Jimmying  Cheo, 4th grade

Today when I came home, nobody was there, but on the floor there was a five-dollar bill. At that moment I suddenly lost my cool, because I wanted to pick it up and spend it on a computer game. I picked up the bill, and at that moment I remembered, 'I am a good man', so I put the bill back on the floor, and instead I read a book on 'Einstein' that I had borrowed from school.

Hyungduk Yoo(Member, Children's Gathering, Yeosan Won Buddhist Temple)

While I was having fun playing, a rumor circulated, ‘Maybe we would do some work in the rice field.’ I thought to myself, “What nonsense! It is so cold in winter and the field is empty. What have we got to do?”
But my guess was wrong. I moved dozens of bundles of rice-sheaf that were so cold. When I felt very tired, one friend came and comforted me: working with friends made it easier, but that joy lasted only a moment.
Someone on the other side, whom I don't know, said to me, shaking hands, “Are you working or playing?”  But I saw that those who said so did not work hard, so I felt like going over there and saying something to them. But I realized that this was a trying situation.
I cannot say it was a good mind practice, but I determined to go back to the moment when I was cheerfully playing and talking with friends.  Maybe those who shouted at me were working so hard that they got annoyed looking at us working idly or resting. When I reached that thought, I felt much better. Nobody knew my mind but I didn’t feel like telling it to others. I felt much better. I fully enjoyed myself. A friend next to me, who looked at me laughing, said, “Are you crazy after all this hard work of carrying bundles of rice-sheaf?” But that was also amusing to me.
Reflecting on today, I thought it is good to spend joyful time together.

The following is the diary of Wontaeck Cheon, a stationer in a small city of Korea. His practice is none other than maintaining the calmness of his mind against ill humor, which so frequently arises.

Stop! You, the disturbed mind.

The most trying thing in my practice is my short temper, which flares up so frequently when I am in a situation that disturbs my mind. Being petulant almost always has led to my getting angry and, in due course, my mind gets very upset and my practice becomes confused.