π INTRODUCTION
Many people spend their entire lives pursuing success, education, recognition, and achievement, believing that happiness will naturally follow once they reach their goals.
Yet even after accomplishing everything they once dreamed of, many still find themselves asking:
- Who am I?
- Why do I live?
- What is the purpose of life?
- Why does emptiness remain even after success?
Jae-hyun L., a researcher at Hyundai Motor Company Research Institute and a graduate of POSTECH’s Mechanical Engineering Department, spent much of his life searching for answers to these questions.
Despite academic success, admission to prestigious schools, and a promising career, he continued to experience a deep sense of emptiness that achievement alone could not fill.
Through Master Woo Myung’s meditation method, he gradually discovered the source of that emptiness and found answers to the questions he had carried since childhood.
This meditation testimonial shares how self-reflection, letting go of resentment, and understanding his parents transformed his life and helped him discover genuine happiness.
π¬ MEDITATION TESTIMONIAL: βFINDING A HAPPY LIFE AFTER OVERCOMING EMPTINESSβ
By Jae-hyun L. | Researcher at Hyundai Motor Company Research Institute
π΄ The Happiness I Shared With My Grandparents
Because both of my parents worked, I spent most of my early childhood being raised by my grandparents.
They cared for me lovingly and devoted themselves completely to my well-being.
To young me, they were the most precious people in the world.
I wanted to stay with them forever.
But around the time I entered kindergarten, everything changed.
My parents decided to bring me back to live with them.
For a child, that transition felt overwhelming.
My environment changed overnight.
The food I ate changed.
My daily routines changed.
Most importantly, the warm grandparents who had been my entire world were suddenly gone.
Instead, I found myself living with parents who felt unfamiliar and emotionally distant.
Looking back, I believe that was when the emptiness first began.
β The Questions That Followed Me Throughout Childhood
As the eldest son, my parents placed tremendous expectations on me.
Especially when it came to academics.
If my grades were not high enough, I was criticized.
If I spent too much time playing, I was told to study.
Naturally, I struggled emotionally.
At the same time, I felt guilty for resenting my parents.
Even as a child, questions began forming inside me:
Why does my mind change depending on circumstances?
Why do people suffer?
Who am I, really?
Why do I live?
Perhaps that is why, in my elementary school graduation album, I wrote something unusual as my future dream:
βI want to become a human being.β
Most people thought it was a joke.
But I was completely serious.
I genuinely wanted to understand life.
π Success Could Not Eliminate Emptiness
I continued studying hard.
I earned recognition.
I achieved good grades.
Eventually, I entered the university I had always hoped to attend.
From the outside, everything appeared successful.
Yet the emptiness remained.
In fact, it became stronger.
Questions continued arising:
- What is the purpose of life?
- Why am I never satisfied?
- Why does achievement not bring lasting happiness?
- Why does success feel so temporary?
No matter how much I accomplished, the answers never came.
π½ Discovering Meditation While Studying in New York
Later, while studying abroad at New York University as an exchange student, I experienced a turning point.
One day, during an English class discussion about the book The Alchemist, another student shared an insight that completely changed my perspective.
He said:
βThe treasure was inside him from the beginning.β
Those words struck me deeply.
How could someone discover something in the same book that I completely missed?
Curious, I asked him where that insight came from.
He told me he practiced meditation.
And he introduced me to this meditation.
Ironically, although the method originated in Korea, I first encountered it in the United States.
πͺ Looking Back on My Life
Meditation was much more challenging than I expected.
Because I had always valued knowledge and analysis, I constantly questioned every step of the process.
Yet I could not deny the changes occurring inside me.
As I continued practicing, I reflected on many aspects of myself:
- My obsession with achievement
- My desire for recognition
- My inferiority complex
- My need for approval
Most difficult of all were the feelings I carried toward my parents.
Years of disappointment and resentment surfaced repeatedly.
Sometimes those emotions felt unbearable.
But I continued practicing.
Little by little, those burdens began disappearing.
β€οΈ Understanding My Parents for the First Time
For most of my life, I compared my parents with my grandparents.
I believed my grandparents loved me more.
I believed my parents had failed to understand me.
But through meditation, I realized something important.
Those conclusions were created entirely from my own perspective.
They were not objective reality.
As I let go of those thoughts, I felt an incredible sense of freedom.
For the first time, I could genuinely understand my parents.
Then one day, my parents quietly told me:
βWhen we raised you, we were first-time parents too.β
βWe simply didn’t know any better.β
Hearing those words changed everything.
I realized there is perhaps no greater suffering than being unable to understand the people closest to you.
And there is no greater relief than finally understanding them.
π The Emptiness Finally Disappeared
Looking back now, I realize I spent much of my life trying to fill an emptiness that came from unresolved emotions and misunderstandings.
The more I tried to fill it through achievement, the emptier I became.
But through meditation, something different happened.
Instead of adding more things to my life, I began letting go.
And through letting go, answers naturally appeared.
The questions I had carried since childhood gradually disappeared.
For the first time, I felt as though I had finally met my true self.
The dream I once wrote as an elementary school student:
βI want to become a human being.β
finally became reality.
π Living With Gratitude
Today, I no longer live with the same emptiness.
I no longer feel trapped by resentment.
I no longer constantly chase validation from others.
Instead, I find myself understanding, accepting, and appreciating the people around me.
Sometimes I wonder:
βHow did I become this kind of person?β
The fact that I can genuinely talk about happiness today feels like a miracle.
And for that, I am deeply grateful.
π CONCLUSION
Jae-hyun L.’s story reminds us that success alone cannot answer life’s deepest questions.
True fulfillment comes not from accumulating more achievements, but from understanding ourselves, letting go of resentment, and discovering the source of lasting peace within.
Through Master Woo Myung’s meditation method, he found answers to questions he had carried since childhood and transformed emptiness into gratitude, understanding, and genuine happiness.
At Santa Clara Meditation, many people discover that the answers they have searched for their entire lives may have been within them all along.
