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Last weekend was an experience we will never forget and likely never repeat! We went to Beomeo-sa Buddhist temple for a 2 day, 1 night Temple stay where you live like a Buddhist monk!
This is one of those "must-do" things when living in Korea and so we decided to check it out! We chose Beomeosa because it's nearby in Busan and they conveniently have English translation so we wouldn't be lost the entire time! We went with our friends Drew, Mara, James and Sarah and everyone agreed that it was an unforgettable experience but not one that we'd willingly do again!
The program began at 1:00 Saturday when we were given our clothes for the next 24 hours - gray, baggy, tappered pants (that were, of course too short for Mike!), a loose matching vest and a name tag with our names in Hangul . There were about 40 participants, almost half foreigners and half Koreans.
During the Opening Ceremony we had to do all kinds of offerings including putting a carnation on the altar as a sign of our commitment to the weekend and signing forms to the same effect.
Next came the bows! First a half bow, followed by 3 full bows, where you get down on all fours, touch your forehead to the ground, lift your hands up then stand up again. Seemed ok at first, but the novelty wore off very quickly when doing multiple bows in a row!!
To introduce ourselves, we went around the big circle shaking hands with everyone (but not actually saying any words) then eventually we got to introduce ourselves for real with a translator helping everyone understand each other. Interestingly most of the Koreans were there for an enlightening experience or to help rid their bodies and minds of any delusions (a word way overused this weekend) or problems. The foreigners were mostly there to learn about Buddhism.
Next we went off to the forest for some walking meditation (walk around with hands clasped thinking about certain questions). We stopped in the middle of the forest near a stream with many large rocks where we got to enjoy some hot green tea and sit on the rocks and meditate. It was such a serene and peaceful moment and such beautiful scenery, until someone pointed out that there were many
hoses that were feeding water into the "stream"! haha - I guess even nature gets it wrong sometimes!
We were taken on a tour of the temple next which was really great because we have been to so many temples here, but many don't have any English information so we often don't know what we are seeing or how we should be acting. Since Buddhism came to Korea before their alphabet was invented, most of the signs around the temples are all in Chinese, so we were given translations and explanations for the various pagodas and buildings, as well as the meanings of a few of the many many different Buddha statues.
Next was dinner, which I was excited for, because of the stories I'd heard from other people about the rigid rules about monk's dining habits. To my disappointment we did not get to experience this and we given metal cafeteria trays to put our food on. Monks are vegetarians because they live by the idea of not harming anything (in our guide books, it even said to look at the ground as we walked around to avoid stepping on any insects!). Dinner consisted on rice, seaweed
soup, coleslaw and some other sides, of course kimchi. Buddhist meals are completely silent and before you begin eating you recite a chant about how you are not worthy of this food and you eat it only to keep you healthy. It was difficult eating without talking, since meal time is social time in our culture! It is also customary to finish all food on your plate because they don't waste. This is not a Korean custom, rather only for the monks. After dinner we each had to wash our dishes. Usually in a monk meal you get 4 bowls, one with water for washing and you even drink the water after you rinse our your bowl (obviously, without soap) and there are rules about mixing rice and soup in certain bowls and stuff...but we didn't get to experience that!
After dinner we went to evening chant were monks recited some chant and we bowed many times to the sound of the bamboo stick. We also got to watch 3 monks banging on the large drum which was a great show! They had all different techniques for making sounds and keeping rhythm. Next came meditation, where we learned how
Foreigners in front of a pagoda
This is one of the main pagodas in the temple and when you enter it, you cross into "pure land"to meditate and got to practice for 15 minutes. For me, the meditation was pretty useless, but I was uncomfortable sitting cross-legged (feet falling asleep!) and all I could think about was the ticking of the second-hand on the clock! Unfortunately, meditation did the opposite of make me feel relaxed, happy and free - I was tired, cramped and sore! The leader monk was funny, making jokes about how people tend to fall asleep during meditation and as their heads bob up and down he thinks they are saying over and over again "ban-gup-sumnida" which means Nice to meet you in Korean (they bow their heads slightly whenever they say this)!
And at the ripe hour of 9:00 we were put to bed! Lights out at 9:30 so we could be in tip top shape (or as close to it as possible) when our 3:00am wake-up call came! Boys and girls were put in separate rooms and we were each given a thin mat and blanket to sleep with. Being unaccustomed to sleeping at 9:30, sleep didn't come quickly, but eventually the warmth of the ondol flooring helped and off to dreamland I went. 3am came wayyyyyyy to soon
Monks performing on the large drum!
