.JPG)
I will be the first to admit that I am as spiritual as a tea spoon, but I have visited so many temples now that it was only fitting that I should do a temple stay while I am here. Me, Rachel and Paul went to the Lotus Lantern International Meditation Centre this weekend just gone (22-23 November) and experienced a slice of Korean Buddhism. The stay was co-ordinated by two Russian monks, and the centre belongs to the Korean-Zen school of thought.
Our journey started in Hongseong, we took the train into Yongsan, the subway to Song-Jeong (line 5), a bus to Onsuri (a bleak looking town on Ganghwa-do, a small island just off the northwest coast of South Korea, and close to the border of North Korea) and finally a taxi to the Centre. There was only one building on the grounds that looked like the traditional wooden structures that dominate the majority of temples, but even upon arrival at 2pm it was clear this was a quiet and peaceful place. The three of us were the only people on the Temple Stay program, apparently in the summer groups of 30-50 people attend the centre, but we were glad that this was going to be a more personal experience.
Here’s what we did for 22 hours:
Saturday. 2pm-4pm-Arrival. We were assigned rooms, Paul eventually got a room to himself, and me and Rachel shared. The ondol (under-floor heating) was on the whole time we were there, which was handy as it was cold outside, and in true traditional Korean style we were sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor. If anything it was too hot (you know what I am like!). We were given some rather fetching grey uniforms to wear for the duration of our visit. There was also a group of Koreans on a retreat at the centre, they kept a constant supply of green tea going and quite possibly had elastic bladders.
4pm-Orientation-one of the Russian monks gave us a small tour of the main shrine and a talk about the history of the centre. To begin with he gave off a vibe as though he didn’t like the intrusions (“before it was peaceful and good, and we had no visitors”), but later he seemed more relaxed (“this and that,” “whatever”). He also showed us the etiquette for the prostrations (bowing) and chanting.
5pm-Dinner. All the food at the centre is donated, and the one rule is that you eat everything on your plate. As it was rice and vegetables, that was not really a problem!
6pm-Evening Chanting. During all three sessions I just kept up with the bowing and didn’t attempt the chanting. The temple provides a folder with all the chants written out in English, but it was hard enough bowing, head to the ground, let alone keeping with the chants.
6.30pm-8pm-Introduction to Buddhism and Meditation. The centre is fairly new, so the room we went to next had a nice big screen that came down from the ceiling, but a rubbish sound system. Surely if you are going to go for hi-tech gadgets, you go for the good ones! We watched a short advertisement on Korean Buddhism, which seemed to be largely highlighting the beauty of Korean temples, and the sojued up state of smiley, happy westerners at festivals. At least that’s the message I took away from it. Our friendly neighbourhood monk then demonstrated how to meditate. Essentially you sit very still and breathe normally. You have to clear your mind and try and count to 10-counting on the exhales only. It’s very difficult as your mind just works overtime and you don’t even realise you have spent 5 minutes singing songs in your head. This was one of my favourite parts of the weekend, despite the fact I couldn’t stop swallowing and felt like my throat was seizing up. Good times!
After 20 minutes of mediation we went back to our rooms and got ready for bed. Due to the Koreans on their retreat morning chants had been moved forward an hour, to 3am….eek! So me and Rachel had a 9pm feast of digestive biscuits and went to sleep.
Sunday, 2.40am-Woke up, definitely not my idea of a good time, but once we were up it wasn’t too bad.
3am: Pre-dawn (pre-pre-dawn!) chanting and 108 prostrations. We got to the shrine a little early to bag a spot by the heater-which me and Rachel regretted 20 bows in, as we over-heated! In between bows we removed layers, and we all managed to have a good early morning work out!
4am-4.30am: Meditation-in my case this was an exercise in not falling asleep!
6am: Breakfast in absolute silence-not that I had much to say at that time in the morning. We had quite a lot of free time in between each activity, Paul tried to get some more sleep, Rachel read, and I sort of dozed and wrote in my journal. Me and Rachel also waited for the sunrise-but the effect was spoiled by the trees.
7.30am-Walk to a shrine with the other Russian monk, the comedy monk! 10 minutes into the walk he had warmed up into his routine and was telling us that Korean style of meditation was too strict as a result of the Japanese occupation and bastardisation. He also told he had a nickname for his abbot-Nazi?! But he got most animated when he was talking about the British movies he liked to download-from James Bond to Hot Fuzz. It’s a hard life!
Between 8.30-9.30am we drank tea with the comedy monk, and he kept us entertained as he told us about Korean Buddhism.
9.30am-copying Sutra. This is was fun. We traced three versions of the same sutra-in Chinese, Korean and English. Bizarrely it didn’t feel like we has nearly been up for 7 hours already! Plus it meant we get a free personalised souvenir!
11am-Mid-day Chanting. I think that the sessions in the shrine were the only time I felt a bit uncomfortable, largely due to my lack of beliefs.
11.30am-Lunch, after which we packed up, got back into our civilian clothes and were given a lift back to Onsuri.
