From the age of 15, brother initiate Kim was in and out of detention centers. There he was seriously beaten; and each time he was released, he continued to stray, as he had no guidance to follow a better way and it became increasingly difficult to adjust to a society that looked down upon him. He learned how to pickpocket and since then he has spent the next several decades of his life going in and out of prison on many different counts of pickpocketing, violence and drugs, etc.

When he was arrested again at age 35 and received a 9-year sentence, he suffered intensely from the fear that he might lose his wife and son during that long period of time. He also worried that his son would think ill of him after growing up. The prison was a familiar place to him, and because he knew of ways to make living there more comfortable, he was not afraid of spending a number of years there. However, the thought of not being with his family and of not being able to do anything for their survival made him suffer. He began to cry with remorse, and days of deep repentance followed during which he reflected on his past and all his misdeeds. He thought not only about those victims he had caused harm to, but also his parents whom he felt he had wronged as well.

Years passed in such sorrow. Then, in his search for peace of mind, Kim began to study various scriptures and philosophical books, searching for guidance for his life. One day he attended a spiritual gathering, when some monks visited the prison.

One of the monks introduced the Quan Yin Method and showed Master Ching Hai’s lecture video. At that time the subtitles were so small on the tiny screen he could not understand what the Master was saying. But he noticed something unusual about the Master in the video. A thought occurred to him that this Master must be a great enlightened person like Jesus or Shakyamuni Buddha. This made him interested in Master Ching Hai and the method She was teaching. Feeling a strong desire to receive Her teaching, he went to the guard after the gathering to borrow the books the monks left. After having read up to the second volume, he decided that the contents were the same as the other scriptures he had been studying, so he stopped reading and did not think much about it after that.

Time passed. Then one day Kim saw his friend dressing up neatly and hurrying to go somewhere. “Are you going on a date?” he said jokingly, to which his friend replied that he was a member of the Quan Yin Method study group being held on a regular basis at the prison, and that there was a class being held that day. Kim was stunned to hear this and recalled Master’s video and books from long ago. He was determined to join the study group and went with his friend to register to learn the meditation method.

After learning the Convenient Method of meditation, Kim had very good inner spiritual experiences and was convinced that Master Ching Hai is truly an enlightened being. He struggled to keep the pure vegetarian diet in order to get the full initiation from Master. The food served in the prison consisted of rice, a bowl of soup and two side dishes. The soup and side dishes almost always contained meat. For several years, he did his best to keep the pure vegetarian diet, choosing the side dish with the least amount of animal ingredients in it and rinsing it repeatedly with water. Yet despite the many difficulties in keeping the vegetarian diet as well as there was no one who understood his practice, his determination remained fixed and he had many remarkable spiritual experiences.

If he could just get initiated, he thought, it would be like having the whole world. However, he still had three more years to serve. Out of his longing for initiation, Kim tearfully prayed to Master Ching Hai, and fervently wrote a letter to Her. To his surprise, the day after he wrote the unsent letter, Master appeared to him during meditation and called out his name in a clear voice. When he answered, Master tersely said the word “initiation,” and at that moment he had an initiation experience. He had such a good feeling, although at first he did not understand what this experience was. Only very recently did he understand this when he watched a video in which Master said, “The initiation ceremony is just a time to explain things to you. The real initiation is an inner transmission.” When he heard these words, he realized that his experience ten years ago at the prison was the moment that Master had given him initiation.

From then on, Kim thought about Master every day, spending each waking moment reciting Her name until the day he left the prison. When he got out, he received initiation. However, despite his joy of being initiated, he faced the immediate problem of survival. He had to make money to support his family and had the temptations of going back to his previous way of life. Because of his pride, he couldn’t bring himself to do menial jobs, so finally he returned to pickpocketing and trading stocks.

One day, Kim went to the Center where he saw a message posted on a board. It said: “Anyone who is deceiving the Master and the fellow practitioners is not allowed to come to the Center.” Thinking that the message referred to him, he felt guilty deep within of his heart and could no longer go to the Center. Even though he felt greatly tortured every time he pickpocketed and hated himself for doing it, he couldn’t stop. Eventually, he was caught by the police. Interestingly, at that moment, he felt a sense of freedom and joyfulness.

He returned to prison with a peaceful mind, ready to pay for his misdeeds. He even requested a single cell. There he spent each day repenting and practicing meditation. After a while, he learned that the inmate in the next cell was also searching for a way to liberation, and so he helped him to be able to learn the meditation. (This inmate is currently practicing Convenient Method diligently and waiting for the day he can be initiated after his sentence is completed.) When Kim got out of prison this time, he completely broke away from his past mistakes and he also did menial work to earn his living.

Kim is grateful to Master for forgiving him. He prays that the world will become a peaceful and better place to live, and has devoted all his energies to spreading Master’s teachings and the Alternative Living message. He joins other initiates in visiting the prisons to help inmates who are repenting their past actions and want to begin a new life. He tries to share with them that Heaven and liberation of the soul exist, which are more important than mundane material life.

To help inmates who want to be vegetarian, he sends them money to buy vegetarian food, and invites other initiates to support them. He does this because he believes that each and every inmate desperately needs the warm concern of fellow practitioners.

Inmates from prisons in Daegu, Andong, Chungsong and Busan, who have learned the Convenient Method, correspond with the local initiates, writing them letters about their hopes and dreams and their repentance for their past. Kim is in charge of the work with the Busan prison. He reads the letters from the inmates in his care and encourages them in his own letters to them. Understanding their pain and anguish, he continues to pray that they will find eternal liberation and joy in Master’s perfect love, and benefit themselves and the world while they find the true meaning in their lives.

<<	Contents	>>
Refer this page to friends