We got to watch this before evening chant and again at 3:30am before morning chant that night and no one was happy to see the leaders when they turned on all the lights in the room at 3am. I honestly think they took some joy in turning on the lights and waking us abruptly - I'm sure I saw a smile on the woman's face as she did this!
We were told to try and be silent until breakfast time in the morning which was likely a good thing because none of us were overly happy to be awake at such an ungodly hour! As we stood in 2 lines waiting for the morning drum show all was black around us. There were no sounds, except for a slight rustle in the trees. We were even awake before the birds started chirping! - Now, that's early! After a drum performance similar to the previous evening we went inside the Great Hall for morning chant. This, again was very similar to evening chant - bows and chanting songs - but this time we were with tons of monks, which was cool. It made us feel like we were actually leading the lives of monks, since most of the rest of the time we were kept
in a 'not real monk' group!
Breakfast time yet? Nopers! We spent the next 2 hours doing a grueling 108 full bows, as the monks do everyday. As we did each bow, we strung a wooden bead onto a string that would, in the end, produce a beaded necklace with 108 brown, circle beads. We bowed to the timing of the monk hitting a bamboo stick so there was no time to pause between bows, and after about 15 bows my knees and legs were getting sore and I was staaaaaarving! Try doing 108 full bows before having any food! During the bows, most of us were not happy campers and were cursing ourselves for agreeing to this weekend. However, in the end, we got a cool necklace and with a short stretching after, we all felt better quickly!
Jump for joy! It's starting to get light outside now and finallllyyyyy breakfast time! We are all so excited and that only makes the disappointment far greater when we walk into the room to find almost the exact same food as dinner for breakfast! Except for a few changes in side dishes (all less appealing this time), breakfast was
Day 2 - the monk keeps time of our bows with his stick
This is when we did the 108 bows and made the beaded necklace rice, kimchi and seaweed soup. Not exactly what I was hoping for after the hard work I did with all those bows and getting up for early! After eating some rice and soup, and thankfully some coffee, we set off on a short hike up the mountain to a hermitage. Hermitages are small mini-temples within a temple where you can go for meditation or prayer. We did some more meditating and got to participate in a Buddhist baptism of sorts where you pour water over a Buddha statue 3 times. We often see people doing this at temples and had done it once before at the seaside temple when Mike's family was here. The view from this hermitage was amazing! You could see the entire of Beomeosa temple to your right and to your left was Busan city in all it's skyscaping glory. It was great that from beomeosa we couldn't see or hear Busan even though it was not far away. Being in the mountains was amazing to give that feeling of seclusion and fresh air to breathe!
It was 9am when we finished our hike and we went to visit a very important monk, the abbott and
he gave us an interesting talk on Buddism. We learned that the lotus flower is a symbol for Buddhism because it is white and pure at the centre even though it's roots in the ground are dirty (see the metaphor?) He also talked about other monks who have gone for 10 years without sleeping (a fact he didn't believe at first, until him and his friends pretty much followed him around for a long time and realized that he indeed, never slept!). He talked a bit about traveling to other Buddhist countries and the power of being happy and relaxed with you have been Enlightened.
The final item on the agenda was community work, as the monks are dedicated to helping everyone. Well, for us, this meant cleaning the areas where we slept and stuff. Mike got stuck cleaning the women's bathroom (haha) and I swept the hallway. It was good to clean up after ourselves, but I would have rather picked up garbage or raked leaves around the temple grounds to reallly feel like I was helping the community!
Back in our street clothes, we were given a final farewell, did our last bow and were released
back into the world. Where did we go next? Straight to the closest western restaurant, in our case, a sub place exactly like Subway for a giant sub! It tasted like gold after that long morning! We all agreed that it was am amazing, unforgettable and must-do experience, but we were glad it was over and all went home for an afternoon nap after!
When I told my students I did the temple stay they said "But teacher, you aren't BUddhist. Why you go there?". It never even occurred to me that this would seem odd for them, so I tried to explain how it was a cultural experience and a chance for me to learn something about a culture that I couldn't experience back in Canada...I'm not sure they completely understood.
On Wednesday there was a big election here in Korea and it was given as a national holiday (woohoo!) so people could vote! Brilliant, I think! Luckily, it was the first sunny day we'd had in a few weeks so we hit up the beach for an afternoon of sand, sun and friends. We went to the Lotte Giants baseball game that evening, which was as
Equivalent of a Buddhist baptism
You pour a scoop of water over a Buddha's head 3 times fun as ever with the dancing announcer, the mini Cooper driving relief pitchers onto the field, and of course, the orange plastic bag hats in the last inning! Such a spectacle these games are and sooo much fun!
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