Santa Clara Meditation Invest in Yourself – What are the biggest lessons you have learned in the corporate world?
I am a teacher who teaches meditation to teenagers in public schools in S. Korea. I belong to a specialized meditation organization that sends meditation teachers to various organizations. We teach meditation in schools, public corporations, private companies, and government agencies in Korea. We promote whole-person education through meditation. I have been working as a teacher for 4 years, and I would like to share what I have learned about how to succeed in whatever you do.
- Make success possible with the help of others
How do I get help from others? I must sacrifice first. I didn’t know this secret until I reached middle age. After graduating from college in my 20s, I worked as a camera reporter for a newspaper, and video planning at an actor management company. And I also worked at a publishing company to produce advertisements. It was all glamourous and interesting, but I always had conflicts with my teammates. I used to quit and change jobs easily because the intensity of work was more than I expected, and the salary was less than expected. In my 20’s and 30’s, I didn’t know the true meaning of the word sacrifice. I didn’t even know how to communicate with the team members. I didn’t even know what to sacrifice for the organization. Through meditation I was able to come out of self-centered mind. After doing that I could much more easily see what others needed and could be much more effective in helping the team.
- Get to the point of your work
For me, work was a place to make money, a place to decorate myself and socialize. It is very pathetic and embarrassing to have to admit that now. While teaching at school as a meditation instructor, I thought a lot about how I could make myself look good and make my children take my class well. So, I went to a beauty salon, bought new cosmetics, and bought pretty clothes. It was my fellow teachers who noticed to my new appearance. I concluded that it was useless, but I was putting my energy into it. I wasn’t getting to the point of my job. A sincere heart reaching out to students is more important than new clothes. These days I came to realize that if I can find children’s laughter through meditation, looking a little tacky doesn’t matter.
- When my colleagues develop, I also develop
The strength that I have identified in myself is that I am responsive and speak well. So, being a meditation instructor is perfect for my qualities. Thanks to these strengths, my fellow teachers often envy me. There have been so many teachers who have attended school together over the past four years, and they all told me that they were envious. As I listened to them, I was proud of myself and enjoyed that feeling. However, there was a teacher whom I recently attended the middle school with, and she was truly honest and courageous. She said she was lacking a lot and every time she met me she said she was so grateful to work with me. I just took it for granted, but surprisingly, it was clearly visible to my eyes that she was improving more and more as the lectures continued. This person who I felt superior to became better than me, so I started to feel anxious and hated it. Fortunately, however, I could quickly recognize my mind and discarded it through meditation and my mind was able to change. ‘Let’s improve together!’ I learned that the other’s progress is my progress.
- Meditate
We already have countless examples of successful people that improve concentration, intuition, and communication skills through meditation. I was a fan of meditation before becoming a teacher. I love meditation and I am recharged daily by it. If I could not objectively look back at myself while meditating and abandon the mean and selfish minds I hold, I never would have changed. Without hesitation whenever those self-centered minds come up, I use meditation to get rid of them. Now I always think about the impact of my work and have sincere concern and communication with people so we can work well together.
If you want to improve your life in any organization, I strongly suggest meditation. Sometimes we can clearly see the problems we have, but we don’t know how to solve them. Through meditation, I found success, hope, development, and vision. You can do it too. You can expand your view of things and find what you genuinely like. If it is something you like you can do it well. No one in the world, but you can find it. The answer lies within you
by Donna Seo
