Apartment Price Surge After Selling, I Feel So Upset

Jan 09, 2024 – Sarnath Site Visit, Online Meeting with Special Practice Committee

Good morning. Today, Sunim started his day in Sarnath, India. In the morning, he surveyed Sarnath before the Indian pilgrimage, and in the afternoon, there was an online meeting with the Special Practice Committee.



After completing his early morning practice and meditation, Sunim proofread manuscripts. There were also 15 staff members who had arrived as an advance team at the Thai temple in Sarnath to prepare for the pilgrimage. Sunim had arrived late the previous night in Sarnath and hadn’t been able to meet the staff, so he greeted them after breakfast.

The staff greeted Sunim with three bows in the reception room of the Thai temple in Sarnath.



“Is the preparation going well?” (laughs)

“Yes, we’ve been informed that 157 pilgrims have safely departed on the Air India flight today.”



Sunim checked the status of online broadcast preparations and the pilgrimage schedule in Sarnath, including the pilgrims’ visit to the Ganges River. After the conversation, Sunim surprised the staff with a gift.



“Well, since we’ve exchanged New Year’s greetings, I’ll give you some New Year’s money.” (laughs)

“Thank you.”



After the greetings, at 9:30 AM, Sunim departed to survey Sarnath. He meticulously checked the route passing the Dharmarajika Stupa on the way to the Dhamek Stupa. He also examined the path leading to Mulagandha Kuty after passing the Dhamek Stupa.









In front of Mulagandha Kuty, a staff member on their first pilgrimage asked a question.

“Sunim, what exactly are we surveying?”

Everyone laughed heartily. Sunim explained slowly.

“For someone who came as staff to say such a thing…… We’ll have to explain even better to the pilgrims. Right now, we’re checking the route in advance to see how we’ll circumambulate with the pilgrims. When circling the ruins, we should go clockwise, like circumambulating a stupa, in the direction of the clock hands.

The large stupa ruins on the left side of the entrance, the ‘Dharmarajika Stupa,’ is the most important place. This is where the Buddha gave his first sermon, and later he gave his second sermon at the ‘Dhamek Stupa.’ The reason why only the foundation of the Dharmarajika Stupa remains is because a Hindu king in this region demolished this stupa and used the bricks to build his own house. That’s why the Dharmarajika Stupa was destroyed, and now only the foundation remains.

The ‘Dharmarajika Stupa’ and ‘Dhamek Stupa’ are places where the Buddha gave sermons and where his relics are enshrined. And this Mulagandhakuti is a temple called ‘Deer Park.’ The temple didn’t exist during the Buddha’s time; it was built later. There’s also an Ashoka pillar here with an inscription stating that this is where the Buddha gave his first sermon.”

The group asked more questions. Sunim smiled and explained.

“So, did the Buddha stay in this temple (Mulagandhakuti)?”

“During the Buddha’s time, the temple had not yet been built. The Buddha gave his sermons under trees.”

“Sunim, we seem to have a lot to learn. We’ll have to study at night.” (Everyone laughs)

Thanks to the staff member who honestly asked questions about what they didn’t know, we were able to hear detailed explanations about the ruins. As they continued the survey, they also checked the location for taking a group photo with the Dhamek Stupa in the background.

“How should we position ourselves so that both the stupa and all 430 pilgrims can be seen in the photo?”

He checked the optimal composition by moving a few steps from a reference point. The staff also spent time spreading out to match the group photo composition.





After finishing the survey, which took about an hour and a half, Sunim had chai and lassi at a street stall on the way back to the accommodation. He gave a word of caution.





“Try not to drink lassi if possible. Last year, many people got stomach aches after drinking lassi. In severe cases, they were still sick by the time they arrived at Sujata Academy. But if you still want to drink it, go ahead.” (laughs)

After having a cup of chai, Sunim returned to the Thai temple in Sarnath and inspected the accommodation where the staff were staying.





After looking around the hall, dining room, and accommodations, he asked:





“What’s the most inconvenient thing about staying here?”

“The space is damp, making it feel colder, and there are many mosquitoes.”

“The facilities seem to be more inadequate than I thought. We didn’t assign pilgrims here, right? If there’s space in the main building for the staff, why did you choose to stay here?”

“Yes, we didn’t assign pilgrims here. It’s more convenient for the staff here because we can use the hall and dining room.”

“Then we should repair this space a bit so it can be used in the future as well.”

Sunim concluded the survey after greeting the staff.



After lunch, at 3 PM, Sunim held an online meeting with the 100-Day Special Practice Committee. Jungto Society has designated February 17 to June 1 as a 100-day special practice period to revitalize the Jungto Social and Cultural Center, and is preparing various programs. The members of the 100-Day Special Practice Committee reported to Sunim on what they had prepared so far and sought his advice.





