I’m Angry About Overtreatment. Why Does This Keep Happening?

May 25, 2025 – Farm Work, Visit to Choe Je-u Historic Site, Rice Planting

Hello. Morning has dawned at Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center.



After completing morning practice and meditation, Sunim went to the vegetable garden to harvest lettuce, cilantro, and cabbage to give to the Seoul lay Sangha members. After breakfast, he headed to Busan National University Hospital in Yangsan. His elder brother, who had lived in the United States for a long time, had returned to Korea for treatment due to serious illness. Since it would be difficult to find time once his overseas schedule begins, Sunim decided to visit today, bringing along his elderly sister.



With the help of Professor Yoon Young-joo, they visited the hospital room to check on his condition and had a brief conversation. His condition was so serious that he could barely communicate. Though it wasn’t a long visit, they spent time checking on his health and quietly sharing their hearts.

After the hospital visit, on the way back, they briefly stopped at ‘Yeosibawigol’ located in Yugok-dong, Jung-gu, Ulsan. This is the site where Great Master Choe Je-u built a thatched house and lived in spiritual practice. It is said that in 1855, Great Master Choe Je-u received a heavenly book from a mysterious monk here, understood its meaning within three days, and from then on began his earnest spiritual quest.

First, they entered the Donghak Hall to tour the exhibition room documenting the life of Great Master Choe Je-u, then went outside and climbed up the hill.



Two thatched houses were built on the hill, and below them, a pavilion was erected on the lawn. Inside the pavilion stood the ‘Memorial Stone for the Founding Master of Cheondogyo, Great Master Suun Choe Je-u,’ which described how he received the Eulmyo Heavenly Book while practicing at Yeosibawigol. Sunim quietly paid his respects.





Around lunchtime, they returned to Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center.



Today is rice planting day at Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center. After lunch, Sunim went out to the rice fields at 2 PM where rice planting was underway.





The farming team had been planting rice seedlings in the fields with a rice transplanter since early morning. One person operated the transplanter, another loaded seedling trays onto the transplanter, and another smoothed out the tracks left by the transplanter – three or four people continuously moved about busily, dividing the roles.









The sound of the rice transplanter spread across the fields, and on the water-soaked soil, the orderly planted seedlings took their places in neat rows.





The seedlings were being planted in perfect straight lines when suddenly the rice transplanter stopped as Sunim arrived. It had broken down. A volunteer said with a disappointed expression.



“We were planting so neatly and wanted to show off to you, but it broke down just as you arrived.”

“Did you break it on purpose because you didn’t want your skills to be exposed?” (Laughter)



After repairing the rice transplanter, the farming team continued with the rice planting.





“Thank you all for your hard work. You’ll continue rice planting tomorrow, right? I should help too, but I have to go up to Seoul for the 100-Day Dharma Talk. When you finish planting, please enjoy something delicious together.”

“Thank you.”

Sunim encouraged Dharma Teacher Myodang and the farming team volunteers who had been sweating all day planting rice, then took a tour around the farm.



He went to the greenhouse where onions were harvested yesterday and gave the garlic plenty of water, checked other rice fields awaiting planting to see if the water levels were adequate, and confirmed that crops like potatoes and peppers planted in the greenhouse were growing well before having dinner.



Meanwhile, the farming team completed planting all 2,400 pyeong of rice fields. The setting sun spread quietly between the densely planted seedlings, and gentle golden ripples shimmered on the water’s surface.



After sunset, at 7 PM, Sunim departed from Dubuk Jungto Retreat Center for Seoul. After a four-hour drive, he arrived at Seoul Jungto Center at 11 PM and concluded his day’s activities.





Tomorrow is the 99th day of the 100-Day Dharma Talk. In the morning, he will hold a Q&A session on scripture lectures at the Dharma Hall on the 3rd floor of Jungto Social and Cultural Center, and in the evening, he will give the 22nd lecture of the Buddhist Social Studies Course in the underground auditorium.



Since there was no Dharma talk today, I’ll conclude by sharing a conversation between a questioner and Sunim from the Friday Dharma Q&A on May 23rd.

I’m Angry About Overtreatment. Why Does This Keep Happening?

“About ten years ago, I developed problems in an area where I had received dental treatment, and over the past decade, I’ve been to five different hospitals. While reading related books, I discovered there had been errors in the original diagnosis and that I had received unnecessary treatment. I was so angry that I went to another hospital. If this had happened at just one hospital, I might have raised the issue and let it go. But after going to multiple hospitals and having different experiences, I realized this wasn’t just one place’s problem. I wondered why this kept happening, and through that process, I learned that the medical fee system, particularly the below-cost fee structure, was the cause. From the hospital’s perspective, they have to manage with low consultation fees and insurance coverage, making operations difficult, which inevitably leads to unnecessary treatments. So what can be done to help medical institutions reduce unnecessary treatments and focus on essential care?”

“There’s no perfect system in the world where people live. However, many people who have received treatment in the United States and then in Korea say that Korean medical institutions are better. While the Korean medical system certainly has problems, compared to China and other countries, it’s relatively better.

If you had experience receiving treatment abroad, you might be able to view the current situation more relatively. The world is inherently imperfect. In this imperfect reality, if I have to choose, I need to first accept that the Korean medical system is still relatively good.

