📖 INTRODUCTION
Many students spend years pursuing academic success.
Top grades.
Prestigious schools.
Competitive careers.
From the outside, their future appears bright.
Yet behind academic achievement, many quietly struggle with stress, loneliness, comparison, and a lingering question:
“Is this really what happiness is?”
This meditation testimonial shares the story of Dong-jun K., a KAIST student, who spent much of his life believing that studying was the purpose of life.
After attending a science high school and later entering KAIST, he achieved goals many students dream of reaching.
Yet even after succeeding academically, he continued feeling empty and uncertain about life’s deeper meaning.
Through the meditation method taught by Master Woo Myung, he gradually learned to let go of pride, competition, loneliness, and self-centered thinking.
In the process, he discovered something school had never taught him:
How to truly connect with people, find purpose, and live with genuine happiness.
This meditation testimonial beautifully illustrates how true education begins when we learn not only how to think, but also how to understand ourselves.
💬 MEDITATION TESTIMONIAL: “LEARNING WHAT SCHOOL COULD NEVER TEACH ME THROUGH MEDITATION”
By Dong-jun K. | KAIST Student
For most of my life, studying felt like the center of everything.
I was naturally quiet and introverted.
The one thing I did well was academics.
Because of that, I believed success in school would naturally lead to success in life.
I wanted recognition.
I wanted validation.
I wanted people to acknowledge me.
That mindset eventually led me to a science high school and later to KAIST.
At the time, I believed I was moving toward happiness.
But eventually, I began questioning everything.
🤔 “WHAT WAS I STUDYING SO HARD FOR?”
I chose mechanical engineering because I loved physics.
There is a unique excitement that comes from solving difficult problems and seeing everything fit together perfectly.
But over time, studying became exhausting.
There was always more work.
One assignment ended and another immediately appeared.
One exam finished and another quickly followed.
The cycle never stopped.
Eventually I began asking myself:
“Why am I doing this?”
Even after graduation, wouldn’t life continue the same way?
Graduate school.
Employment.
Competition.
Pressure.
Endless striving.
When I looked at successful people, even famous business leaders, they did not seem genuinely happy.
They looked tired.
Burdened.
Consumed by competition.
That realization left me wondering:
“If this is what success looks like, why am I sacrificing so much to reach it?”
😔 EVERYONE LOOKED CONFIDENT — BUT INSIDE, WE WERE LONELY
At elite schools, pride is everywhere.
Most students had been top performers their entire lives.
They entered science high schools.
Then universities like KAIST.
Everyone was exceptional.
And because of that, life often became a competition.
Scores.
Rankings.
Results.
Achievements.
Many students no longer knew why they were studying.
They simply continued because it was what they had always done.
People often assume students at KAIST have no worries.
The reality is very different.
Many students carry deep insecurity and inferiority inside.
For years, academic success became the source of our confidence.
But once we entered an environment where everyone was talented, even that confidence disappeared.
Friendships became difficult.
People often felt more like competitors than companions.
Despite being surrounded by people, I felt lonely.
🪞 “I REALIZED I HAD BEEN LIVING ONLY FOR MYSELF”
I first encountered meditation through a brochure.
What caught my attention wasn’t the explanation.
It was the people.
They looked genuinely peaceful.
Bright.
Comfortable.
Happy.
I wondered:
“Could I become like that too?”
As I began meditating, I saw myself honestly for the first time.
I had always believed I was helping others.
I believed I was being considerate.
I believed I was doing difficult things selflessly.
But the truth was different.
Deep down, I wanted recognition.
I wanted approval.
I wanted people to think highly of me.
Almost everything I did revolved around myself.
That realization shocked me.
I thought:
“If I don’t change now, I may live this way forever.”
🎭 EVERYTHING WAS CALCULATED
Meditation helped me notice countless small things.
If I bought someone a meal, part of me expected something in return.
If friends suggested something, I often agreed because I worried how they would judge me.
I usually contacted people when I needed something.
Even kindness often came with hidden expectations.
Looking back, everything was calculated.
That was why relationships felt difficult.
I never truly considered other people.
I only viewed situations through my own perspective.
🏆 MY PRIDE WAS BUILT ON ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The only thing I genuinely felt confident about was studying.
And being a KAIST student.
Without realizing it, I approached people through that identity.
I carried an invisible message:
“I’m this kind of person.”
Because of that pride, I often spoke coldly.
I judged people easily.
Warmth rarely appeared in my words.
During meditation, I kept trying to remove that version of myself.
Honestly, I hated it.
As I traced the roots of those thoughts, I discovered where they came from.
Since childhood, I had constantly been praised for studying well.
That praise gradually became pride.
Eventually, I began judging others according to my own standards.
🌿 WHEN MY WALLS CAME DOWN, EVERYTHING CHANGED
As I continued letting go of those minds, something unexpected happened.
I finally learned how to listen.
Not to respond.
Not to impress.
But to genuinely understand.
For the first time, I listened from the other person’s perspective.
And naturally, relationships became easier.
Friendships became deeper.
My relationship with my younger sibling improved tremendously.
The loneliness I carried for years began disappearing.
Then I realized something important:
The people around me had always been there.
I was the one hiding behind walls.
💖 NOW I WANT TO LIVE FOR OTHERS
Meditation gave my life a completely different purpose.
Before, everything revolved around me.
My success.
My future.
My achievements.
Now I find myself wanting something different.
I want other people to become happy too.
Because I experienced firsthand how exhausting life becomes when everything revolves around the self.
I often think about my friends.
Would a Nobel Prize create permanent happiness?
Would becoming as wealthy as Bill Gates satisfy someone forever?
I don’t think so.
Because human desire never truly ends.
Every achievement eventually becomes ordinary.
Every success eventually feels incomplete.
I experienced that pattern repeatedly.
When I entered science high school, I felt happy for one day.
Then emptiness returned.
When exams ended, relief lasted briefly.
Then emptiness returned again.
The cycle never stopped.
✨ REAL HAPPINESS BEGAN WHEN THE “SELF” STARTED DISAPPEARING
Eventually, I realized something profound:
True happiness begins when the self-centered “me” begins to disappear.
When the desperate version of ourselves constantly trying to be better than others disappears, something else naturally emerges.
Our true self.
The self that can genuinely live in the present.
The self that can connect with others.
The self that can experience peace without constantly chasing something more.
Through meditation, I found answers to questions I had carried for years:
Why was I born?
What should I live for?
What happens after death?
The emptiness disappeared.
Life itself became joyful.
Whether I am studying, working, or simply existing, there is peace.
Today, I feel as though I am finally learning how to truly live.
Before, my entire world was my head and my pen.
Now, I understand something much more important:
Opening your heart and helping others is the true foundation of life.
And for me, that became the beginning of a genuinely meaningful and beautiful life.
