as I wished, I was full of frustrations and irritations. A hardship started in my perfect life. Later on, my drive for life decreased and I did not want to live in the world. I wanted to leave Korea. Around that time, my closest friend wrote a lengthy genuine letter to recommend this book. I was very thankful for his initiative to understand me and even though I did not want to read this book at first, I finished reading it in two months. This book enlightened me to my attempt to have the world fit my ways of thinking and... View Article
Today, people live in a golden materialistic generation with a sole purpose of having money to eat and live; we study and work our whole lives, living in stress. When we start to feel futility of it and start to look back on our lives, we realize that we are near the death’s door; and we can’t deny that such is our lives. As I read this book, I had an opportunity to self-reflect on “who am I?” and “where do we come from and why do we live?” By understanding the meaning of a human completion and recovery of the origin of human being, I now seem to have found the direction to follow as a teacher. Sung-hee Jang/Corporate staff/Daejun
This book suggests the reason for living and the direction of how a human being should live. I understand that, as we have heard from our elders, we live in the world with wisdom, not knowledge. It’s a good book to help understand and dispel unclear inquiries and questions about the world. Jae-hyun Shin/Corporate staff/Seoul
Initially it was a bit difficult, but as I continued to read more, my mind is at ease and it seemed like the questions I had about life were getting solved. Why do I live was my life’s question and this was solved naturally. It feels like I found the method I couldn’t find in other books. Before sleeping and upon awakening I read this book and every time I read, I find more insights and enlightenments. I do not understand all of its meanings yet, but I want to continue to read and also experience the meditation. I would like to recommend to those with concerns such as why do we live. Ha-ney Chu/Corporate staff/Busan