For over two hours, he received questions on various agenda items and shared his opinions.

“Thank you all for participating in the meeting. If you discuss thoroughly and make proposals, I will give lectures accordingly.”

“Yes, Sunim. Thank you for your time.”

After the meeting, Sunim had dinner with the Indian pilgrimage staff in the dining room. This is how the first day in Sarnath came to an end.



Tomorrow, Sunim plans to meet and talk with the president of the Mahabodhi Society, and in the evening, he will conduct a Dharma Q&A broadcast.

Since there was no Dharma talk today, I’ll conclude this post by sharing a conversation between Sunim and a questioner from the Dharma Q&A lecture held at the Seoul Jungto Social and Cultural Center on the 20th of last month.

Apartment Prices Skyrocketed After Selling, I Feel So Upset

“I understand that you must be feeling quite hurt. However, the fact that the house price increased by 250 million won after you sold it isn’t the core issue here. The real problem is that you lost the house you owned. In other words, the issue isn’t about money, but about no longer being able to own the house you once had. That’s why you’re feeling regret for the lost house. If you had a house worth 500 million won and sold it for 700 million, and then immediately bought a similar house for 700 million, you wouldn’t have made a profit in terms of money, but you wouldn’t have lost the house, right? On the other hand, it’s as if you sold a 500 million won house for 700 million when someone suggested it, thinking you’d make a 200 million won profit, but then you held onto the cash instead of buying a house. If that house becomes worth 1 billion won while you’re holding the cash, you can no longer buy the house you sold for 700 million. So the problem now isn’t that the house price increased by 250 million, but that you can no longer buy this house with the money you sold it for. When you were living in that house, it didn’t matter whether it was traded for 500 million or 1 billion; it made no difference to you. You just had the feeling of ‘living in a 500 million won house’ or ‘living in a 1 billion won house’, but you didn’t actually get more money when the house price went up while you were living there. In fact, when house prices rise, you have to pay more taxes, so it’s only a loss.

The only case where a rise in house prices benefits you is when you sell the house and don’t buy another house with that money; then you definitely make a profit. On the other hand, if you need to buy another house, there’s not much difference. Because even if you sell a 100 million won house for 1 billion won, other houses have also gone up in price, so you can no longer buy a house for 100 million; you have to pay 1 billion won to buy one. In this case, the rise in house prices is meaningless. If you sold a house for 1 billion won and then moved to a different neighborhood and bought a house for 800 million won, then you’d have a difference of 200 million won. This isn’t because of the rise in house prices, but because you moved to a different neighborhood and had some money left over. Conversely, if you sold a house for 1 billion won but bought another house for 1.5 billion won, you’d have to add 500 million won of your own money, so in that case, even if house prices rise, you’d be spending more of your own money.

Therefore, the fact that house prices rose after you sold your house is not the essence of the problem. You keep thinking, ‘If only I hadn’t sold it then, I would have made 250 million more,’ but that’s not the essence. There’s no profit if you don’t sell, even if house prices rise. Even if it goes up by not 200 million but 1 billion won, it’s just the house you’re living in until you sell it. So the core of this problem is not that the price went up by 250 million won after you sold it, but that you don’t have a house now because you didn’t buy another house after selling it then.”

“Yes, that’s right. I don’t have a house now because I couldn’t buy one right away at that time.”

“Now you can’t buy because house prices have gone up. Conversely, there could be a case like this. Let’s say you sold your house for 1 billion won, and then suddenly house prices plummeted. If the same house is now being traded for 500 million won, you could buy the same house for 500 million, so you’d have the house and an extra 500 million won. In this case, you could say you made 500 million won. For this to happen, house prices would have to fall right after you sold.

It’s the same with stocks. If a stock I bought for 10,000 won becomes 100,000 won, I’ve made money. But if I sell it at 100,000 won and then the stock becomes 150,000 won when I want to buy it again, then I haven’t made money. In this case, it’s only considered a profit from investment if you don’t buy again; if you want to buy again, it’s not a profit.

So don’t be too fixated on the 250 million won. The issue isn’t that the price went up. The real problem is that after you sold the house, you couldn’t buy a new one with the money. In simple terms, you were just unlucky. If the price had dropped and you could have bought a new house, this wouldn’t have been an issue. If the price had dropped, you could have bought the house back with the remaining money. But since the price went up, you couldn’t. So, don’t focus too much on the 250 million. It’s not important. What matters is that you couldn’t buy the house again after selling.”

