I was a Buddhist monk for a day
I arrived at Gimpo airport in Seoul without incident, collected my bag and found my way to the subway, and headed for the Samseong stop to meet Maria, Katie, and Ian. Although I hurried as much as I could, I can't speed up subway trains, so we wound up being 10 minutes late arriving at the Bongeunsa Temple.
We went to the information booth at the gate, and Maria told them we were there for the temple stay. We were joined by another American young woman who is studying Korean at a University in Seoul. Two temple volunteers accompanied us, and led us to the place where we could leave our things and change into the clothes we would wear at the temple.
They gave us loose-fitting orange shirts and pants to wear, and had us change into them. Then we had a welcoming ceremony and received instructions on how to behave while we were at the temple. (This consisted of things like, walk quietly in single file, don't talk, hold your hands like so, bow when the volunteer bows.)
We were taught how to bow properly. This means that you first bow from the waist to about a 90 degree angle, with hands pressed together in front of you at chest level. After you come up from this, you go down on your knees on a pillow, lower your forehead to the pillow, and place your hands on either side of your head, palms down. Then you turn your palms up and raise your hands slightly to about the level of your ears, then return them palms down beside your head. Then you rise to your feet, with both feet together, and without using your hands to balance or push yourself up. If this sounds difficult, it kind of is. Then you repeat that exactly a second time, and then a third time with a slight change. The third time, after raising your palms, you press them together beneath your forehead before placing them back on either side of your head. Finally, you finish with another standing bow. This completes one set.
Then we went to another hall where we would practice the proper way to eat a "barugongyang" or food offering. This is a ceremonial meal which the monks only eat on special occasions, and is highly ritualized and specific. There are many steps, and every one has to be done just so, absolutely no food can be left over, and there is no talking during the meal. So we had an explanation and demonstration, and then practice (with no food). We had a short break when we could relax and chat. Finally, we had the actual meal, and followed by washing the dishes.
At that time, there was a drum performance and the temple bell was rung. Like all temples, they have an enormous drum, which a monk played in rapid and changing rhythms with large sticks. It was quite impressive.
Then we went to the main Dharma hall for services. We started off with three sets of bows, then there was chanting, with frequent bows. We couldn't do the chanting, because we didn't know the chants, but we listened and did the bows.
Then we had another break, when they served tea, coffee, juice, fruit, and pastries, and we could snack and talk and ask questions of the volunteers.
After that, we went into the meditation room (which was also where we'd had the welcome ceremony, and where we would be sleeping). A monk from the temple came in, and he talked to us a bit about meditation, and then we faced the wall and did a fairly lengthy meditation, and then we did some meditation exercises with a partner. Afterward, he talked some more and we had a discussion period. His English was very good. He was very pleasant and had sense of humor, which is what I've come to expect from my (admittedly limited) experience of Buddhist monks.
Once the question and answer session was through, it was 9:00pm and time to get ready for bed. We carried cushions and blankets into the meditation room, washed faces and brushed teeth, and retired to attempt to sleep. I think I maybe managed three hours at most. Others perhaps didn't sleep at all.
They woke us up at 3:50am, to brush teeth and wash faces again before attending the early Sunday services at the main hall. (They woke us up before 4:00am and didn't even give us coffee. And I thought Buddhists were supposed to be compassionate!) We went to the services, again starting with three sets of bows, then moving on to chanting and periodic bowing. Then the monk from the night before came and lead us to another hall, the hall for the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He talked to us a little about bowing then proceeded to lead us through a large number of them. Although I didn't count, I don't think it was the full 108 bows. I'd put it at around 50 at a rough guess. In any case, it was a lot of exercise and my legs were very tired by the end.
After the bows, we did a walking meditation. I've done this before, but only inside. This one we did on a rough path that runs up the steep hill behind the temple. It's amazing how much harder it is to walk slowly than it is to walk quickly, especially on uneven ground in the dark. The sun began to rise as we were walking. It would have been beautiful and serene were it not for the mosquitoes. Because we were walking very slowly, the mosquitoes had no trouble finding us and feasting. All of us were bitten many times, mostly on the face and hands, as the clothing they'd provided was thick enough to prevent bites. Although I quite like walking meditation indoors, I was very happy when this outdoor one was over.
After this, it was finally breakfast time. I was quite looking forward to it until I got into the eating hall and remembered that Korean breakfast food is no different than Korean dinner food: kimchee and other spicy side dishes, soup, and rice. Since I couldn't face much spicy food for breakfast, I only took a small amount of the side dishes, and mostly ate rice and soup. Although this meal was not a ritual, the rule of no left overs applies to any meal at a temple. Buddhists greatly frown on wasting food.
