📖 Introduction
Can two people with completely opposite personalities truly understand each other?
One was a self-described “study robot” who spent every day buried in books. The other was a rebellious teenager involved with street racing and delinquent friends.
Their personalities, values, interests, lifestyles, and ways of thinking were completely different. Under normal circumstances, they believe they never would have become friends.
Yet through meditation and reflecting on their minds, something unexpected happened.
As they began discarding pride, inferiority, prejudice, and the emotional walls they had built throughout life, they slowly started understanding each other — and eventually became as close as brothers.
This honest and heartfelt meditation testimonial shares how two young men from completely opposite worlds discovered that beneath all the labels, fears, and identities they carried, they were not actually so different after all.
💬 Meditation Testimonial: “Two Complete Opposites Became One Through This Meditation”
By Jo Young K. (Daejeon University College of Korean Medicine) & Joong Won P. (Hanyang University)
🎓 “I Was a Study Robot” / 🏍 “I Was a Street Racer”
Kim:
Back in school, all I did was study. Even on Sundays, I only studied. People used to call me a “study robot.”
Park:
Really? Back in middle school and high school, I was obsessed with motorcycles and hung around with street racing groups, so I barely even went to school.
My parents were always busy and rarely home, so friends constantly gathered at my house. Whenever kids ran away from home, they all came to my place. It practically became a shelter for runaway teenagers. (laughs)
Kim:
Honestly, people like you scared me back then. It felt difficult even approaching students like that. (laughs)
Park:
But interestingly, we usually didn’t bother students who studied hard. To us, they felt like completely different kinds of people.
Kim:
Now that I think about it, that’s true. But didn’t you ever struggle emotionally while living like that?
Park:
Honestly, I just didn’t care much about other people at all.
I lived with a lot of arrogance, always thinking I was great no matter what anyone else said.
Inside, I always thought:
“I’m awesome anyway, so everyone else can just live their own life.” (laughs)
Kim:
Then it’s honestly surprising that someone like you started meditation.
Park:
My mom sincerely begged me to try it again after I finished military service.
It was the first time in my life she had ever asked me for something that desperately, so I couldn’t refuse her.
But honestly, at first, meditating felt miserable. I kept thinking:
“Why am I sitting here meditating when I could be out partying?” (laughs)
That’s when we first met through meditation, right?
🌱 Inferiority Took Different Forms
Kim:
Yeah. I met you when I was in my first year of medical school.
I actually started meditation when I was a sophomore in high school.
I believed if I devoted every moment to studying, I would become the top student in school.
But no matter how hard I worked, I never became number one.
Meanwhile, one classmate looked like he was always relaxing and joking around, yet he consistently ranked first.
I became overwhelmed with inferiority and frustration.
I started thinking:
“Is this really living?”
Around that time, my father began practicing meditation, and through that connection I started too.
Park:
By the way, when did you become trapped inside the “model student” identity?
Kim:
I think it started in fifth grade.
I was bullied at school, and after that, even small signs of rejection hurt me deeply.
So I started believing:
“If I treat people well, everything will be okay.”
At the same time, people praised me whenever I did well academically.
That made me think:
“Studying is my weapon.”
Park:
I was spoiled a lot as an only child when I was young.
But once I entered school, I realized the world didn’t treat me the same way anymore.
I think I was deeply hurt by that.
That’s when pride and arrogance started building up inside me.
But honestly, all of that was inferiority too.
Deep inside, I was weak and wounded.
By middle school, I began filling myself even more with inferiority through bad friendships and reckless behavior.
Looking back now, it was basically the same thing you were doing through studying.
Kim:
Yeah… it really was inferiority.
Park:
When people feel lacking inside, they keep trying to fill themselves with something.
Because they feel incomplete, they constantly search for ways to compensate.
🌿 Through Meditation, We Began Understanding Others
Kim:
Now that I can clearly see those minds inside myself, I naturally want to discard them.
And as I continue doing that, those minds genuinely disappear.
Life becomes much more comfortable.
I used to pretend to be nice all the time too.
But after discarding those thoughts, I became much more relaxed around friends. I learned how to joke naturally and truly listen to other people.
Park:
As you discard pride and inferiority, your mind becomes bigger and more open.
Naturally, you stop wanting to hurt people and begin adjusting yourself to others instead.
Before, I would casually throw cigarette butts on the street.
Now I instinctively look for a trash can.
And when talking with people, I naturally begin understanding how they feel inside.
At the very least, I don’t think I hurt people with my words anymore.
Kim:
There was actually a senior student I genuinely couldn’t understand before.
But while meditating, I reflected deeply on him and suddenly realized:
“This was simply his way of trying to connect with people.”
Just like I tried gaining recognition through studying.
At that moment, I realized he was actually no different from me.
After that realization, we became close too.
Park:
When you first discard your own prejudice, other people naturally become comfortable around you too.
Kim:
Honestly, when I first saw you, you scared me too. Your eyes looked intense. (laughs)
But after talking with you, you eventually became someone I felt completely comfortable around.
Park:
At first, I was so focused on discarding my own mind that I barely noticed anyone else.
But then I saw how hard you worked, and I thought:
“He’s someone I can learn from.”
Kim:
And I learned a lot from you too.
Especially your confidence and flexibility in handling different situations.
🎓 From a 1.3 GPA to Full Scholarships
Park:
When you practice this meditation, the walls inside your mind begin collapsing.
People naturally become closer.
My GPA used to be around 1.3.
But after only six months of meditation, I suddenly started receiving full scholarships and became one of the top students in my department.
Kim:
That’s basically straight A+ grades!
Honestly, I used to envy students who confidently danced or performed on stage.
I wanted to do those things too, but I always thought:
“Someone like me could never do that.”
So I stayed trapped inside the identity of “the serious student.”
But later I realized that mindset itself had become another prison.
Once I understood that, I started trying to break free from it.
Park:
When you begin breaking your own mental frame, even the process itself becomes enjoyable.
Maybe because distracting thoughts disappeared, studying also became much easier for me.
Kim:
I feel the same way.
Meditation helped me gain much more confidence and understanding in Korean medicine too.
🌎 “We Were Originally One From the Beginning”
Kim:
When I think about it, everyone originally came from the same universe.
So why do people constantly fight and judge each other?
Why are there endless divisions between people?
Park:
I think nothing truly changes unless we first begin discarding the mind itself.
Once you let go of it, you realize something important:
We were originally one from the very beginning.
If people could move beyond their individual perspectives and live with a broader mind, everyone could live peacefully together.
And honestly, I think there’s only one answer:
Letting go.
Kim:
Exactly.
Discarding.
