Interviewer’s comment: I met Patty in 2016 when I just started going to Jungto Society’s Weekly Dharma Meetings in New York. There was a Jungto Dharma Center in Manhattan back then, before the organization transitioned to a fully online system and created their international division to focus on spreading the Dharma to non-Korean speakers. After Patty moved to San Diego several years ago, I had lost touch with her for quite some time, and this interview was a great opportunity to catch up with her. She told me that her life in San Diego has been filled with much more freedom than it was in New York. I was glad to hear that she is well and happy in San Diego, and hearing her stories made me ask myself, “Should I also live somewhere other than New York?”
[Patty Kim (third adult from the left) with Jungto members and their babies in 2019]
How My Journey with Jungto Society Began
One day in 2012, while I lived in Seoul, South Korea, my mother mentioned to me that Venerable Pomnyun Sunim would make an appearance on a popular TV show, Healing Camp, Aren’t You Happy. As I watched the episode, the beautiful backdrop of the mountain scenery where the interview took place caught my eyes. His interview was at Jungto Retreat Center in the Baekhwa Mountains in Mungyeong, about 170 km Southeast from Seoul. It led me to sign up for Jungto Society’s Awakening Retreat program right away, and I ended up loving it so much that I offered to volunteer in the kitchen for another cohort of the program.
Later, I got a job in Bangkok, Thailand, which made it difficult to stay engaged in Jungto Society activities. I came to halt my mindfulness practices in daily life as well, until my work brought me to New York in 2014. I started Jungto Dharma School in 2015, taking the Introduction to Buddhism course in Korean, followed by a Meditation Retreat, the Sutra Course, and volunteer work at a Jungto Society retreat. After moving to San Diego, I joined the new international division and became a member of the LA Group. Since 2021, I’ve been a volunteer in the English translation review team and in 2023, I got to attend the Sharing Retreat.
[Patty Kim (leftmost) from Manhattan Jungto Center’s self promotion video clip in 2018]
Life in New York
I was fortunate to have a stable job at a prestigious organization in New York with good benefits. It was a career that I had chosen and worked hard to achieve, but I had a difficult time dealing with the stress I felt and, in combination with other personal factors, I fell into a depression. The Jungto Center in Manhattan became a refuge for me and the Sunday Dharma meetings became a weekly highlight. Being able to connect with fellow practitioners and share what we were going through helped me a lot. I also began taking medication and seeing a therapist regularly to keep my mental health from getting worse.
Some people would consider my career a dream job, but for me, there was a lot of inner conflict and suffering. And, whenever I wondered to myself, “What might be a better fit?” Traditional East Asian Medicine would come up. I thought about it for years but I was too scared to act on it. I was also petrified of disappointing my parents, especially my mom.
[Patty Kim (rightmost) at Manhattan Jungto Center in 2020 before moving to San Diego]
Less Fear, More Freedom
While I continued to suffer from the ebbs and flows of depression caused by my unwillingness to accept being anything other than the idealized version of myself, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world and everything seemed to freeze in place. The sudden change in my daily routine allowed the spark of Yusoo Sunim’s teaching from years before to come to life.
Back in 2012, at one of Jungto Society’s programs, I had shared that when I thought about the future, I felt incredibly unsure – that it was like looking into a pitch black night. After hearing my words, Yusoo Sunim calmly said how we don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next moment so how could we see into the future.
It took me a long time to realize that letting go of my desire to always stand on solid ground – and to instead open up my mind to the here and now – would actually lead to a better future. But, being in New York City, which at the time was the epicenter of the pandemic, I finally felt how fleeting life can be. I told myself, “Let’s stop with the excuses and do what I really want to do, without speculating about a future that I cannot predict.” Surprisingly, once I finally made up my mind, I felt a sense of calmness and my mind was cleared of any doubt about the future because I started focusing more on the present.
[Patty Kim in California in 2025]
Becoming a True Adult
When I decided to behave like the owner of my own life, I came to view the 11 years I spent at my job with gratitude rather than regret. And from this gratitude, I earned the capacity to exit my career without blaming myself or feeling resentful towards others. I realized I had worked at the job for the past 11 years because I wanted to and that I had had a great experience.
[Patty Kim (top right) in a Jungto volunteer call in 2025]
I started to make decisions with my own well-being at the center and put aside my worries about letting down my mom and that she wouldn’t understand me. As a result, I felt a huge weight off my shoulders. Interestingly, I also came to realize that, in the end, my mom just wants her daughter to be happy and that if I am happy, so would she! In this way, after turning 40, I finally began to feel like I had become a real adult.
My mother did end up needing some time to accept my career change, but today, she is once again my number one cheerleader and tells me she is proud of me for who I am. I also feel extremely lucky to be with my husband and thank him for never hesitating to support my decision to let go of a large annual salary, change paths, and spend four years getting a medical degree.
Looking back, although it had felt like I was making a huge decision at the time, it doesn’t seem that big of a deal now. All I know is that I have this one life and I want to be happy by being useful and helping others be happy too.
Interviewer’s comment: Patty and I reconnected for this interview in March 2025. Patty was in the middle of studying for her licensing exam after graduating with her Doctorate Degree in December 2024. She told me that acupuncture has helped with her depression a lot, and it confirmed her passion in seeking a holistic balance of body, mind and spirit through acupuncture and herbal medicine. She seemed sure of herself and well grounded in every positive way when she told me that she finally feels like an adult. It made me realize what it means to be the driver of one’s own life. It was not the move to San Diego that made her happy–it was the growth within her.
[Patty in a Doctor’s White Coat in 2025]
