Is it Wednesday or Thursday? I don't notice how time and day passes by nowadays. Since I've been at Bonggol, it passed away half month already. At first there were several people practising here, so it was interesting to live with them. But at the same time it was difficult to concentrate on practice itself. I've been alone for recent 3 weeks, it's very good but a little bit lonely. Especially when I have meal…. It seems that it has been raining for 3 weeks. The sound that rain makes has been always with me and that natural sound washed away what was in my mind. Now I'm alone. However what is alone is not what is alone. When I am in my room, I fight against flies, when I'm outside, dogs kiss me, mysterious worms, dragonflies, warts, grasshoppers talk to me.

Over a month I've practiced yoga asana and breathing(pranayama), and my mind became peaceful. Breathing has been improved so much, eyesight and skin also became better. And I itself is good one because I can get improvement through the very pain. With my mind becoming peaceful, I can breathe better, and I can practise yoga asana with light mind. And I can feel Om mantra practice with my heart. I recognize various agitation in my mind when I can't concentrate on the practice and I see no improvement on it. To practice mind, spirit and body cannot be accomplished without making up my mind stately.

I thought that I knew about practice, meditation and yoga by reading a couple of books. But a few weeks ago, master gave a good scolding to me and said "You don't know." Since that, I started to ask myself even a little about practice meditation and yoga. No matter how much I think, no matter how many books I read, no matter how often I listen to master's lecture, if I don't realize by myself why, how and what to eat, I only keep in believing in other's sayings, that means I don't know anything.

Now I ask only a little and I know I don't know anything. It is sure that person has to breathes, eats and evacuate but I have doubt about what is beyond those categories.

At the first day I came to Bonggol, Baw(a name of Poongsan dog) passed water to my leg. With this he expressed "You are mine." Then I got angry, but now I think Baw marked me out and I think I encountered excellent chance to live here. To live here was sometimes difficult and sometimes easy and sometimes hard and sometimes comfortable. I think it's same wherever I go. That is Yin and Yang.

After 1 week, I will have to go back to US. My parents want me to continue study. But I think it is more important to learn soil, air, fire, water and Ki as I want to be a good potter. Potter should be healthy and potter''s mind should be at ease and modest, through it he can become an ordinary modest potter who puts the whole mind to the work, and then potter can make brilliant vessels (yonggi at korean).

And I won't forget what master told me. In the day of departure, I tried to make a bow on ceremonial occasions, but master refused it and asked me to ask myself why I should practice and why I got a tied with Onggi and Korea. Why? Why?

Master presented me with grinded Honghwa seeds and ginger tea.
"Yonggi! What do you know? Take out what you know. Yonggi! How can person make ceramic who cannot make soil, water, fire and air?"


taking away dogs droppings
Lee Yonggi


*Yonggi Lee: He majored in ceramic art and he fell in love with Korean Traditional Onggi. His American name is Dustine Whitaker. He practiced in the Institute and "Kkaedatgi Health School" and went through our national spirit and the wisdom of Oriental theory including Yoga. And he decided to practice touching soil all his life and went back to US temporarily in order to prepare a full-scale practice. Above writing is written by himself in Korean. Though grammar is partly wrong, it is not corrected so that his feelings are well conveyed. The name of Yonggi is named by himself to express himself as a potter.