"Life is Hard" Complaints Met with Hye-min Seunim's Advice to "Have Discernment"... Netizens' Reactions

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Hye-min Seunim, who had suspended activities amid the so-called ‘full ownership’ controversy, has returned to broadcasting after 3 years and 4 months, but is still facing criticism from netizens. On the 2nd, on social networking services (SNS) such as X (formerly Twitter), footage of Hye-min Seunim appearing on BTN Buddhist TV’s ‘The Cafe Where the Mind Rests, This is Hye-min’ on the 29th of last month spread widely. In the broadcast, he introduced a story from a Buddhist who said, “Life these days is difficult.”

Hye-min Seunim, who recently returned to broadcasting. [Image source=Captured from BTN Buddhist TV]

A young man said, “I think I was born into the world at the wrong time. In the past, it was possible to start from a single-room and gradually add rooms, and the chances of getting a job were incomparably higher than now, but these days life is very hard,” adding, “Finding a good job feels like picking stars from the sky, and politicians fight every day only for their own interests and fail to provide any groundbreaking help for ordinary people. If I had been born 30 years earlier, I think I would have been able to fully demonstrate my abilities, buy a house, succeed in investments, and live proudly, but spending my youth in difficult times makes every day feel unfair and depressing.”

He continued, “I dislike both myself, who is caught in these thoughts, and the world. I am also considering immigrating to a country that is growing rapidly. I ask for advice as I face a big decision.”

In response, Hye-min Seunim said, “I think people these days feel unhappy and unfortunate to have been born in this era because life is difficult and hard. It’s truly regrettable,” and added, “Today, I will talk based on Buddha’s teachings about how to live happily without blaming the world or oneself.”

He explained, “The cause of our feeling unhappy is not the ‘world’ but the discriminating mind we possess. The world is neither inherently good nor bad. If our discriminating mind sees it as good, it appears good; if it sees it as bad, it appears bad,” emphasizing, “When I went to study in the U.S., I was surprised that Westerners viewed the full moon very negatively. In our country, it has a rich and positive image, right? The full moon is neither positive nor negative,” highlighting the importance of individual discriminating mind.

He also said, “Compared to previous generations, the current generation may have fewer opportunities in some respects. The life of this era, including wealth disparity, may feel difficult,” and added, “I recently saw on TV that Southeast Asians come to our country and receive much higher wages than in their own countries while doing hard, dangerous, and dirty work. Seeing this, our country is a good country for those people.” He then advised, “There is no such thing as a good or bad world from the start. You just need to stop the discriminating mind.”

In response, netizens strongly criticized Hye-min Seunim, saying, “You should first let go of attachment and ownership,” “No matter what you say, I don’t trust you,” and “You have no shame.” Some mocked him, saying, “Are you saying that although opportunities are few, if you target niche markets, you can become rich like you?” Hye-min Seunim appeared on tvN’s ‘On and Off’ in November 2020 and revealed his house in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, which he reportedly purchased for 800 million won in 2015, leading to the ‘full ownership controversy.’ After subsequent controversies arose over suspicions of overseas real estate ownership and startup profit activities surrounding his assets, Hye-min Seunim suspended his activities.