The points I wish to raise is the disadvantage Westerners face when following an Eastern religion. Joe Schmoe spirituality that people in the East have had around them forever. It's what Koreans do all the time. It's just what people do. It's just where people go.
Shamanism is one of the most universal, and most primitive forms of religion on earth.
North America has its version of this too. The Christian healers in the backwoods. Think of a young, snitty, arrogant little piece of crap, just out of Yale, clawing his way up the New York Times editorial pool, drinking in the right spots, ordering the right coffee drink in the right Soho cafe, and think of his attitudes toward Jerry Falwell. Well, maybe it's better that we get sent to Korea to get ahnsooed, than to the Ozarks. If it were in the Ozarks we'd have a little too much familiarity with what we dealing with, and it might be harder for us.