Chan experience of a young Korean Veterinarian in Korea. Overcoming foot surgery with full lotus practice

Written by Venerable XianAn

A few days ago, I got a message from Soo Seong Choi, a young Korean veterinarian who used to meditate in kneeling-down posture. He also did a lot of bowing but didn’t feel that he was making any further progress.

​He read articles about Chan during the last year and had started to sit in full lotus, but I wasn’t aware of this because he had never contacted me before. When he contacted me, he said he started to build faith in Buddhism after practicing full lotus and kept reading articles about Chan. I asked him how reading the articles helped him develop faith.

Recently he fell in a car repair shop and broke his foot. Despite having foot surgery, he started sitting in full lotus. His pain was gone when he was sitting, and he didn’t have to get pain injections. He also felt that some things started melting away from his heart.

It’s been about one week since the surgery, and his recovery has been very speedy. Because he wasn’t happy about not making progress, he has been very glad to be able to practice Chan. He read about Juan’s Chan meditation experience and felt that it was similar to his job. When he was in veterinary school, he wished to help animals, but in reality, he often has to euthanize animals. It makes his job very hard. Now he has started learning the Medicine Buddha Dharma, and he will start reciting Medicine Buddha’s name, “Na Mo Yak Sa Yeo Rai Bul,” in Korean.

​[Please consult with your own physician before trying this practice]