Prologue: 10 Minutes a Day: Short, Deep Thoughts That Change Me

Part 1 - Gaze: Who Am I Seeing?

Will, if today were the last day of my life
Emptiness, an all-too-human struggle
Pain, the way of life
Conscience, the shape of the mind
Jeonjeong, the courage to prune the branches within me
Inner self, scope of thought
Meaning, the darkness that must be illuminated by the light of the heart

Part 2 - How to Become a Strict and Dignified Me

Walk, an inner dignity that cannot be deceived
Memory, a deception disguised as truth
Toya, my own mission
A single-minded, mind-training approach to finding your unique mission
Hobbies, the things that define me
Quarantine, a strict life for oneself
Caution, Escape from Illusion

Part 3 - Clarity, the moment when words and actions align

A fervent wish for a better me
Creation, effort to differentiate from yesterday
Sacrifice, the practice of finding the sacred self
Inherent, secret insight
Guide, the base camp of life
Patience in waiting for one's own culture to blossom
Distinction, the training to break away from everyday habits

Part 4 - Sublimation, the Beginning of Great Change

Awakening, what will you wake up from?
Adventure, transcending the boundaries of everyday life
Transformation, the meaning of existence
I have lost, my own court to judge me
Change, a polite invitation to me
unknown, unrecognized land
Brilliance, a light with no end

Epilogue: A human being is only as good as he thinks.

Living is a process of being born slowly every day.
Should I live like this or should I live the life I want?

『Sublimation』 is the final book in a four-part humanities essay series, which began with 『Abyss』 (2016), 『Cultivation』 (2018), and 『Stillness』 (2019).
After listening to the inner voice from your own 'abyss', practicing 'training' to discard unnecessary thoughts like the clutter of life, and having 'stillness' of mind for equanimity, the stage you finally reach is 'sublimation'.
'Sublimation' means the desire to pursue a higher level of life than one's current life.


‘Sublimation’ is not a state of perfection without any temptations or trials.
It is the humility that comes from discovering a higher peak that was previously invisible.
It is as if a person who has climbed to the top of a local mountain realizes that there is a mountain higher than that mountain and becomes humble.

The questions that are needed at this time are, “What is the me that I want to be?” and “Am I living with admiration for myself?”
The author argues that we need to redefine our relationship with ourselves, rather than our relationship with others.
Change begins with placing the values ​​and direction of life within ourselves, not externally.
Confidence in your present self, which is different from yesterday, and the courageous challenge to continuously innovate yourself create changes in your daily life.


28 Words to Help You Reflect
Aphorisms of life, condensed into the essence of reason

This book consists of 28 essays on emptiness, pain, conscience, inner self, transformation, and the unknown.
Each word is also a guide to changing oneself.
The author, a classical philologist, explored etymologies in ancient languages ​​such as Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Latin, uncovered hidden meanings, and reconstructed them anew.


Moreover, from lesser-known scriptures such as the Yoga Sutras and the Upanishads to in-depth interpretations of classics such as Dante, Sophocles, and Aurelius, one can experience the essence of thought beyond the boundaries of time and discipline.
Furthermore, the author's meditations on nature while living in the countryside are combined to give a profound resonance about the essence of life.

[Key sentence]
Who and what will I encounter today? What thoughts will I encounter in my head, and how will I react? I want to observe how I handle them today.

- The day is completed in the morning, not in the evening.
How you spend your morning determines the quality of your day.

- When you are absorbed in your work, even time, the master of the universe, runs away.
A person who is absorbed in himself does not yield himself to time.

- A day is a training session to create the person you admire.
Training is a systematic attack on the laziness and greed that keep us stuck in our past.

Change is a desperate request I make to myself.
What will I ask of myself today?

The walls I encounter in my daily life are not obstacles, but the only path I have to overcome.
But it is important to remember that the results of overcoming may be minimal.
Because the anxious daily life will remain unchanged.
Nevertheless, the author says that the best we can do is to accept life as it is, full of meaninglessness and contradictions, and to try to live each day as if it were our last.


If you embrace the words introduced in this book as part of your life for even 10 minutes a day, whether early in the morning or before going to bed, you will experience a quiet change.
The stars I must discover are not in some distant, unreachable sky.
Because that star is a gemstone that can only be seen when you close your eyes and look into your own heart.
The gem is still waiting to be discovered.