What was imagined “hard-practice” would be: (pre-monk idea) — Solitary bliss communing unmediated in the Absolute;
What “hard practice” became: (post-monk reality) — The sole Westerner in a massive gathering of Korean males nearly all graduates of years of harsh military service, none of whom had ever encountered a Westerner in the flesh, and a good many resenting the whiff of the status given to people (in their society) who have degrees from university, and from boldface places, at that.
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