I'm not asking you to find the answer, I'm asking you to change your perspective.

They say that young people these days no longer live for happiness or success.
This may be proof that our lives are difficult and our future is uncertain.
To the young people who come to him with questions that have been buried in their frustrating reality for a long time, Monk Beopryun tells them that there is no right answer.
There are no set answers in life, so if you want to change your life, I recommend changing your thinking habits and changing your perspective.
Let's live with the mindset that 'I'm fine as I am now. If I accept it from a different perspective, the current reality is not lacking.'
Then my mind becomes at peace like a calm lake, and my appearance shines like the sparkling sunlight.
Happiness, which seemed so distant because of the bleak reality, is now approaching us in a natural and close way.
The laughter of youth blossoms in free thought.
This is the positive energy that saves me and those around me, and it is the source of the power to change reality.

"I am a good person" is a book that compiles hundreds of stories of youth's concerns that resonated with Monk Beopryun's Q&A sessions over the past five years, from 2016 to 2020.
The book addresses the main concerns of young people, such as self-esteem, depression, anxiety, anger, interpersonal relationships, love and family, career paths, and social issues, through the speaking style of Venerable Pomnyun.


The question-and-answer session of the Venerable Pomnyun is a place where one can become aware of one's own problems and solve them through a question-and-answer dialogue.
The conversation continues between the questioner and the monk, but at some point, it becomes a space for empathy where the audience and the monk respond, resolving the concerns of not only the questioner but also the participants listening.
As the content was reduced and refined to fit the fixed format and length of the book, it is regrettable that the emotions and atmosphere of the scene cannot be conveyed as they were.
In cases where the content of the question strongly included characteristics of gender, ideology, region, or occupation, it was modified to the extent that it did not harm universality and fairness.

Being disappointed in yourself means you think too highly of yourself.
When you see yourself in reality, the self you have drawn so high and large in your fantasy world becomes pathetic and disappointing.
So, to overcome this, most people try to elevate their reality to a fantasy version of themselves.
Then, even if you work hard until you die, you will never be satisfied.
(syncopation)
If I say that I am the most precious being in this world and at the same time, I am nothing like a blade of grass growing on the roadside, these two things may seem contradictory and opposite, but they are not.
Everything that exists in the world is precious.
A single blade of grass on the side of the road, a squirrel living in the forest, and even people are all considered precious beings.
At the same time, it also means that my existence is like a blade of grass on the roadside, or a squirrel living in the forest.
--- From the preface

If you are here now and decide today but don't do it tomorrow, and decide tomorrow but don't do it the day after, it will be the same in the future.
Talking about what you'll do after you're discharged from the military is just a dream.
What I have to do now is see if I can be faithful to the life I am in.
The problem with our lives is not that someone outside is binding us.
It's a habit of my life, a habit of my thinking, something I can't break away from and always repeat.
I can't give others everything they want.
Do as much as you can, and don't do what you can't do.
Likewise, this world can't always be the way I want it to be.
A state of mind that is neither excited nor depressed, but calm, is the original state of a healthy mind.
But the questioner thinks that being excited is happiness.
If you only pursue that kind of happiness, your life will become more difficult in the future.

One thing to know about human relationships is that 'people are all the same and all selfish.'
Being selfish isn't a bad thing.
Humans are inherently selfish.
When we recognize that we are selfish and acknowledge the selfishness of others, our relationships become smoother.
All beings are precious in themselves.
It's just 'it'.
Good and bad things all come from our cognitive system.
People with depression have the right to be happy, even if they can't sleep every night and have to take medication.
In any case, we have the right to be happy.
Saying, 'I want to be loved' is like saying, 'I want to be someone else's slave.'
Joy is found in loving others.

The mistakes you make as you live are a natural part of life.
Life is about trying ten things and not getting nine, but getting one.
I don't suffer because I think it's natural, but you always suffer because you think nine out of ten will succeed and one out of ten won't.
But today, we do not want to be masters, but rather we want to be servants.
We try to be loved rather than loving, we try to be helped rather than giving, we try to be understood rather than understanding.