It was definitely an interesting and good experience (don’t think enlightening is the word!) It was very chilled out-you could never say waking up at 2.40 in the morning is relaxing though! It’s definitely something I only need to do once though and I am glad that I did it.
Our journey started in Hongseong, we took the train into Yongsan, the subway to Song-Jeong (line 5), a bus to Onsuri (a bleak looking town on Ganghwa-do, a small island just off the northwest coast of South Korea, and close to the border of North Korea) and finally a taxi to the Centre. There was only one building on the grounds that looked like the traditional wooden structures that dominate the majority of temples, but even upon arrival at 2pm it was clear this was a quiet and peaceful place. The three of us were the only people on the Temple Stay program, apparently in the summer groups of 30-50 people attend the centre, but we were glad that this was going to be a more personal experience.
Here’s what we did for 22 hours:
Saturday. 2pm-4pm-Arrival. We were assigned rooms, Paul eventually got a room to himself, and me and Rachel shared. The ondol (under-floor heating) was on the whole time we were there, which was handy as it was cold outside, and in true traditional Korean style we were sleeping on thin mattresses on the floor. If anything it was too hot (you know what I am like!). We were given some rather fetching grey uniforms to wear for the duration of our visit. There was also a group of Koreans on a retreat at the centre, they kept a constant supply of green tea going and quite possibly had elastic bladders.
4pm-Orientation-one of the Russian monks gave us a small tour of the main shrine and a talk about the history of the centre. To begin with he gave off a vibe as though he didn’t like the intrusions (“before it was peaceful and good, and we had no visitors”), but later he seemed more relaxed (“this and that,” “whatever”). He also showed us the etiquette for the prostrations (bowing) and chanting.
5pm-Dinner. All the food at the centre is donated, and the one rule is that you eat everything on your plate. As it was rice and vegetables, that was not really a problem!
6pm-Evening Chanting. During all three sessions I just kept up with the bowing and didn’t attempt the chanting. The temple provides a folder with all the chants written out in English, but it was hard enough bowing, head to the ground, let alone keeping with the chants.
6.30pm-8pm-Introduction to Buddhism and Meditation. The centre is fairly new, so the room we went to next had a nice big screen that came down from the ceiling, but a rubbish sound system. Surely if you are going to go for hi-tech gadgets, you go for the good ones! We watched a short advertisement on Korean Buddhism, which seemed to be largely highlighting the beauty of Korean temples, and the sojued up state of smiley, happy westerners at festivals. At least that’s the message I took away from it. Our friendly neighbourhood monk then demonstrated how to meditate. Essentially you sit very still and breathe normally. You have to clear your mind and try and count to 10-counting on the exhales only. It’s very difficult as your mind just works overtime and you don’t even realise you have spent 5 minutes singing songs in your head. This was one of my favourite parts of the weekend, despite the fact I couldn’t stop swallowing and felt like my throat was seizing up. Good times!
After 20 minutes of mediation we went back to our rooms and got ready for bed. Due to the Koreans on their retreat morning chants had been moved forward an hour, to 3am….eek! So me and Rachel had a 9pm feast of digestive biscuits and went to sleep.
Sunday, 2.40am-Woke up, definitely not my idea of a good time, but once we were up it wasn’t too bad.
3am: Pre-dawn (pre-pre-dawn!) chanting and 108 prostrations. We got to the shrine a little early to bag a spot by the heater-which me and Rachel regretted 20 bows in, as we over-heated! In between bows we removed layers, and we all managed to have a good early morning work out!
4am-4.30am: Meditation-in my case this was an exercise in not falling asleep!
6am: Breakfast in absolute silence-not that I had much to say at that time in the morning. We had quite a lot of free time in between each activity, Paul tried to get some more sleep, Rachel read, and I sort of dozed and wrote in my journal. Me and Rachel also waited for the sunrise-but the effect was spoiled by the trees.
7.30am-Walk to a shrine with the other Russian monk, the comedy monk! 10 minutes into the walk he had warmed up into his routine and was telling us that Korean style of meditation was too strict as a result of the Japanese occupation and bastardisation. He also told he had a nickname for his abbot-Nazi?! But he got most animated when he was talking about the British movies he liked to download-from James Bond to Hot Fuzz. It’s a hard life!
Between 8.30-9.30am we drank tea with the comedy monk, and he kept us entertained as he told us about Korean Buddhism.
9.30am-copying Sutra. This is was fun. We traced three versions of the same sutra-in Chinese, Korean and English. Bizarrely it didn’t feel like we has nearly been up for 7 hours already! Plus it meant we get a free personalised souvenir!
11am-Mid-day Chanting. I think that the sessions in the shrine were the only time I felt a bit uncomfortable, largely due to my lack of beliefs.
11.30am-Lunch, after which we packed up, got back into our civilian clothes and were given a lift back to Onsuri.
It was definitely an interesting and good experience (don’t think enlightening is the word!) It was very chilled out-you could never say waking up at 2.40 in the morning is relaxing though! It’s definitely something I only need to do once though and I am glad that I did it.
No comments:
Post a Comment