Ex-English guru pursues awakening in Buddhism
Kim Young-ro in his study room at his home in Toechon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. / Korea Times photos by Ko Dong-hwan
"Death is not something to fear"
By Ko Dong-hwan
Kim Young-ro, 74, is a devout Buddhist. He doesn’t fear death but embraces it as a religious medium that leads him to the perpetual goal.
His spiritual journey began 10 years ago when he was busy pursuing the lessons of Buddha. He was a well-known English instructor in Korea whose name was hot throughout the 1980s and is still remembered among those in their 40s and 50s.
He graduated from Seoul National University after majoring in English literature and worked as a teacher at Soongmoon High School and the privately-run Hyundae English School.
“Regardless of age or health, our life can end at any moment. So everybody ought to prepare for death,” said Kim.
An aged man who has shed visible amounts of hair and keeps a thin physique to weigh slightly over 50 kilograms, Kim has tried to reach out to people and provide them with a sound life lesson.
“We are here to grow spiritually,” said Kim. “And we should always do our utmost to cultivate the good heart, the universal love and compassion, which is the best way to the highest enlightenment and happiness. May everyone be happy!”
Kim delivered this encouraging message in a calm voice at his home in the quiet town of Toechon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
“The more you suffer in life, the more you are blessed,” said Kim. “For through your suffering your karma is purified, and you are more likely to be reborn in higher realms in your next life.”
Kim’s inner transformation began before he moved to Toechon from Jongno, Seoul, in 2002. He started developing an interest in books about Buddhism in the late 1990s.
In 2001, his wife, Lee Nan, 65, an artist-in-residence, dreamed about Guanyin ― an East-Asian deity of mercy ― which he took as a cue to embark on his second-phase of life as a Buddhist.
The following year, he met his first religious mentor: the late Suh Byung-huh, a music critic, a newspaper reporter and the father of popular Korean rapper Tiger JK from hip-hop duo Drunken Tiger. He died in 2014.
Kim Young-ro has written many books since 1984, including best-selling English guidebooks and self-help religious books about Buddhism.
Kim’s way of training himself has been to translate Buddhist texts written in English into Korean. Learning English through what he calls an “expression-centered approach,” he attributes his masterful English proficiency to handling the sacred tasks. But even for the master, translating Buddhist texts is no easy task.
“It is difficult to find appropriate Korean words for some highly sophisticated technical Buddhist Tantric terms,” said Kim, referring to the notation coined by recent scholars to the style of meditation and ritual that emerged in India before the fifth century. “Because we don’t have a Korean Buddhist Tantra dictionary yet.”
But Kim doesn’t mind such hardship at all.
“After I embarked on the translation, I realized that my English learning was only for the sacred job of translating Buddhist Tantric literature into Korean,” said Kim.
He has written three books that include original English texts and translated Korean texts: “Happiness Lessons,” “The Great Leader,” and “Death Lessons.”
“These sacred texts are so filled with the Buddha’s blessings that I found myself in constant peace and bliss. What can I ask for more?” he said.
Kim’s portfolio as an English expert dates back to 1984 when he wrote his first English guidebook called “Read Easy.” The book drew keen public attention and some media outlets dubbed it “the bible of English reading.”
After that book, he wrote more English guidebooks including “Kim Young-ro Vocabulary” and “Context Easy.”
Some of his books sold millions nationwide and he plans to write more in the future. “I feel that I still have a mission to write a few books for English education before I pass away into my next life,” said Kim.
Nonetheless, his most important plan is focused on his Buddhism faith.
“My biggest plan is to continue this translation for another 10 years,” said Kim. “And then to devote myself to Tantric meditation. Though, in a sense, even now my whole life is a kind of meditation.”
Indeed, Kim’s life has been no merry-go-round. In 2010, his younger son committed suicide, one month prior to his 39th birthday. He has since overcome this great loss that he calls a “disaster.”
“Many things helped me,” said Kim. “But above all, an acquaintance asked me to copy-read her Korean translation of ‘Jewel Ornament of Liberation’ by Gampopa, the founder of Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism today. Gampopa lost his son and wife to illness, which led him to devote himself only to Dharma practice.”
Kim also pointed Buddha’s last teaching as another help: everything is impermanent, strive for your own liberation.
“Every experience can be turned into the path of enlightenment,” said Kim, referring to Tantric teaching. “Even death itself is the greatest opportunity for awakening. As a result of this experience, I wrote “Death Lessons” that was published 2014.”
Although Kim may have a blissful heart, he still has a critical view on the English education environment in Korea.
“Except for tests like TOEIC, TOEFL and the state-run College Scholastic Ability Test, all school English exams should be replaced by tests of speaking and writing abilities,” said Kim. “Through my experience as an English teacher, I found the biggest problem most students face in learning English is to bring their Korean language habits to the foreign language and try to understand English through translating the given sentence in the ‘bottom to top’ order, which is contrary to the original language order.”
“This kind of traditional translation prevents our correct understanding of English. This is why it takes us Koreans so long a time and so much effort to master this international language,” he added.