Your wife just passed on the information from the real estate agent. The decision was yours. If the real estate agent had called you directly, you would have been the one to decide. Your wife wasn’t responsible for this decision, she just relayed the information.”

“When I think about it, it gets complicated.”

“If your wife had insisted and pushed you to sell, you might feel resentful towards her, but that’s not the case here. She just passed on the information. If you had heard it directly from the agent, you would have made the same decision. Why didn’t you buy another house immediately after selling?”

“Looking back, I realize I didn’t know much about this. I didn’t expect the house prices to rise like this.”

“Did you think only you didn’t know? At that time, even government officials didn’t know. People around you were saying prices were rising, but the government’s announcements didn’t reflect it quickly. The government looks at national averages, and it takes time for rapid changes in specific areas to show up in those statistics. So, while prices doubled in your area, the national statistics didn’t show that at the time. It was a period of abnormal price increases.”

Stocks can also rise or fall overnight, just like the time after Trump was elected and Bitcoin surged. You might sell and the price goes up, or you might buy and the price drops. Anything can happen because of external events.

This is just one of those moments where you sold your house and then hesitated to buy. It’s just bad luck. If the prices had fallen after you sold, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“That’s a risk you take when you’re trying to make a profit. There’s always the possibility of loss.”

“Even if I try to forget about it, when I look at other apartments, I think, ‘Those people didn’t do anything, and now their house prices have gone up so much.’ It makes my head hurt. When I see people who have made 500 million just by doing nothing, it’s so painful.”

“Those people don’t even think about it. You feel the pain because you lost your house, but they don’t think about it. To them, there’s no difference between the past and the present. They’re just living in the same house.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Just like you lived in the same house for 30 years, they’re just living in the same house. They don’t think about whether the price has gone up. They just live there, and the value fluctuates, but it doesn’t change their lives.”

“If they sell their house and move, won’t they have a lot of money?”

“Other houses have gone up too, so if they buy another one, they’ll need to pay more.”

“Wouldn’t they make a profit if they moved to the countryside?”

“They don’t move to the countryside. If you move to the countryside and find an empty house, you’ll profit. Would you like me to find you a house in the countryside?” (laughs)

“That’s not it.”

“From this conversation, it’s clear that this is not really about the house. The real issue is that you get fixated on certain thoughts and can’t move on. This is what’s called ‘getting stuck.’ Everyone gets stuck on issues or hurts, but for you, it seems to be a bit more severe. If you don’t deal with it, it could turn into a trauma. The quickest way to solve this is to go see a psychiatrist and talk about it, just like you’re talking to me now. The doctor will diagnose you and give you medication. Most of the medications are tranquilizers, which will help stabilize your mind. This issue stems from a loss, but more importantly, it’s because your mental state is fragile.”

“The difference between the price when I sold the house and now is so significant that I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“This is something that can happen in life. It’s like a high school student who fails their college entrance exam. Everyone else goes to college, but you have to study for another year. It’s so unfair. Thinking about ‘if I had applied somewhere else, I might have passed’ doesn’t help. Dwelling on the past is a form of mental illness. Right now, you’re not in a severe state, but if you don’t treat it, it will progress to depression.

First, see a psychiatrist. Second, you have to think of this as losing a house, not focusing on the 250 million won. Whether it’s 250 million or 500 million, it doesn’t matter. The issue is that you sold the house, and because of that, you can’t buy a new one.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“Observe human psychology. If you buy something, and the value drops after you buy it, how do you feel?”

“Not good.”

“Then how do the people who sold it feel?”

“Good.”

“That feeling of happiness is built on someone else’s misfortune. Happiness for one person often comes at the expense of someone else’s misfortune. If you buy something, and the price goes up the next day, how do you feel?”

“Good.”

“How does the person who sold it feel?”

“Not good.”

“Buddha described this feeling as ‘building your happiness on the misfortune of others.’ This kind of happiness is not sustainable. But we think of it as ‘lucky’ or ‘unlucky.’ We get caught up in this happiness, and life becomes exhausting. In life, sometimes we sell low, sometimes we sell high, sometimes we buy cheap, and sometimes we buy expensive. There’s no such thing as ‘cheap’ or ‘expensive.’ There’s no need to feel bitter about being deceived. Being deceived is a valuable life experience. When you realize you were deceived, you can learn from the creativity of the person who tricked you. You can also reflect on why you couldn’t see through the deception. But too often, we just focus on whether we made a profit or suffered a loss. Instead of just seeing it as profit or loss, we need to understand human psychology and the principles of the world. By doing so, even one mistake can turn into a lesson for life.”

“Thank you.”