Ms. Kim Liang Hee, 44
Yoga Teacher from outside Gwangju
Before starting the interview at her home in the countryside, Ms. Kim proudly told us she once fasted 45 days.
I have happenings in my life. I’m always thinking what makes me do this or that.
What made you do yoga?
I don’t know about that. Maybe that’s my job from before my life, reincarnation. Before this life I practiced yoga. Like karma, you know? It’s my own kind of habit, an old habit.Yoga? Meditation?
This life. We can’t analyze. All my life is my habit. Habit is deep inside me.Like what kind of habits?
It’s connected to Buddhism, you know? There are so many bodies, causal bodies. It’s the physical body, inside the physical body, the astral body, deep inside we have the causal body. The causal body is one kind of cause. Maybe you can understand from your child. The child is born first time from, he didn’t learn anything before, but he…when he moves just himself, he can do like, spatially, he has character, original character. You think so?Ummm, an original character? Yeah, sure, all people have a unique individual character.
What makes him the character?I don’t know. Maybe from the sperm and the egg. Something is genetically programmed into him.
Although he is young inside him he has ancient spirit. Inside I think. For a long time they have some old spirit, just only he has a young body.Hmmm. So how did you get interested in yoga to begin with?
When I was teenager, I had sick, aches, pain, in my mind and in my body. My environment made me sick. That made me interested in yoga.Did you read a book or take a class?
Nearly 30 years ago I couldn’t find any yoga books. I checked all the bookstores and found just one book, translated, a small book by Iyengar. He’s so famous in India. I was so happy but I couldn’t understand, I couldn’t practice yoga at that time. I still had sickness in my mind and body. I had asthma. Every day I had a cold for nearly ten years. I studied after university and became a middle school teacher and taught Science, in high school too, but couldn’t feel happy about my job. Sometimes I lost consciousness my asthma was so severe. I experienced hell three times. They were near death experiences. I went to Seoul during the Olympics to study yoga, but couldn’t enjoy the Olympics at that time. I was focusing on yoga. I studied dan (abdominal) breathing at university. Strangely my mind was inclined to yoga. I practiced yoga by myself in Gwangju after I met my husband. Now he is in Seoul. We went to India together and stayed at ashrams at a center in the Himalayas and other places for eight months.Was it a good experience?
Yes, we traveled, then stayed several days at an ashram.Do you teach yoga now?
Yeah, part-time in Gwangju. I only use this place at special times.Where do you teach in Gwangju? A studio? People’s houses?
Maybe you can’t understand Korean culture. I’m just invited some place.Like a school?
Yeah, or a center or institute. It’s more like a cultural center. They study from me just only one time or two times in a week. It’s enough money to live. Sometimes I hold events here. Recreation… special meditation events, fasting events. Nowadays on tv doctors say, “You have to eat three times a day.” It’s hypnosis (brainwashing). You know that cat and dog and other animals, when they have sick or have a break in mind and body, they didn’t eat anything, you know? This is nature. I believe small eating makes us more healthy.So you’re studying now for your thesis?
When I study yoga intuitionally we can capture about the sick from the people when they have some sick and pain, I can catch the…When I’m sick you can my sickness?
(laughs) When you’re sick, I can see your sick.So you’re studying how to see sickness in people?
Not studying, but meditating how to catch sickness in people. Understand it intuitionally. About the traditional medicine. Every day my mind focuses on that. You are a westerner so I’m confused; what happens inside is difficult to me, but I feel comfortable from him (points to my unused Korean interpreter). I can see he is a little sick.What problem?
You can’t understand about that because it’s a traditional Korean word, you know kind of traditional medicine. We think about five elements: soil and earth and water and fever, you know? Five elements. I feel he has to control the fever inside. “She’s right,” the interpreter says. Now is ok but after time that makes him more difficult. Now he’s so young.So you’re studying to develop that skill, that ability?
It’s arising in me. Intuitional knowledge. You know?Yeah. I’m trying to understand what you’re studying. If you say things like intuition that is not something people study. That’s the nature of intution—no studying. So what are you studying?
Oh, I’m only studying yoga and I have to have aware to my body and others. Awareness. Two years ago I studied because of boredom. Now I’m 44; after 40 I feel some boring. Boring is so good to me. Boring is “oh! So happy.”Maybe you mean some other word. In English the nature of boredom is not happiness.
It’s happy to me.Why?
It’s like the nature.Maybe you can describe your feeling with a different word because the nature of boredom is dissatisfaction. Maybe like nothing, doing nothing, nothingness…
Yeah. Korean, Asian and Westerner is different that’s why the difference. We can’t translate directly. It’s relaxation.In a month, how many hours do you teach yoga?
It’s different every year.Average?
Five years ago just 3 or 4 days, sometimes only 2 days. Nowadays I go to Gwangju 5 or 6 days a week. I have to graduate university. That makes me busy.What’s your dream for the future?
Relaxation life.Just continue this life?
This life is not relaxation because I have to go out and unhappy sometimes. Even that work I can enjoy. Not serious only I can enjoy but sometimes I want to quit, a few days after, a few years after I come back to the relaxed life.So you can just work in the garden?
Yes and I sometimes dream maybe I will start a meditation center, but maybe that’s greed.the end