One day. lettuce told me...

Few people like to harm other lives. However, animals on Earth have been destined to maintain their lives by consuming other lives. Many people refuse to eat meat because they do not want to hurt other living beings. A woman who retired from school was one of those people. She tended a vegetable garden, and she always felt sorry when she ate the plants that grew there. It was always burdensome to take the life of a plant for her own life. All she could do was to go to the plant and say thank you. One day, the lettuce suddenly came to speak when she was picking the lettuce in the field. She looked around to see who was around, but no one was there. After a while, she knew that lettuce was talking to her. And she was so impressed by what the lettuce said. "Do not be sorry about having me. I love you so much. I am so glad to give my life and my body to you because I love you so much. But just remember one thing. You love other beings as I love you with life force which you gain from me. I

Bedtime Meditation

[[Image by nmiranda(Pixabay.com)]] This meditation is unique to Korea. It is called True Self Meditation(TSM) in English. Today I would like to introduce a simple method of meditation that anyone can do every day before starting the journey into the TSM world. Modern people are so busy that they do not have time to meditate. But everyone sleeps. You can meditate just before going to bed. First, lie on bed, and relax your body and mind with several comfortable breaths. Breathe out a long and comfortable breath and let your breath come in by itself. If you try to force your breath out for a long time, you can feel a pressure on your chest because it is under the strain. At first, your breath may be jagged and rough. However, your breathing will eventually become even if you are patient and don't force it. Smiling may help because it can relax our body and mind. When you breathe, all kinds of thoughts may come across your mind. Then just take a long breath again. Of course, let your b

Secret behind President Moon's tattered shoes

[[Image : Real Story TV channel in Youtube (Link)]] In Korea, as is the case in every country, every move of the national leader Moon Jae-In attracts attention from the public. As such, his shoes became famous in the last presidential election for two very specific reasons. The first of these are their worn-out soles. When Moon attended the 2016 memorial ceremony of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement as a presidential candidate, photographs of the worn-out soles of his shoes touched the hearts of Korea's average joes and janes who struggle to bring bread to the table. The second reason that Mr. Moon's shoes received attention was because the shop he bought his shoes was a social enterprise founded by Yu Seok-yeong, the former owner of Scene of Making Shoes, with six hearing-impaired employees. In Korea, a social enterprise is an intermediate form between a for-profit and a non-profit company, where social purpose is the top priority. It is said that he bought the shoes

Wouldn't it be nice if consumers can fix their own prices?

Yes, it would, wouldn't it? and actually there is a company in Korea who lets its consmuers do just that. Who fixes the market prices of farm products? In most cases, it is set by vendors following extensive market research. If production increases with a good harvest, prices may fall. If production is down, the reverse applies. In Korea, however, a company called Hansalim allows the consumers to participate in setting the price of goods. It sells organic agricultural products, similar to Whole Foods in America, but strictly speaking Hansalim is not a corporation but a cooperative, open to members only. Each year, farmers and consumer gather to discuss what crops will be produced in the following year, how much to produce, and what the prices are. The reason for doing this is to guarantee stable sources of income for farmers. The farmers who supply Hansalim are organic farmers. Though it is much harder than farming using pesticides and pesticides, these farmers believe that organic

A design company helps victims of sexual slavery to share their stories

Before and during the Second World War, the Imperial Japanese Army forced tens of thousands of young women from across Asia into sexual slavery, with the majority coming from Korea and China. Euphemistically referred to as ‘comfort women’, their fates have been long been a sticking point in relations between Japan and Korea, as the latter feels the former is yet to provide any sincere apology or adequate compensation to the victims. Yoon Hong-jo, owner of design company Marymond, is one of many activists who are adamant that ‘comfort women’ is an issue of human rights more than being a mere issue of political disagreement, . Yoon met former ‘comfort women’ for the first time as a volunteer when he was a student at Korea University, . He was immediately struck by their stories and how, rather than suffering in silence, they became dedicated human rights activists fighting for compensation and recognition from the Japanese government, and courageously sharing their stories. Following gra

Korean men enjoyed the world first paternity leave 500 years ago!

[[Image by Republic of Korea (flickr.com), CC BY-SA 2.0 license]] Paternity leave is a recent development in Western countries, believed to be first introduced by Scandinavian welfare states in the 1970s. But behold! Koreans fathers were provided leave as far back as 500 years ago thanks to King Sejong! According to Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, in 1426, the 8th year of his reign, Sejong instructed his Ministry of Justice to introduce 100 days of maternity leave following the birth of a child, later adding another 30 days before the birth, to provide new mothers a total of 130 days rest. “It was once the case that a public servant who has given birth would be given only 7 days rest before returning to work, and would be full of worry about the welfare of the child they left behind, so I gave them 100 days instead. However, there are occasions when a woman experiencing labour pains at work is forced to give birth before she can reach her home, so how about providing a month’s