There were Saturdays when I opened my eyes before the alarm, as if I could sleep in. It was the day I went to the Center One Meditation Center in the alleys of Haebangchon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. For five weeks, I attended a meditation-focused course called “Sea of Stillness,” and I experienced the start of the weekend in a way that felt different from my usual routine.
Five Records Filled on Saturday Mornings Through Meditation
No Sang-chung, the representative who leads “Sea of Stillness,” began meditating around the age of 15 and has continued practicing for a long time. The process he designed is built to help participants learn the mechanisms of meditation step by step by combining theory and practice. The five sessions—starting with the door that leads into stillness in the first session, moving to a breathing method for holding sat-i in the second session, staying in deep stillness in the third session, expanding pure awareness in the fourth session, and beginning to “see” in the fifth session—were held for three hours each week, from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Practice Woven Into Daily Life, Changes Left Behind by the “Golden Land”
After the class ends, there is time to put the meditation methods learned during the week directly into practice in everyday life. Each person’s time spent over the course of the week in their own daily life is called the “Golden Land.” Through KakaoTalk, the program sends notifications at various points during the day, guiding participants to pause for a moment and steady their breathing. Even amid busy work and daily life, a single KakaoTalk alert would stop everything for an instant and make me notice my breathing. The experiences that accumulated that way became the stories I shared with my fellow classmates at the next Saturday gathering. As the flow of applying what you learned to life right away and then reviewing it again repeated throughout the five weeks, I could feel the meditation concepts scattered in my head gradually finding their place.
Fellow Classmates Who Joined In, and the Path of Insight That Follows
People who spent the five weeks together don’t lose touch even after completing the program. Through a fellow classmate gathering called “Fire,” the structure allows participants to meet again once a month and continue their training. Once you enter a system where you can become mindful in everyday moments and practice meditation, you start to feel that even if you can’t do everything for every notification, your life stays connected to meditation. That, in turn, makes you feel calmer and quieter. After learning meditation methods organized in a systematic way, I clearly felt a sense that my mind becomes more arranged than usual, and I naturally became interested in the next step of the insight path course as well.
On July 4, the 8th Cohort of “Sea of Stillness” Opens Again
This newly opening 8th cohort of “Sea of Stillness” starts on Saturday, July 4 at 9 a.m. It runs over five sessions through August 1. The location is on the third floor of Center One at 11 Sinheung-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul—Haebangchon. It is designed so that both beginners encountering meditation for the first time and people who want to learn meditation in a systematic way can participate.
Quietness You Can Meet at Center One in Haebangchon
The tuition fee is 950,000 won, and a 20% early-bird discount applies if you apply during the registration period. Applications and inquiries can be made through the KakaoTalk channel Center One_Leaders HOME or Instagram center_one_official. After filling out a separate application form and paying the tuition fee, your registration is completed. Since it closes on a first-come, first-served basis, if you are considering participating, it is best to move quickly.
“Sea of Stillness” is a place where you don’t stop at understanding meditation with your head—it is where you bring it into your body and daily life. Let’s experience together the new time for meditation that begins on the first Saturday of July at Center One in Haebangchon.
Inquiries: https://pf.kakao.com/_fcdxcG/113605065
