I Feel More Spiritually Fulfilled

　 Ever since I was young, I have been attracted to spirituality and the spirit world. Many incidents in my life, such as surviving a car accident, suffering severe illnesses, and experiencing supernatural phenomena, have led me to an awareness that there is much more to existence than just the material, scientific world, and that God does indeed exist.

　 I was raised a Catholic, but not by choice. We had to accept the Catholic religion because Catholic instruction was mandatory in most of the schools. I was once a devoted Catholic, and I learned much from the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. But the more I learned, the more questions I had, and many of my questions could not be answered by my teachers.

　 After college, I attended seminars about how to develop mind power. I thought that this would be a way to connect to divine entities. In the seminar, they taught people how to use their psychic abilities. It was interesting at first, but it alone could not satisfy my spirit.
　
　 After a while, I faltered in my meditation practice, and I felt my energy level dropping. But every time my energy level would plunge nearly to zero, I felt a presence guiding me back to spirituality and nature, to the essence of life. Each time, this presence brought me back to meditation. At one point in time, frustrated with the pattern of my life, I resolved to myself that I would observe a conscientious regimen of meditation. A few weeks after I made this resolution, around February 2006, I came to know a member of Jeung San Do, David Sim.
　
　 I met him during a golf tournament. He was alone too, and we each needed a second player in order to participate. We had a good time playing golf and a good conversation. After the game and the award ceremonies, we lingered, had a few drinks, and talked some more. David asked me about my name and what it meant. I had never considered the meaning of my name before, and I had typically found it hard to make people remember my weird name. (‘Ansan’ is not a usual English name, and the possibility that any other person in the entire Philippines has the same name is remote.) But I could see in his face that there was something interesting about my name, which he explained later. He also told me that he was attending meditation sessions in a dojang and invited me to attend too. This was quite a coincidence given my recent resolution, particularly since I had also intended to join a group in order to make my meditation more effective.

　 When I first went to the dojang, on the third Sunday in March of this year, I found the place very inviting. I sensed a very peaceful energy. I also felt a difference in my meditation when I joined the chanting. Actually, I was initially hesitant to join in, because the organization was unfamiliar to me and I first wanted to know more about it. I did some research on the internet, and at the same time, I read the Dojeon and other Jeung San Do related books lent to me by practitioners. I discovered nothing negative about Jeung San Do during all my research on the internet; rather, I found the teachings on mutual life-giving to be very appealing.
　
　 Lee Sang Kyu Pojeongnim’s teachings on cosmology were not hard to understand or accept, because of my Chinese/Buddhist background. His teachings about gaebyeok were also not new to me, since the topic of the coming time of change had been discussed in new age and mind development seminars that I had attended. Because most of his teachings were so easy to accept, I found myself returning to the dojang more and more. Although some teachings were initially beyond my comprehension, with continuous study and meditation, these teachings slowly became understandable to me. Also, I could feel the power of the mantras. I discovered that a session of mantra chanting was three times more effective than my usual meditation methods.

　 Over the past few months of meditation and study, my life has changed. I feel more spiritually fulfilled and contented. This alone is a great achievement. As my mind and spirit have become more developed, I have come to sense more energy in my body and my surroundings. Development of spiritual abilities was not my goal, but it occurred naturally. I am now more attuned to the spirits present throughout the world, and I sometimes receive messages from them. I also recognize the power of the Taeeulju Mantra. I have not been seriously ill since I started chanting. This is fascinating for me since I am usually the one most often and most seriously ill among my family members, friends, and colleagues. Now, I also know and feel that gaebyeok is indeed near. The signs are clear in world events. Natural calamities have also escalated in both scale and frequency.
　
　 I now recognize that the work of Jeung San Do and its followers is essential for the saving of lives during the coming gaebyeok. I know that more people are needed to accomplish the work, so I plan to invite people to the dojang. I also have plans for helping to make the organization even stronger. Although I have learned much, I know that there is much more yet to learn. I have now resolved to meditate, to learn more about Sangjenim’s and Taemonim’s teachings, and to continue developing myself so that I can make a difference in the coming times.