2001 - KASH STUDY REPORT

We have a series of discussions on various subjects related to our life and nature that we may improve ourselves inwardly through deep reflections. We can obtain the ultimate concern of spiritual freedom and truthful consciousness rather than material pursuit. Moreover, we hope with sincere prayers to reach reconciliation with the natural environment and to search for an equal right of feminity.

By means of open and honest talks of our thoughts and acts, we have encountered many occasions to reflect ourselves and regret our past. We all feel simultaneously that the openness of our hearts among us already improves our unsteadiness for better understanding.

We have experienced some transformation of life-styles and renewed different feelings of our environment, and we feel that we equip ourselves with new visions and ideas. The meetings of this Study group have a good effect upon our lives seeing things differently more than what we expected and produce many occasions to console ourselves.

Human beings have innate abilities to solve their spiritual and physical problems by themselves. They used to forget this quality in everyday life, but through a certain moment they become realized to activate the capability to control themselves.

We believers think that reconciliation with ourselves naturally leads to reconciliation with God. We have reached a conclusion that when we forgive ourselves, we may receive God and others too.

We can have peaceful mind through the reconciliation with ourselves. By getting rid of arrogance and prejudice, we can see the things rightly without having inferiority complex. Then we can reconcile with the people surrounding us and especially with children and our family members.

A fixed ego does not exist. Rather ego changes ceaselessly. We have assembled our opinions that it is very important to recognize our ego of itself paying attention to the neighbours in order to count our ego of ourselves from others' evaluation toward us.

We try our best to hear the deepest outcry from our innermost world which is the voice of consciousness, and we better follow to obey its words. That is the process to reconcile with ourselves. We confirm again that we human beings are futile thereupon we may not judge and evaluate others besides God.

It is essential to keep our post of ourselves and face the problems wisely from this stance. We should be meek and wise without selfishness. Thanksgiving is the primary condition to reconcile ourselves with others and positive thinking related to the self-affirmation leads us to the way for reconciliation.

In order to forgive others, one must forgive her/himself. And then follow understanding and acceptance. One who does not forgive others cannot forgive her/himself in the end. We find the simple phrase that "forgive others, as we forgive us." We have learned God already forgive us in spite of our unwillingness to forgive others.

We again confirm that one must ceaselessly restrain her/himself in order to reconcile with our children. We have understood that it is better to ask not "why?" in saying "why this?" or "why that?", but "there should be a kind of meaning." Having such thought in mind, we may step back and such peaceful mind can broaden our perspectives toward our family, neighbours, society and the world.

We become grateful through the diversification of our thoughts. We come to know that we should recognize the things as themselves from their point of view. We should not rule us in binding ourselves in a certain fixed frame under the spell of custom, but we need to be wise enough to release ourselves from the slavery of the customary rules. This can be done through the transformation of thoughts.

The current Korean society still has the prevailing Confucian ideas which ruled our lives for several hundred years. The young generation who are educated in and influenced of the westernized outfits definitely face the cultural gap and value crisis.

The modern society changes slowly to adjust the westernized modernity, but the older generation still feels uncomfortable. They insist that their way of learning and teaching are better rules than the westernized thoughts and ideas. Some of them cannot accomodate themselves with the younger generation to narrow the gap in between even though the older generation might try to understand and to overcome the velocity accelerated by their westernized children.

Younger people pursue freedom and responsibility of their own way but it ends in irresponsible mischief and mistakable indulgence. We still need time and effort to settle our understanding of this generation and the future one. We must admit that such unmatchable relationships exist mutually and they are the stumbling blocks to understand and reconcile.

The older generation of the Confucian orientation lived under the virtue of patience and intolerance and now they face their children having unconditional liberal thoughts and behaviors. The older people cannot understand their way of life-styles and cannot overcome the wall between them. They only sigh and lament.

Therefore we must admit the current thoughts and life styles. It is important to accept the streams of today as they are. We must try ceaselessly to dialogue with our younger generation and build a formidable ground to set up basic frames for further understanding of ourselves. We come to a conclusion that this is the first condition to reconcile with our children.

We'd better be cautious to criticize the entanglement of sexual morality, slackening of ethics, the confusion of law and order, or lack of timely behaviors. We should educate them the responsibility and duty as freedom seekers and open our hearts toward them to be creative and adaptive for better possibility. In order to accomplish this line of project, we need to educate the parents first, especially mothers to initiate the dialogue with their children in such a manner.

Human relationship needs a continuous communication with others besides ego. We believe that others can know our intentions naturally, but there are many occasions of misunderstanding because of underestimated communication methods. Therefore we consider again the importance of dialogue.

Matrimonial relationship also needs patience and effort on which the human nature can develope successfully. It is the most dangerous situation when one does not know what s/he is doing presently. It becomes clear that the hurted can hurt the others and the lack of affection can ignite all sorts of human problems.

We all have felt that verbal abuse poses serious difficulties in our dialogues. And we have discussed the importance and hardship in finding proper words and phrases in language behaviors. Verbal abuse causes loss of precious things, in many cases worse than physical ones. We feel that there needs a high technique to communicate with words. We think that the language is the second best condition for reconciliation

Love is the answer of reconciliation. If one is reluctant to do reconciliation with others but to hate, then one must pray ceaselessly asking for love of her/his heart to love her/him. When one has felt love of mind, one can share her/his advise with others. It is critically weighty for us to have tenderness of love and wisdom of open mind.

When someone feels grateful to my little offering, I am rather thankful to her/him for giving me her/his gratitude. When one realizes the preciousness of life and nature, one can utter thanksgiving praises. We reassure that learning through suffering bears fruits of thanks and affections.

Korean society experiences a great leap of encountering among the separated families of south and north in this year 2000. This drama cannot be produced by any human manoeuvres. It becomes a dramatic occasion to confirm the fundamental differences of living and dead.

We reflect ourselves on our subjects seeing through main streams of national separation and reconciliation. We understand the greatness that vengeance can be paid back by gratitude, not by the revenge. When one feels that this is the grace, then we should accomplish true reconciliation.

Forgiveness or reconciliation cannot be fulfilled willingly, but it is a result of continuous patience and efforts accompanied prayers with sincerity. One should know that reconciliation accomplishes for others, not for myself. That is seeing things through other's view. This is our conclusion that one must adopt this consideration in which we should think of objectifying ourselves.

We become to know that the following diversions of thoughts can improve ourselves through endless efforts: from hatred to love, from hatred to forgiveness, from deceitful life to truthful life, from selfishness to dedication, from greed to share, from indifference to concern, from misunderstanding to understanding, from failure to hope, from negative thinking to positive thinking.. These efforts can make reconciliation with ourselves, family, society, nation, world, and universe.

We hope that we will lead our lives in keeping the six basics of love: "we don't become angry," "we take care," "we don't reproach," "we embrace," "we don't blame," "we share our warm feeling." It is necessarily to share even a small thing with our children in order to keep the spirit of share.

Love built upon mutual respect and forbearance, sincerity and cooperation are the ultimate concern of thanksgiving. We come to the conclusion that language of love is the foundation of reconciliation.