We had the awesome pleasure of attending a Buddhist temple stay at the Myogaksa temple here in Seoul. It was probably one of the most cultural experiences we've had yet, and we had so much dang fun with our little group. The people at the temple were all really nice as well! We loved the experience and would (groggily, but happily) do it again!
The temple stay is a program where you experience the Buddhist lifestyle for 24 hours. We arrived at the beautiful grounds and were checked in and given our rooms and uniforms. The pants are so comfortable! I felt like I was wearing pajamas. The weekend we were there it was pretty cold, so our program leader changed the location of a couple of events so we wouldn't freeze in the unheated program hall. Here are some pictures of the gorgeous detailing of the temple and the grounds. We learned that the reason behind the beautiful colors is that the temples were given permission to be painted colorfully, as the palaces were, because the king at the time was Buddhist. So now Korea has colorful temples! But the priests/monks, called Sunims, are required to wear grey and muted orange robes to symbolize their separation from material things, and they also shave their heads. Our Sunim was the best, but more on her later.
You can see that the structures here are well maintained. The temple is on a hillside, so it's quite peaceful and away from traffic and noise, nestled in the hills and with a great view of the city.
On the way there, you can't see the temple until you turn the corner and then it's right there! Below are some shots of the large program hall, with a large shrine and many decorations.
The program directors emailed us tons of photos from our stay, which was great because we didn't bring our camera... we figured we wouldn't be allowed to take pictures! We did snap a few with our phones, but the rest are courtesy of the Myogaksa crew. Thanks!
The statue behind us here was reconstructed after the war, with permission from the Zen Master. If I remember correctly, I think the small Bodhisattvas on the sides are the 1,000 disciples of Buddha.
After getting dressed, we went for instruction on how to do the prostration, or bow. We made prayer necklaces and had to do 108 prostrations without stopping. You would not believe how hard it was! Our Sunim told us of a mother with a disabled daughter many years ago who was instructed by the High Level Zen Master to do 3,000 prostrations with her daughter, and then she would be healed. The daughter got better! To quote our Sunim, "This story REALLY happened. Really!" Then she held up her finger. She was a delightful guide to have.
Here is our group, plus another group that was there with us, doing our prostrations... and a great shot of the shrine, with the hotness himself front and center. :)
We left the smaller hall to recover from bowing (!), and went to participate in the evening ceremony, where they lit incense, sang chants/songs, and prostrated some more (gulp!). It was freezing in the room, because the big hall has no heat and our sock feet were really cold. But it was fun to hear the chants and the block-gourds beat in rhythm.
After the ceremony, we mercifully had dinner! Buddhist monks eat only kimchi, soup, and rice for every meal, except for days they have the temple stay program, when the Zen Master gives them permission to eat "delicious food". So our Sunim said, "Thank you for bringing me happiness and delicious food!" We had a lovely vegan meal and then free time for a couple of hours.
We got to do/watch a formal tea ceremony, with all of the traditional dishes and loose leaf tea. The Sunim said she would condense it for us since we were 1) behind schedule, and 2) Korean tea ceremonies can take up to 3 hours! They got some great group shots, which they sent to us:
Then it was off to bed! We were supposed to have lights out at 9:00. Like the little children we are, we stayed up for a bit to play mafia with the other group - so fun! - and chat. But soon enough our buckwheat pillows and big down comforters were calling, and we slept on the heated floor quite cozily. We had to be up with the drums at 4:30 a.m. for the morning bell ceremony. It was freezing, and you'd better believe that my legs were quite stiff from all the bowing. :/
Here's me, then Taggart, ringing the huge bell.
We had the morning ceremony, and then went downstairs for meditation. We meditated for 50 minutes! I love the next two pictures they took of Taggart - maybe it was the beard, or his height, or both, but he was in several of the shots they sent us. Haha he's so popular! Here we are being serious and contemplative (ahem, tired at 4:30), and then Taggart, demonstrating the consequences of moving during meditation. Traditionally, Sunims in training would get smacked on the shoulders with a giant bamboo slapstick, which would definitely deter you from falling asleep!
I must say, we rocked the meditation. Taggart never moved at all! We were allowed to move one leg out if we needed to, which I did because my whole leg fell asleep, from the hip down. It was actually kind of peaceful to empty your mind for almost an hour. But she did slap the stick in the air to let the group know we were being too noisy, which definitely made us stop moving immediately!!!
By the end of the meditation, it was STILL dark outside, that's how early it was. We finally got to go eat breakfast, which was delicious once again, and then we bundled up for a nature walk.
Our Sunim is awesome and told many stories throughout our stay. I'm sorry I don't remember them all! She told us of a Bodhisattva who couldn't stay awake during meditation, so he cut off his eyelids and cast them aside, and they sprang up into a green tea tree, and that's why green tea helps you stay awake! She also told us of the "hard practice" that Sunims and Zen Masters have to go through, including meditation for up to 20 hours a day.... yeesh. According to our Sunim, they become so in tune with the spiritual realm that High Level Zen Masters can see dragons and phoenixes, who bring water and fire, respectively.... "Really!"
While on the nature walk, the Sunim was next to me, and she told me that during the meditation she read everyone's auras and energies. She said I had a "very clean energy, very good spirit", and then said, unprompted, "The things you are afraid of right now, don't be! You shouldn't worry about what will happen, you should just do it!" haha With her fireball attitude and spiritual deication, I should probably listen to her advice!
As the sun came up, we gathered in an outdoor pagoda to turn towards the sun, representing the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams. We took a walk in silence back to the temple, learned of the symbols of the temple and the pictures on the sides of the building, and then the stay was over. I love this picture (I put it on Facebook):
Taggart is probably saying something funny here:
Here's Taggart in the courtyard as we were about to leave:
I stole this picture from Ariel, a YSA from our group - Thanks! haha I love the details on the doors.
We had an amazing time - an experience, for sure, but awesome!
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