A Meditative Weekend - Beomeosa Templestay

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Korea is still very much a Buddhist country, for its philosophical and cultural tenants if not so much as as an active religion. Peoples daily lives are influenced by Buddhist principles as much as Confucian principles, and Buddhist temples are an important part of the Korean landscape. Templestays are popular programs, not only to experience and understand Korean Buddhist monastic life, but to get away from the hectic modern world that Korea has become.

My meditative weekend started off with finally making it to a free yoga class on Gwangalli Beach! Ex-pats in Busan run many groups and organisations for health, fitness and fun; it runs the gamut from yoga, fitness, sailing, hiking to capoeira and zumba. As I've been doing pilates (in a Korean gym) since I've arrived, it wasn't too difficult to pick up and it was so peaceful facing the beach and sea.

In the afternoon I headed to Beomeosa for 2pm to start my templestay program - the resting rest program - which I was very excited about. Built in to the side of Geumjeongsan, Beomeosa is famous all over Korea and is one of the more popular templestay options. There were about 30 of us doing it together - mostly Koreans with some foreign students and English teachers. We registered, changed into light clothes provided by the temple, and then sat around waiting for an hour for everyone to arrive! This gave me some time to soak up the atmosphere and read some literature to give me an idea of what to expect. Finally we started and were introduced to the two monks and the English interpreter who would be taking care of us. We were taught how to hapjang (press our hands together, in order to concentrate the mind and show that we are all one entity) and chasoo (default position covering our right hand with our left hand to keep oneself at peace). We also practiced half bows from the waist and full body prostrations. When we were ready we had an opening ceremony where each of us had to make an offering of a flower to the Buddha, chant and prostrate ourselves three times (for the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, as well as symbolising discarding hatred, ignorance and excess). It was really cool.

Afterwards we were taught how to meditate (uncomfortably) and went to do so on some rocks by a stream in the shade of the wood. This involved sitting cross-legged, back ramrod straight, teeth touching, lips lightly touching and our tongues touching the roofs of our mouths. Very strange and not conducive to relaxing. Luckily this was only for about 10mins and then we were treated to watermelon slices as a treat for being on the 'resting rest' program. Next we were brought on a short tour of the temple area. Beomeosa was originally constructed in 678AD but was burned to the ground in 1592 during the Japanese invasion. By 1613 it was re-built, and the main daeunjeon hall and gate still date from this time. We were brought inside the main hall; hapjang and half bow as we entered, followed by a minimum of three full-body prostrations for respect. Our monk pointed out its treasures and the three gold Buddhas sitting on top of the altar. The woodwork and paintings were very impressively ornate and old. Continuing the tour he pointed out some of the smaller halls and brought us down to the three-story stone pagoda, which symbolises the Buddha - the shape representing the tree of life. Every Buddhist temple has a pagoda and some contain relics of the Buddha. Walking clockwise around the pagoda demonstrates respect for what it contains and what it represents.

Our tour was concluded really quickly and we filed down to go to the canteen, hands clasped in front of us. Dinner was a strange experience. From what I had read, I was expecting to have to eat in silence in a very particular way - removing my four bowls from a cloth, leaving some kimchi to wipe the bowls with after eating etc, but it was a lot more similar to school lunches. We helped ourselves to a buffet lunch (chicken curry!!) and had to bow when everyone was ready. Then we said a prayer about how we would not enjoy our meal but use it as medicine instead. We had to start and finish eating at the same time in silence, and eat everything we had put on our trays, and then wash them in large sinks outside. The food was excellent. We were then given some free time to wander around the temples ourselves. I felt a bit awkward and out of place doing this, even though I now knew how to bow properly. I just didn't know if I should be praying or what. We congregated back in the main square for the evening ceremony. A few monks started playing the four monastic instruments: the dharma drum, the wooden fish, the cloud-shaped drum and the large brahma bell. They are used to announce the time for monks to practice their daily rites, as well as to saving beings from all the realms - beings living on earth, fish, beings of the sky and beings in hell. They put on a great display, transitioning very smoothly from monk to monk as they took over playing the large dharma drum.

After this, all the monks and some nuns in the temple gathered in the main hall for the ceremony, and we lined up outside and followed the bowing as best we could while listening to the chanting. Probably the best experience of the whole stay. When it was over we lined up again and mindfully walked back to the templestay building, where we had time to prepare ourselves for the next stage of the program - making the 108 prayer bead necklace. Buddhists believe that there are 108 sufferings in life, and that making a prayer bead necklace counter-balances that. Everytime we strung a wooden bead we had to make a full body prostration and a wish or promise to ourselves for our own happiness. Of course it was impossible to think of so many things and I ended up promising things for family and friends too before promising myself red wine, steak, go to a spa, never to bow again... Finally the torture was over and we put the finishing touches to our necklaces - an intricate series of knots and four tiny beads at the end of each string (to be ripped off and placed on a dead creature should we stroll accross one). Back and legs aching it was time make our bed rolls up and settle down for the night at 9pm.

The next morning we were woken up bright and early at 5am for the morning service. Usually templestay participants have to get up at 3am, but we got special treatment being on the resting rest program. Unfortunately for the boys, their sleeping quarters were right beside the main temple, so they heard all the morning activity. Our morning service was in our templestay hall and consisted of the standard three prostrations followed by about 10mins of uncomfortable meditation. After that it was breakfast time, and all i could manage was some tofu and rice. We were then given about two hours of free time to explore the grounds, and we were starting to feel a bit cheated! I walked up to a hermitage high up on the next hill with some of the foreign students. The views over Busan were great! Later one of the monks came up with some more participants and he took us into the hermitage hall. After our prostrations, he suggested we meditate, and then suggested sleeping meditation! We got to curl up on our sides and close our eyes as he played instrumental music on his I-pad. Amazing if strange!

When we arrived back we were all seated around the floor of our room for the tea ceremony. Again I thought there would be an actual ceremony, but we were served cold fruit tea and rice cakes while we had time to ask our head monk questions. At the end we had a closing ceremony with chanting, bowing, and offerings of our feedback about the program. After midday we were finished. It was a worthwhile weekend but overall I would rather have done another more intensive one, with less downtime and more learning.

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