From the moment we are born into this world, we are educated, we meet countless people, and we experience all sorts of events. Through this ongoing process of socialization, we form our ego.
However, that ego is not everything. Our minds cannot contain the vast universe, and we often find ourselves uncertain if the thoughts and memories stored in our heads are even the truth. When we stubbornly view the world through these colored glasses, we end up captured by the past and futureโforgetting reality and the present. This leads to a daily life plagued by nervousness, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.
How can we escape these mental errors? A feature published by the Busan Ilbo explores the powerful practice of mind subtraction to find the solution.
๐ฟ A New Kind of Practice: ‘Subtracting the Mind’
When you step into a Ma-eum Su-ryun center, you aren’t met with rigid instructors or a heavy atmosphere. Instead, the environment is clean, comfortable, and deeply peaceful.
At these centers, those who guide the meditation are simply called ‘Helpers’ (Doum-nim). This title was chosen because self-directed meditation is not about someone “teaching” you; it is about guiding you to find the answers within yourself.
Helpers use the expression “subtracting the mind.” This often makes beginners tilt their heads in curiosity. How is “subtracting” different from the usual advice of simply “calming” the mind?
๐ธ Discarding the Illusions Stored in the Brain
To understand subtraction, we must first understand the identity of the mind. A person stores the experiences they see and hear in their brain, much like taking a picture with a camera. The only difference is that emotions are attached to the pictures taken by the brain. Happy memories bring joy, while unhappy memories cause pain the moment they are recalled.
Because everyone lives a different life, their minds are entirely different. Every “lens” of the mind’s camera has a different “filter.”
The problem begins when we realize that the pictures in our brain are actually illusionsโdistorted memories adapted by the brain. These fake pictures and the emotions attached to them restrict us. Unless we systematically discard the pictures taken and stored in the past, it is impossible to permanently discard our internal conflicts and stress.
By following a simple, 7-step method, practitioners develop the power to erase these stored pictures one by oneโdiscarding remembered thoughts, human relations, and eventually, the false selfโto reach true Human Completion.
โจ Real Transformations: “I shed tears out of shame and guilt”
The results of this practice are deeply profound for people from all walks of life:
- Finding Empathy: Lee Sang-seok (63), a former public servant, lived with immense pride and perfectionism. Through meditation, he realized this attitude had caused pain to his family and colleagues. Shedding tears of reflection, he discarded his rigid mindset and now approaches life by putting himself in others’ shoes.
- Living in the Present: Choi Myung-eun (39), an elementary school teacher, lived with a constantly anxious mindโregretting the past and fearing the future. “After discarding my mind through meditation, those distracting thoughts disappeared,” she shared. “I gained the power to focus on the work right here, right now.”
- Redefining Success: Yoon Jung-je (42), an oriental medicine doctor, once believed that success meant endlessly adding to his life. Overloaded and anxious, he turned to subtraction. “As I subtracted and emptied my mind, I found stability, and I started to see not only the patients’ bodies but also their minds.”
Meditation times are highly flexible, allowing practitioners to adjust sessions from 30 minutes to 3 hours according to their own schedules. If you are ready to empty the heavy weight of your mind and discover true peace, reach out to Santa Clara Meditation at 408-615-0435 to start your own journey of subtraction today.
๐ฐ About the Article
- Publication: Busan Ilbo
- Article Title: [My Mind and Body] 11. Ma-eum Su-ryun โ Emptying the Weight of the Mind through ‘Subtraction Practice’
- Published: August 12, 2018
- Reporter: Lee Jun-young
