A new book has arrived to offer a warm break to modern people who miss the present mind, weighed down by regret over what has passed and anxiety about tomorrow that has not yet come. Jeongmoksunim, who has worked to popularise mind-training and meditation beyond the boundaries of religion, has published 『Jeongmoksunim’s Daily Meditation』 (Su-ojae).
Jeongmoksunim, a self-described ‘South Korea’s first Buddhist nun DJ’ and a long-time driver of the democratisation of mind training through online mind-training programmes such as ‘Yuna Broadcasting’, proposes, through this book, a “life meditation beginner’s guide” that helps anyone look after themselves in everyday life with an investment of just 10 minutes a day, rather than seeking grand enlightenment. It presents meditation not as a sacred, special practice but as healthy daily habits for busy modern people’s weary minds.
This book is a “life meditation beginner’s guide” that helps anyone look after themselves in their daily life with an investment of 10 minutes a day, instead of chasing grand enlightenment or difficult doctrine. It presents meditation not as a sacred practice, but as healthy everyday habits you can practise every day.
Audio guidance QR codes included… from a ‘reading book’ to ‘doing meditation’ directly
The biggest feature of this new book is a considerate layout designed to help readers practise. Each chapter includes QR codes, so readers can listen to Jeongmoksunim’s calm voice and follow along with the meditation on the spot right away. It was designed to ensure that the text does not stop at helping readers understand concepts, but naturally leads them into practice.
The book walks readers step by step through a journey towards a more meditative way of living, starting with mindfulness and moving on to anger, despair, anxiety, forgiveness, growth and compassion. It also includes a variety of meditation methods that can be applied depending on the situation and one’s condition.
When anger and fury start to simmer: Don’t dance with the flames; run or take a walk for 1 minute and 30 seconds and observe where the energy of anger flows, Kumbhaka breathing
When frustration and depression come knocking: Hold in mind a fish that lights its own light deep beneath the distant sea, mindfulness body-observation meditation, hand-stretching meditation
When anxiety overwhelms you: Notice that anxiety is a prank made by your own mind, tapping the acupoint at the collarbone, sound meditation
When you need focus and a tidy mind: staring at the second hand meditation, breathing meditation, counting-number meditation, barefoot walking meditation
When you want to wrap up a tired day or heal wounds in a relationship: bell-sound meditation, forgiveness meditation, Tonglen meditation, customised meditations for families, teenagers and office workers
“Meditation is the work of pulling out the old nails that have been hammered into the mind”
Jeongmoksunim explains meditation as “the work of pulling out the old nails that have been hammered into the mind”. Our unconscious mind is like nails hammered into wood, and it does not change easily unless you make an effort yourself to remove them. Only when you find and empty old thought patterns and mind habits do you begin to generate the power of a new mind.
The monk said, “You get nothing through meditation. Instead, when you let go of the mind that wants to gain something, that is when the true power of your mind arises”, stressing the importance of the “power to keep going steadily”, rather than techniques for doing meditation well. He also reminds readers that long-held hatred and resentment ultimately tense one’s own body and mind, so forgiveness is the most active kind of practice to heal ‘yourself’, not the other person.
In the final chapters of the book, it links the worries of everyday life—family relationships, adolescents’ growth, office workers’ stress and the like—to the place of meditation, showing a path where life and practice become one.
Ten minutes a day: a small practice to steady your breath and examine the texture of your mind. Jeongmoksunim’s 『Daily Meditation』 will become a sturdy, warm lighthouse in the mind for everyone living through a complicated and steep age.
Book information: Jeongmoksunim’s 『Daily Meditation』 | Written by Jeongmoksunim | Su-ojae | 300 pages | 18,500 won
