📖 Introduction
Stress, anger, anxiety, and emotional exhaustion can quietly build up through everyday life — especially when work constantly places people under pressure.
This meditation testimonial shares the story of Jun Yong Um, a former bank employee who lost his business during the IMF financial crisis and later became a taxi driver. Long hours, financial pressure, traffic congestion, difficult passengers, and emotional conflict slowly filled his life with frustration and anger.
Even small things — a red light, traffic jam, or harsh words from passengers — could immediately trigger irritation and emotional pain.
But through practicing meditation in the middle of daily life itself, he gradually learned how to let go of anger, inferiority, pride, and emotional reactions that had accumulated deep inside his mind.
As he discarded those thoughts and emotions little by little, his relationships with passengers changed, his stress decreased, and even the small taxi that once felt suffocating became a peaceful and comfortable space.
This heartfelt meditation testimonial shows how true change begins not by changing the world around us, but by changing the mind within us.
💬 Meditation Testimonial: “Inferiority and Anger — Discarded Together”
By Jun Yong U. | Taxi Driver
I once worked as a bank employee. After taking early retirement, I started a business, but during the IMF financial crisis, I lost everything and eventually became a taxi driver.
After experiencing 16-hour shifts and dealing with all kinds of passengers, I finally understood why people said taxi driving was such a difficult job.
It was during that period of my life that I encountered this meditation.
🚕 Every 5 or 10 Minutes Matters to a Taxi Driver
At first, driving for 16 straight hours every day was extremely difficult.
My days were constantly filled with irritation, pressure, and anger. A taxi driver has to continuously pick up passengers just to meet the company’s daily payment quota, so even five or ten minutes directly affect income.
If traffic became backed up for more than thirty minutes, it felt like the entire day was ruined.
Whenever red lights lasted too long or the roads became congested, frustration would immediately rise inside me.
There was also constant stress from reckless driving, cars cutting in suddenly, and arguments between drivers on the road.
But honestly, the hardest part was dealing with passengers.
Some passengers would begin cursing the moment they got into the taxi. Others would pour out anger from unfair situations they had experienced in life. Some drunken passengers would suddenly grab my neck, shoulders, or hair.
Every time a new passenger entered the taxi, I became anxious, wondering what kind of person this one would be.
Even communication itself felt difficult.
Sometimes I tried giving sincere advice, only to make passengers even angrier. Other times I simply nodded and said, “Yes, yes,” but then they became upset because they thought I was not truly listening.
Some even became angry because they believed I was ignoring them.
🌱 Meditation Helped Me Let Go of the Anger Inside Me
The truth was, I never really knew how to respond to people.
My heart would boil with anger, but I also could not openly fight with passengers.
Whenever something happened, after the passenger left, I would park the taxi somewhere quiet and meditate for a while.
During the difficult years after the IMF crisis, this meditation had already helped calm and organize my troubled mind by emptying it. Because of that experience, meditation became a great source of strength in my life.
As I discarded the emotions and thoughts that arose from difficult encounters with passengers, my mind slowly became calmer.
Even while working, whenever I had free time, I would stop by a nearby meditation center and focus on discarding my mind.
Looking back, I realized I hated losing to others and enjoyed arguing.
Deep inside, I also carried thoughts like:
“Back in my day, I used to be somebody important.”
When passengers treated me disrespectfully, those hidden feelings would instantly turn into anger.
But I eventually realized that this was also another form of inferiority living inside me.
Because I carried a victim mentality, even small comments wounded me deeply, and I could not control my emotions.
As I discarded my pride, inferiority, and attachment to the past, I realized how meaningless it was to remain trapped in memories that no longer existed.
🌿 The Taxi Became a Peaceful and Comfortable Space
I also came to understand why my words often caused conflict, even when I believed I was speaking “for the passengers’ sake.”
When I kept saying “yes, yes,” inside I was actually thinking:
“This is annoying. Please stop talking.”
And when I remained silent, my silence itself contained thoughts like:
“I’m tired. Enough already.”
I realized that hidden inside my actions were indifference and dismissal toward others.
As I continued discarding those minds, the way I treated passengers gradually changed.
Instead of reacting emotionally, I simply listened and tried to understand how they felt.
As a result, even angry or frustrated passengers slowly began calming down.
Now, when I meet drunken passengers who endlessly complain, I simply think:
“They must be struggling deeply.”
And surprisingly, many of those passengers eventually apologize before getting out of the taxi.
As my own mind became lighter and more peaceful, taxi driving itself also became much easier.
In the past, I constantly felt chased by money, time, and customers.
The taxi once felt unbearably cramped and suffocating. I even dreamed about being trapped inside it all day long.
But now, just like my mind has become more open and spacious, the taxi itself feels peaceful and freeing.
These days, every passenger feels precious to me.
When I safely drive an elderly person, an emergency patient, or a student with an injured leg to their destination, I feel genuine gratitude and fulfillment.
Most taxi drivers relieve stress by hiking or exercising on their days off, and that is certainly good too.
But personally, I sincerely recommend this meditation.
