Buddhist Temple Stay

This weekend, I went on a temple stay at one of the larger Buddhist temples in Seoul. I joined about twenty other international students from SCH on this trip. We went to Myogaksa temple, which is located in the heart of Seoul close to Dongdaemun market. I was very intrigued with doing a temple stay because I think it would help me understand Korean Buddhism better than any textbook possibly could.

We left for the temple Saturday morning. We were required to arrive by 2:30, so I joined a few of the internationals for one final non-vegetarian lunch before making our way to the temple.

When we arrived at the temple, we were given temple clothes to wear while we were staying in the temple. The clothes were a simple Asian style shirt and pants, very comfortable.

After everyone arrived and changed into temple garb, the main nun at the temple, Yeo Yeo, gave us an introduction to the temple and a brief overview of Korean Buddhism.

Here are some of the interesting things that she discussed:
1. Buddhism is not understood by monks and nuns as a religion (a means of salvation) but a way of life in order to have a peaceful transition to the next
2. Korean Buddhists believe in Nirvana, but Nirvana is a place for a soul to rest before beginning a new life. It is not a permanent place, but more like a rest stop.
3. Contrary to the concept held by most Westerners, Buddhists do not worship Siddhārtha Gautama as the only Buddha. Buddha is more of a state of mind, an ideal that every Buddhist is trying to attain. Siddhārtha Gautama was the first documented person to reach that enlightenment. Buddhists today turn to him as well as other humans that reached Buddha state for guidance as they seek enlightenment.
4. After Siddhārtha Gautama reached enlightenment, his teachings were documented. His early writings are the works that Southeast Asian Buddhists follow, while East Asian Buddhists read his later writings. This is why their concepts of Buddha are slightly different.

After our discussion, we went to the evening bell toll with the other nuns. As they chanted and helped us ring the bell, the sun was setting over Seoul. It was a very special experience for me to participate in a centuries old tradition overlooking one of the most modern cities in the world.

After the bell, we went to evening chant with the nuns. This was held in the main chanting hall, which is the largest building in a Korean Buddhist temple. We followed the nuns lead as the stood up and bowed, a sequence that they would do for every chant. Each chant called upon a different reincarnation of the Buddha to bring them enlightenment. I have never been in a Buddhist service, so to listen along and see the nuns chant was very insightful.

We then participated in a very traditional Korean Buddhist practice: the 108 bows. 108 is a very significant number in Buddhism. The reasoning for this number is quite interesting: In Buddhism, there are 6 characteristics that you must remove and replace with 6 other attitudes. 6x6=36. According to Buddhism, these characteristics must be removed in order to bring peace to your past, understanding to your present, and discernment for your future. These 3 times are relative and significant constantly in order to reach enlightenment 3x36=108: The removal of undesirable behaviors in your past, present, and future in order to be replaced by characteristics that will bring enlightenment. In Korean Buddhism, when you perform a bow, your knees, hands, and head must touch the floor (the 5 physical parts that help remove desires) For each bow we performed, we were requested to think about one aspect of yourself that is needs to be released. After performing the bow, we put one bead on the string. We performed the bow 108 times to string 108 beads on our necklace. It was brutal! You do good for the first 50, but once you reach about 80, you're legs are burning. It was a very unique experience for me, it gave me a lot of time to think about things that I know need to change in myself, not for enlightenment but just because they are not right as they stand.

(Side note, for all you Losties, remember the hatch with the 108 minutes? This is where the writers got that. I always wondered why they chose this number, but for Buddhism, that is the number of renewal, a new start, cool eh?)

After this series of bowing and removal, we were ready to eat! We had a nice vegetarian meal: rice, kimchi, cabbage soup, potatoes, bean sprouts, and sauteed mushrooms.

After dinner, Yeo Yeo introduced us to proper meditation and we had a practice round before the next mornings meditation. Traditionally, you cross your legs so that your feet rest on top, but for all us tall people, she modified it for us so that we would still be able to walk afterwards. You hold you hands in a circle like position, which is supposed to help you find enlightenment.

After our practice round, it was time to hit the sack...for five hours before morning bell ceremony. I was out as soon as I hit my mat!

At 4am, we were awakened by the nuns in the dark, cold morning for the bell ceremony. Both the evening and morning bell ceremony is to thank the world and every Buddha (which is inside every living creature) for the beginning and ending of the day. We listened as the nuns chanted and rang the large bell.

After the bell ceremony, it was meditation time. Nothing like sitting in a dark quiet room at 5 am and not falling asleep! Surprisingly, I was wide awake at this point and liked being able to sit in silence for forty minutes. It was a refreshing way to start the day, instead of rushing around with no time to think.

After meditation, we took a hike up the mountain (large hill) behind the temple. We reached a pagoda in time for the sunrise. It was a great way to start the day (seeing that we had already been up for about 3 hours at this point, amazing how much you can accomplish early in the morning!)

After the hike, we returned for breakfast. Pretty similar to the dinner, except we had rice noodles as well, yummy!

We then learned the Korean Buddhist traditional tea ceremony, which is slightly different from the Korean tea ceremony. After making some delicious green tea, we concluded our temple stay with a discussion with Yeo Yeo.

We left the temple at....10am....yeah....a six hour morning activity before the time I usually see daylight on a weekend. These Buddhists, they're on to something I tell you, now if only I could get myself to follow a similar morning routine, I would accomplish so much...

I have been wanting to do a temple stay pretty much since I came to Korea. It was so fascinating to me to live with these nuns and see their world through their eyes. They live in a reality where time is very relative, what you don't accomplish in this lifetime you can begin in the next. It is a concept that is so foreign to me, coming from a Christian background. I enjoyed hearing their perspective and learned an immense amount about Korean Buddhism.