The Korean medical system certainly has many problems. So how can we improve these issues? First, if there are parts that need to be changed through politics or corrected through administrative orders, improvements should naturally be made in that direction. Next, if there are parts that need to be resolved through civic movements, citizens must step forward directly. For example, similar victims could gather together to form public opinion. Also, social attention could be drawn through NGO activities that consistently collect and publish unreasonable cases in the medical system. This problem cannot be solved by God coming down from heaven, nor can we expect politicians to step forward on their own. While politicians should naturally look after citizens’ lives, we’re now in a situation where citizens have to worry about politics instead. In this reality, it’s not advisable to have excessive expectations of politicians.

Change becomes possible only when it is constantly demanded, actively requested, and personally put into action. The reason South Korea has developed this much isn’t because some wise king led the country well for the people. It was possible because of the sacrifices of countless people from the Donghak Peasant Movement onward, with continuous demands and resistance.”



Your awareness of the issue is very pure and good. However, there’s something a bit regrettable about you. It’s that you’re psychologically too sensitive, and you react too sensitively to situations. For example, let’s say I live with five people, and I frequently clash with one of them. In such cases, it’s difficult to objectively determine whether that person is the problem or I am. In this situation, it’s better to make that person my practice assignment. If I can accept just that one person, I can get along with the other four without any problems. So rather than judging right and wrong, I should develop the mindset of ‘I need to cultivate the strength to embrace even this type of person.’ If I have conflicts with two out of five people, then I need to look at myself first rather than the others. It’s necessary to examine whether ‘I might also have some issues.’ And if problems repeatedly arise with three or more people, then it’s definitely advisable to go to a hospital for a mental health checkup.

You said you went to five dental clinics and all five had problems. In such a case, it would be better to visit a psychiatrist before going to another dentist. One clinic could have made a mistake. So you moved to another clinic, and another unsatisfactory incident occurred. If you’re really unlucky, mistakes could have happened at all five places. Such things don’t happen only to you. Even I could experience something like that. If one clinic doesn’t work out, you can just go to another. It’s not like anyone is deliberately trying to do harm; it just happened according to karmic conditions. Just as one out of a hundred places might make a mistake, such things can always happen.

However, if all five places had problems, that’s not simply an issue with one or two clinics but something that would make you doubt the entire Korean medical system. But realistically speaking, the possibility that all five doctors were quacks is extremely low. If you happened to visit five such places in a row, all I can say is that you were really unlucky. That’s why I’m saying your psychology is overly sensitive. Most people would just dismiss such incidents as ‘bad luck’ and move on.



Of course, there can be different opinions even in medical settings. One doctor might say, ‘You don’t necessarily need to extract this tooth. Let’s try some nerve treatment first,’ while another doctor might look at it and immediately say, ‘You haven’t extracted this yet? This is serious,’ and try to pull it right away. Doctors can have different views like this. Listening to your story, I think doctors would find it quite difficult too. If a sensitive patient like you repeatedly raises issues, doctors might feel burdened by the treatment or become reluctant to treat you. In fact, in the United States, the medical profession itself is being avoided due to the risk of medical lawsuits.

Of course, from the patient’s perspective, there are countless frustrations. Sometimes we see news about surgeons leaving scissors inside a patient’s body after surgery, or cases where gauze or gloves were left inside before suturing. I also know someone who lost their life due to a medical error during treatment. But how can we prevent all of that? It’s impossible to prevent every accident in the world. People die in traffic accidents, and they die falling from mountains. In life, there’s always a probability of facing danger. It’s not necessarily because that doctor was a quack. Doctors are human too and can make mistakes. Even though we try to stay alert in our daily lives, we still lose our phones or misplace our bags, don’t we? That’s the probability of life. In the old days, people would say ‘I was unlucky’ or ‘It was meant to clear my bad karma’ and move on, which might actually be more comfortable for the mind.

The fact that you’re raising issues about the medical system should be viewed positively. Indeed, some hospitals these days tend to see patients not as subjects of treatment but as means of making money. This leads to frequent overtreatment. When you go to a hospital, it’s confusing whether it’s a hospital or a sales office. These problems need to be addressed through public investigation and institutional reform. When there’s clear negligence, legal procedures should be followed to resolve the issue. As you mentioned, there are indeed institutional problems such as medical fee issues.



However, there are three main points I’d like to make. First, despite various problems, Korea’s healthcare system is still relatively better compared to other countries. In fact, Korean expatriates living in the United States or China say the same thing. While there are certainly various issues in Korea’s medical field, the entire system isn’t so broken that it’s collapsing. Just look at the COVID-19 pandemic – medical professionals worked with such dedication. Of course, some hospitals prioritize profits and recommend unnecessary surgeries or excessive medication. But overall, it’s still better compared to other countries.

Second, you seem to be somewhat sensitive psychologically. When you react strongly to small issues and become deeply suspicious, you end up experiencing even greater stress. In such cases, it might be good to consider psychiatric counseling.

Third, these structural problems in the medical field are issues that need to be addressed collectively as a society. Simply increasing medical school enrollment by 2,000 students, as recently proposed, isn’t enough – we need to solve these issues through rational discussion. Doctors also need to view medical practice not merely as a means to make money, but consider patients’ perspectives and the country’s situation to reform the healthcare system in a more realistic and balanced way.”

“Thank you. I understand.”