Many people, including the questioner, live their lives making themselves look insignificant.
In addition, trying to make yourself better by comparing yourself to others is called greed.
Then you become mean or arrogant.
In this world, there is nothing precious or lowly.
There is nothing big or small, nothing clean or dirty, nothing sacred or impure.
That's all there is to it.
To love myself is to acknowledge and accept the reality of who I am.
It's fine as it is now.
Even if I am a little lacking, I am okay with who I am now.
You can change yourself little by little by letting go of greed based on self-affirmation.
Seeing yourself positively as you are is the beginning of self-love.

Something that is not gold is like gold.
Saying something "looks as good as gold" might be comforting and even complimentary, but if you told real gold, "It doesn't look like gold," would it feel intimidated or not? Likewise, the questioner is a truly good person, so he doesn't need any consolation.
A person with self-esteem is not mean, but dignified, even when poor, and is humble even when he has money and power.
There is no need to show off because you are the greatest being.
Just do it with the mindset of ‘I’ll just do it.’
When the alarm goes off, I wake up and do it, even if I don't want to or if I want to.
You shouldn't be too caught up in likes and dislikes.
Feelings of like and dislike arise from the habits we have developed so far.

We must strive for social change, but at the same time, we must take good care of our own hearts and always be happy.
You have to be happy to be able to do it consistently, and you have to be consistent for change to happen.
You can't just wait around or think about your losses until this situation passes.
We need to study ways to turn unfavorable conditions into favorable ones.
Because we are in the same conditions as now, we can think about and try even more diverse things.
In any situation, you must stay awake and proactive to make the most of the given situation.
The world always moves regardless of our will.
No matter how the world changes, we just have to use the situation effectively to our advantage.

The middle way is not 'exactly in the middle', but rather, it is neither too much nor too little, and it is the right path while embracing others.
But this requires more practice than theory.
The most important ability in the future society is flexibility.
Another word for flexibility is 'freedom'.
In Buddhist terms, it is ‘liberation.’
From a young age, education should be provided that fosters this kind of flexibility in thinking.

Even if it is different from the flow of the world, if you like living in a different direction, then live that way. If you want to follow the flow, then choose to follow it and live your life.
Don't live difficultly, live easily.
There are three perspectives to keep in mind.
Not there, but here, not past or future, but present, not talking about others, but talking about myself.
Now, here, me!
The liberation of labor is often thought of as 'less working hours and higher wages', but the true liberation of labor is 'the playfulness of labor'.

When you walk the path of creation, you must not fear failure.
Failure is the shortcut to success.
Failure at this time is not a matter of winning or losing, but rather a practice process of discovering something new.
Let's think about a pond where water bugs, frogs, snakes, and other creatures live together as one ecosystem.
From the frog's point of view, the more water bugs the better, and the fewer snakes the better.
In fact, when a snake dies, the frog population increases dramatically.
However, as the amount of water bugs they eat increases, eventually there are no more water bugs to eat, and all the frogs die.
Looking at it this way, we can see that the snake's existence is actually something that allows the frog to live.

This is not a question of 'which choice is right?' but a question of responsibility.
Whatever decision you make, take responsibility for it and be willing to accept the consequences of your decision.
Then, whatever decision you make, there will be no problem.
The reason our lives are miserable is because we don't want to take responsibility for our choices.
Our lives become much easier if we are willing to take responsibility for our choices.
Being recognized is not something I can do on my own.
When you ask people to 'accept me as I want', you're asking them to be your puppet who does whatever you want.

Love that is inherently driven by desire has an element of hatred towards the other person when things don't go one's way.
That's why it's said, 'Love is the seed of hate.'
This kind of love, as good as it is, is followed by suffering, so it cannot escape from suffering.
If you disguise it as love while doing business, life will be miserable, but if you admit it is business from the beginning, there will be no problem.
Rather, you will look at it more closely, and even if you end up in a deficit later, you will be responsible for your choices, so there is no need to hate the other person.
Most people judge things by looking at only one side, but things have many sides: front and back, left and right, up and down.
You need to be able to see the whole picture so that you won't regret any decision you make later.

--- From the text