Temple stays gained popularity as part of Korean tourism in the early 2000s and have continued to open their doors to Koreans and foreigners alike who share interest in traditional monastic practices, Buddhism, and meditation. Although there are many temple stays offered to foreigners, my temple stay was unique in the fact that my Korean friend, David, assumed the role as temple leader and personally assisted our group in a very private, personal temple stay.
By order of strict instruction I was told to return home immediately at the conclusion of my 10pm Friday class and ride by bike to meet David and the rest of the temple stayers in a super secret location. From this location, David shuttled us in his amazing mini-van through the backwoods of Ulsan until we arrived at a quaint little hideout high above the city.
Nothing says "TGIF" like tip-toeing through a Buddhist temple at midnight.
After arriving, the waygook party were generously treated to the first of many tea ceremonies. Not surprisingly, drinking tea at the temple was much different than drinking tea in my apartment. The ladder consists of turning on the kettle, throwing a green tea bag into a mug, and multi-tasking until she whistles with steam. The temple tea ceremonies take place seated on the floor, as does every activity at the temple, and take into account the type of tea, the temperature of the water, and the healing benefits to the body. There is a lot to learn from something as routine as sipping a cup of tea. Patience, silence, stillness are all important when preparing the water and tea leaves. Multi-tasking is not part of temple stay vocabulary, as one's focus should either be concentrating completely at the task at hand or attempting to calm the mind to complete stillness. Easier said than done. But the tea was delicious and our host, so gracious!
David dropped some serious tea knowledge when
we arrived at the first tea ceremony.
we arrived at the first tea ceremony.
Tea! Nom, nom, nom.
When the tea ceremony concluded, the girls were escorted to their sleeping quarters for a mere cat nap before waking up for a 4am sunrise ceremony at the main temple. The ceremony was really amazing, and it was there we saw the only two monks currently residing at this particular temple. One monk sat near a large drum and sang a traditional chant while the other lead us, ignorant non-Korean speaking foreigners, through a series of stand-to-kneel motions I can only assume held a great deal of importance. Amidst a totally new environment and with only two hours of sleep on a heated floor, I was completely mesmerized by the Buddhist chanting and would describe this ceremony as magical.
The early morning sun greeted us as we exited
the sunrise ceremony.
the sunrise ceremony.
Me, Michelle, David, DiDi, Lauren, Natasha, Enzo, and Darrell
standing in the courtyard after the ceremony.
standing in the courtyard after the ceremony.
While the sun rose I fell back into a baby sleep with anticipation of the completely vegetarian breakfast served at the temple. Having deprived myself of substantial dinner the previous night, only an asian pear on the drive to the temple, I was quite famished. Breakfast was served at 6am and I was not disappointed in the least! Tofu, rice, fruit, and other various side dishes were prepared by two generous women at the temple. Everything was delicious.
The motto: Waste not, want not. May your eyes
be no bigger than your stomach.
be no bigger than your stomach.
Kimchi, greens, rice, boiled peanuts, tofu,
seaweed soup, and potatoes.
seaweed soup, and potatoes.
"Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share!"
Following breakfast, the monk with the amazing chants was kind enough to lead us through another tea ceremony, and David (bless his heart!) did the translating for us. The monk said the tea he gave us could be steeped up to twenty different times because it was aged for many years and, thus, very strong. Also, the tea he served was special in that it was not sold in stores but instead prepared ahead of time for particular occasions (aka: when the waygooks crash the temple).
The number of layers worn exceeded the
number of hours slept.
Bring on the bean!
number of hours slept.
It was only 8am but to a temple stayer like myself it felt like the day was passing quickly! What is one to do with a belly full of breakfast and tea? Why, walk it off and breathe it out. David and our monk leader guided us through some breathing exercises while we walked about a mile down the road from the temple, enjoying the scenery and attempting not to talk too loudly. David then had us stretch before showing us tai chi. I've gotta admit...we didn't look half bad.
Such a great group!
Bowosa Temple
How low can you go?
Moving as one to the tai chi rhythm of David master.
It should come at no surprise that food is always one of the most exciting parts of any new adventure, so when lunch rolled around I was totally ready to get my eat on! All the hiking, meditating, tea drinking, and tai chi-ing wore me out. On the menu was jjajang myeon, black bean noodle, a Chinese dish. Back to line we went.
Bring on the bean!
The side dishes, the fruit, the noodles, the
good Buddhist vibe...I am in heaven.
good Buddhist vibe...I am in heaven.
I think he was, too!
It all seems easy, right? Eating, sitting cross-legged, going for little walks....Well, the hardest part was about to come. Meditation. David had worked with us on proper meditation stance, sitting up straight with one foot tucked into the nook of the other. I knew the goal of meditation was to try and bring my mind to complete stillness, lose all thought and allow myself to view, well, myself as a separate being. Third-person perspective, if you will. But in a world dominated by constant interaction, technology, social media, etcetera, bringing stillness to my mind was extremely difficult. Sure, I could let my daily thoughts drift away, but suddenly I began to think about an itch on my foot, or the cool breeze, or how delicious lunch was. As I sat on the floor in the temple of the sun ceremony I gained a newfound respect and connection to the three aspects of the tea ceremony: patience, silence, and stillness.
Meditating for five minutes...then ten minutes...
...then twenty minutes (without heat!)
It's amazing what half an hour of meditation can do the mind, body, and spirit. My legs had pretty-well fallen asleep during the longest meditation, but I hobbled out of the temple with so much pride that the waygooks could keep their shit together and silent for that amount of time. Before leaving the temple we did a bit more exploring, tea drinking, and picture taking.
Where the action happened.
Ladies in the club. I mean temple.
Don't worry, happy Buddha is watching.
We thanked our wonderful hosts at the Bowosa Temple before hauling out in the mini-van, full speed ahead to Mugeodong! But just when we thought the tea was finished flowing, David's friend (and contributor for most photos in this blog) so kindly invited us to join him in his office and brew house for home-brewed and fermented tea. Walking into his office immediately brought back memories of 7th grade when I lived in a home with a wood-burning stove. The office was rich with the husky aroma of smoke and dried timber, not only from the stove itself but the interior of the office which was filled with wood. A hand-crafted wood table sat in the middle of the office room, and our host collected pieces of stone and petrified wood that resembled works of art. I had no idea where I was, but it was amazing and I knew I was lucky to be there.
That table was superb.
Home-brewed ginseng tea.
In its entirety the temple stay was less than 24 hours, yet it seemed like days had passed since I first arrived at Bowosa Temple. The exact opposite is true of my time in this country, however, and it's hard to believe my stay is nearing its halfway point. I like to think I appreciated and embraced Korean culture so far to the best of my ability. This temple stay helped me become aware of the various ways I have changed, and grown, and learned from Korea, and it encouraged me to continue my transformation over the next seven months and throughout the rest of my life. Here's to hoping I repeat this quote over and over again:
"I had no idea where I was, but it was amazing and I knew I was lucky to be there."
