[백성호의 현문우답]
#Landscape 1
Hyung-Seok Kim (Yonsei University Department of Philosophy) Emeritus Professor turned 102 this year. Everyone is said to be ‘100 years old’, but not many people are over 100 years old now. So I was a bit careful. I was worried about the interview spot because I wanted to’just in case’ because I was old in the coronavirus.
Professor Kim, who met at a coffee shop earlier this month, was unexpectedly resolute. What is it? I felt the’big gaze’ of a person who has passed through the first century. With a deep contemplation of life. The last interview dealt with’progress and conservatism in this era’. This time I asked him for two words:’happiness’. It’s a keyword that becomes a hot topic in everyone’s life. ‘After living for more than 100 years, it wasn’t happiness. This is happiness.’ Expecting that kind of answer.
#Landscape 2
- I look for everyone, happiness. How can I find it?
- “I’ve seen it all through my life. There are people who cannot be happy no matter how happy they want to be.”
- People who want to be happy but cannot be happy. Who they are.
- “Looking at large, they are two categories. First of all, it is a person who does not know the spiritual value. Because material values don’t bring happiness. For example, there is someone who has won the lottery. Will that person really live happily? It’s not like that. When people who don’t know their mental value have a lot of things, they become unhappy.”
- Many people seek money, power, or honor. They find happiness there.
- “Honestly, it is difficult to find happiness there. Why is that? There is no’satisfaction’ there. The desire for money, power, and fame is basically a desire for possession. The more you have it, the more thirsty you get. The more you have, the hunger you are. So, you should always live hungry. There is one condition you need to be happy. That is’satisfaction’.”
- What do we need to do to know’satisfaction’.
- “Anyone of mental value knows satisfaction. Such people lived a happy life. There are times when people who don’t know their spiritual values take up honor, power, or property. But eventually I became unhappy. The honor, power, and wealth made me rather unhappy. There are many such people around us now.”
I realized during the interview. Professor Hyung-Seok Kim’s message has a very strange charm. At first glance, it sounds like anyone can say. Like a very natural word. However, if you carefully chew between the lines, it will change dramatically. The more you chew it, the thicker the broth becomes. That would be a deep insight into a life of 100 years, a life cultivated by the perspective of 100 years.
#Landscape 3
I want to be happy, but I cannot be happy. Oh, that’s really a tragedy. But maybe only we don’t know. That I could be the main character of that tragedy. So I asked the second category. People who can’t cross the river of happiness even if they want to cross, who are they?
“The second is selfish. They can never be happy.”
It was an unexpected diagnosis. Everyone takes care of themselves. I take care of myself, I take my interests. I live for it. Why? That way I can be happy. However, Professor Hyung-Seok Kim said that egoism and happiness cannot coexist.
- Selfishness and happiness, why is it impossible to coexist?
- “The egoist lives only for himself. So, they don’t have character. What is personality. That’s the good value that comes out of human relationships. It is difficult for an egoist to have it. However, the size of your character is the size of your vessel. You put happiness in that bowl. The egoist has a small bowl, so the happiness he can hold is bound to be small.”
At the end of this, Professor Hyung-Seok Kim brought out a story of his own experience.
“When I went to Yonsei University, I was very poor. I also had a lot of hard work. So I really liked it when the salary went up or the bonus came out. All of my fellow professors liked it. But even then, there were some disciples who struggled with not paying the tuition. But a man called a teacher liked that his salary rose. That’s not the educator’s duty. When I think about that, I am still sorry and embarrassed. I am not happy. In other words, happiness is a sense of community, and happiness is not just for me, alone.”
Professor Kim emphasized that he must first become a big vessel to contain great happiness.
#Landscape 4
Professor Hyung-Seok Kim recently went to Gimpo Airport on a local business trip. When I handed out all ticketing tickets to the reservations, only Professor Kim was missing. When I inquired, the airline staff urgently called the manager, saying, “It’s strange.” The manager who ran away asked Professor Kim, “How old are you?” As it turned out, the age appeared on the computer as ‘1 year old’. Professor Kim, born in 1920, is 101 years old this year alone. The computer was set up to read only two digits.
“So far, only Korean Air flights have been taken more than 930 times. But the employee saw that a 1-year-old took flight 930. People often ask. How old are you this year? It’s weird. I don’t even think about my age. I feel like my age and I don’t. Since you are 1 year old, this year I am going to live with a feeling of starting anew. haha”
- It is called ‘100 years old’. Everyone is looking forward to a 100-year-old life.
- “It’s an important story. When I first went to Yonsei University as a professor, I was in my mid-30s. At that time, I thought my life would be over when I reached my 60th birthday and retired. Back then, I saw life in two stages. Until the age of 30, he is educated, and the remaining 30 years are at work. Then life is over.”
- What was it like to live?
- “It wasn’t it. I work the most and have been happy since I was 60. It was because I lived. I write better, my thoughts go up, and I get respect. When is the most precious time when growing an apple tree? It is time to bear fruit. That’s from 60. I always say. The social value of life comes from 60.”
- So what happens after the 60s?
- “You can live happily from 60 to 90. It can bear social fruit. So what happens after 90? Some people work, and some people don’t. Mainly because of health. According to doctors, blood pressure, diabetes and dementia usually come after age 60. It’s difficult to manage it when I turn 60, 70, 80 years old. So, you can manage it well from age 50. Then it is said that it goes all the way to 90. Until the age of 90, you can live a happy and rewarding life. With the advancement of medicine, everyone can live happily until the age of 100 after 40-50 years.”
#Landscape 5
The more you talk, the more amazing it is. Professor Kim Hyung-seok does not wear a cane. It wasn’t just my physical health that surprised me. Even if you are over 100 years old, your mental, memory, thinking and judgment skills are amazing. Flexible and open thinking is no less than young people. They were curious about ‘100-year-old spirit’ as well as ‘100-year-old health’.
- What is the most important thing to live healthy and happy up to the age of 100?
- “People always have to study. You have to learn anything. Otherwise, your mind will grow old. People think that when the body gets old, the mind gets old accordingly. That’s not it. Your mind doesn’t grow old with your own efforts. Then the body follows the mind.”
- It was a long time after retirement. How can I study.
- “I often go to the provinces for lectures. Then I meet the local oil workers there. We also meet people who have served as ministers and professors. When I talk, everyone is older than me. Why. I thought about it. Eventually, I realized that it was because I ended my ministerial job, retired from retirement, and did not work or study. If you don’t work and study, your body and mind will grow old quickly.”
- How do you specifically do your work and study?
- “I’m not talking about a job. Do you have separate study. I’m reading. I’m doing a hobby. Hobby is also one of my work. After living for 100 years, you know. Those who work are healthy, and those who play are not. Exercise is for health, and health is for work. Who is the healthiest among my friends. The person who works or reads the most at the same age is the healthiest.”
After the interview, the winter air was fresh. Oh, I thought it was valuable. The grains of wisdom that are thrown to each of us in the ‘100-year-old hill’. 30 years for some, 50 years for some, 70 years for others. We are giving everyone a chance to stand on the hill that will eventually come.
Written by = Reporter Baek Seong-ho, journalist specialized in religion [email protected], Photo = Reporter Kim Seong-ryong
