THE BACKHOUSE LECTURE BY CHO-NYON KIM

THE BACKHOUSE LECTURE BY CHO-NYON KIM

The Backhouse Lecture ‘An Encounter between Quaker Mysticism and Taoism in Everyday Life’ was delivered by Cho-Nyon Kim, professor of Sociology and of Daejon Meeting in South Korea. Cho-Nyon Kim explores his spiritual journey in the Korean religious environment, in which Confucianism, Buddhism. Taoism and Christianity have all influenced cultural practice and been integrated into daily life. He asks how we can live a simple life in a complex world. He focuses on how we can create a peaceful society in the face of nationalism and self-centredness. 

Quakerism has similarities to Taoism in its mysticism and its sense of waiting in a meditative way. He concludes that he must “lead my life in the manner of those who always seek truth with an open mind”. 

Cho-Nyon Kim visited Adelaide on July 16th. He was on his own as his wife did not come to Australia. Harald Ehmann was able to take him to all the places of interest with regard to The First Nations People during day, and translated into English from German with which language Kim was more confident. 

Olga Farnill writes: on Mon, 16th July, 2018, fifteen Friends met at the home of Inga and Michael Tolley, to hear South Korean Professor Cho Nyon Kim, who teaches Sociology at the University of Tae-Jeon. He is one of a very small number of Quakers in Korea. 

They follow their weekly meetings with an hour of study of topics such as Taoism, Quakerism, Eastern classics, and the Bible. There are 10 million Christians in South Korea, out of a total population of 45 million. Buddhists form a larger group. Cho Nyon explained that political tensions between the Left and Right have been entrenched even within S Korea, since World War Two. The boundary between North and South was drawn by Russia and the US, who both had agents operating throughout Korea to convert people to their side. Tensions remain in the South as many have kept a leftist allegiance, although the Communist Party is banned in South Korea. This has caused divisions within communities and families, which obstructs the peace process between North and South. 

President Mun has made continuing attempts to prevent war, including meeting with President Kim. South Koreans want a peace treaty, but are sceptical of the very slow process. People in either country still cannot communicate with friends in the other. The Quakers of South Korea are contributing to the peace process by planning strategy with Buddhists and other supporters. A meeting in September, 2017, decided on a pilgrimage to two major areas of strongest conflict, inviting discussion between Left and Right-wing sympathisers. This began on March 1st, 2018 (a day commemorating the 1919 movement for Independence from Japan. The pilgrimage covered the cities of Seoul, Tsung-Nam and Tae-Jeon. These peace -making efforts have received good publicity, and will be repeated in other areas in September, 2018. Then, next year, the group will share its experiences and publish a Peace Statement.