“I don’t know what the left is, but ‘we are the weak side’” … “The Word of Lee Haein” by Sister Haein Haein

An understanding

Written by Haein Haein Ahn Heekyung / Walk to Heart / Page 308 / 16,000 won

Ahn Hee-kyung: What advice would you like to give to those experiencing the depressing crown period?

Lee Haein: Whenever I gave a lecture, I used to say, “It is a happiness to live as if we are not naturally grateful and newly admired for the things we naturally enjoy.” I think the time to really practice is right now. Now we are all apprentices to Corona.

Ahn: In this case, what is the way to become a leap to maturity?

Lee: What if I think everyone who lives with me is from another country? … We learn that we must have a love that ranges from selfish sensitivity to altruistic sensitivity during the coronavirus. Love for me does not require effort, but love for others takes practice.

<이해인의 말>It is a book composed of conversations between Sister Lee Hae-in, a poet and monk who has forged a simple and solid reflection with the interesting journalist Ahn Hee-kyung. Last fall at 3 p.m., Ahn Hee-kyung was in California, and Sister Hae-in Hae-in sat at her desk in the Haein-Gul room at Benedict Convent in Olivettano, Busan, and looked over monitor. The interview, organized into 11 chapters, contained the vision of life, the vision of humanity and the vision of religion of Sister Lee Hae-in, who said: ‘I feel the peace of the light of the water’, which she learned on the road in the capital city in 56 years.

Sister Haein Haein was her first book of poetry in 1976. <민들레의 영토>Since its publication, it has published dozens of books. Although he led the popularization of poetry with his works containing the familiar theme of nature and a vision of life, his literary orientation has rarely been discussed in depth. The book conveys not only the messages he has consistently emphasized, such as love, joy, and peace, but also his enlightenment as a researcher as he looks back on his life, including life on the sickbed.

The first topic of conversation was Corona 19. Sister Haein Hae-in says that we are all apprentices at Corona Monastery, and “I think we should find a hidden hope.” Let us look for the joy that we can bring in this time of suffering and say: “The gift that the Crown gave us is really to look inside myself and see my neighbors up close. And it leads to reflection on the culture of human consumption, which is the fundamental cause of the pandemic. “Flowers are beautiful when they bloom, but they are beautiful when they are lost. It is beautiful that all life is wonderful and alive. … Inanimate objects, living things, and beings in the universe are all connected. Isn’t it a way of loving life to have companionship with one of the pineapples that surround you?

When I read the book, I think it wasn’t just the stories that it was good to hear by catching Sister Hae-in with prejudices. It is known that Sister Haein Haein only sings beautiful lyrics, but in the book it is full of three-dimensional aspects. For example, when he was sent to Myeongdong Cathedral in the 1980s, he packed lunch at the convent, took a bus to work, and ate cold rice, but the priests went to the hotel in front of the cathedral and ate a buffet. , and the nuns were also trying to distance themselves from the laity. Criticize the authoritarian culture within the church. Then remember that Pope Francis, who emphasized his love for minorities, was from South America. “If this person lived alone in Rome, would the perspective of society be like this? I think. I believe that due to the discrimination and poverty that we have experienced, we will emerge as leaders. … I feel that the true image of God lies in loving humans naturally beyond the laws created by man. “

One of the interesting points of the book is the site of a communion with a Buddhist monk. Features a parchment letter written by a Beopjeong monk in 1978 with a hand-painted brush. In the letter, the court of the monks said: “Let us learn loneliness because the loneliness of a monk does not come from separation, but because it is a tool to look at things like the bottom of the universe.” Sister Lee Haein reads the investigator’s attitude, both alone and together, and extends her loneliness to love for others. You may know Sister Lee Haein as an existentialist philosopher, a female nun based on feminist spirituality.

Comfort for the Sewol ferry families, interest in self-help programs for women in prostitution, and the relationship between poet Park No-hae, Kim Jin-sook, leader of the KCTU, and Im Taek-chun, a worker fired from Coltkoltech, you can also read his attitude as progressive, sensitive to discrimination in everyday life and society. “Some believers and relatives say that the nuns are all leftists. I don’t know if he is on the left or not, but I correct him because ‘we are on the weak side’ ”. They read the signs of the times and make social movements without solid rumors. “We always sign declarations and petitions. I don’t know what is profound about the fired workers, but the director grabbed the microphone and explained the situation and ‘let’s sign it’. When others see us, we eat well and live well, and although we do not seem to be interested in the world, our conscience remains open to the weak. “

Beyond physical distance, it makes you feel like you’re sitting in the corner of a table where the two of you are talking, listening, and nodding. Beneath the cold body and mind, the truth of everyday life in common words brings warm comfort. His last request is to love yourself. “You cannot fully love others beyond me.”