They offered us ointment for the mosquito bites, and I felt sorry for the volunteer who lead us, as she had even more bites than I did. I didn't use the ointment, though, as I'd bought some topical antihistasmine for my previous bites, and I waited to use that when we returned to the meditation hall.
At this point we were taken on a full tour of the temple, which is made up of many separate buildings, plus pagodas, pools, and statues, including an enormous stone statue of Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha of the future).
We had another break where they served fruit and juice after that, and then we had a formal Korean tea ceremony. This is somewhat similar to Japanese tea ceremony, but definitely not the same. Along with the green tea (which was steeped from tea leaves, not powder), they served small plates of something like sweet potato chips covered in bits of rice, and sliced hearts of lotus covered in cinnamon and sugar.
After the ceremony, it was offered to us to try to practice serving tea ourselves. Most of us were too intimidated, but Maria accepted, and the woman who officiated guided her through the steps, and we drank tea again.
When all of us had had enough tea, they taught us how to make lotus lanterns, which are quite pretty. I couldn't keep mine, however, as they would have gotten crushed in my suitcase.
Then we had another meditation session. We did a 15-minute meditation, followed by a short (indoor!) walking meditation, and then another 15-minute session. Then we had another discussion period, they gave us each a bracelet of wooden beads with a central bead that has an image of the Maitreya Buddha statue at the temple, and this brought an end to our temple stay.
We changed back into our every day clothes, and prepared to leave. On the way out I took some pictures, and I'll try to get those sorted through and posted along with all the others soon.
From the description, a temple stay probably doesn't sound like much fun. Certainly there were parts that weren't fun in themselves, but while it's easy to list all the things we did, it's not as easy to capture the sense of quiet, peacefulness, and being apart from ordinary life. I certainly wouldn't call it a "rip-roaring good time", but I found the whole experience very enjoyable, and I'm really glad that we got the opportunity to do it, thanks to Maria's perseverance in calling the temple and making arrangements.
We went to the information booth at the gate, and Maria told them we were there for the temple stay. We were joined by another American young woman who is studying Korean at a University in Seoul. Two temple volunteers accompanied us, and led us to the place where we could leave our things and change into the clothes we would wear at the temple.
They gave us loose-fitting orange shirts and pants to wear, and had us change into them. Then we had a welcoming ceremony and received instructions on how to behave while we were at the temple. (This consisted of things like, walk quietly in single file, don't talk, hold your hands like so, bow when the volunteer bows.)
We were taught how to bow properly. This means that you first bow from the waist to about a 90 degree angle, with hands pressed together in front of you at chest level. After you come up from this, you go down on your knees on a pillow, lower your forehead to the pillow, and place your hands on either side of your head, palms down. Then you turn your palms up and raise your hands slightly to about the level of your ears, then return them palms down beside your head. Then you rise to your feet, with both feet together, and without using your hands to balance or push yourself up. If this sounds difficult, it kind of is. Then you repeat that exactly a second time, and then a third time with a slight change. The third time, after raising your palms, you press them together beneath your forehead before placing them back on either side of your head. Finally, you finish with another standing bow. This completes one set.
Then we went to another hall where we would practice the proper way to eat a "barugongyang" or food offering. This is a ceremonial meal which the monks only eat on special occasions, and is highly ritualized and specific. There are many steps, and every one has to be done just so, absolutely no food can be left over, and there is no talking during the meal. So we had an explanation and demonstration, and then practice (with no food). We had a short break when we could relax and chat. Finally, we had the actual meal, and followed by washing the dishes.
At that time, there was a drum performance and the temple bell was rung. Like all temples, they have an enormous drum, which a monk played in rapid and changing rhythms with large sticks. It was quite impressive.
Then we went to the main Dharma hall for services. We started off with three sets of bows, then there was chanting, with frequent bows. We couldn't do the chanting, because we didn't know the chants, but we listened and did the bows.
Then we had another break, when they served tea, coffee, juice, fruit, and pastries, and we could snack and talk and ask questions of the volunteers.
After that, we went into the meditation room (which was also where we'd had the welcome ceremony, and where we would be sleeping). A monk from the temple came in, and he talked to us a bit about meditation, and then we faced the wall and did a fairly lengthy meditation, and then we did some meditation exercises with a partner. Afterward, he talked some more and we had a discussion period. His English was very good. He was very pleasant and had sense of humor, which is what I've come to expect from my (admittedly limited) experience of Buddhist monks.
Once the question and answer session was through, it was 9:00pm and time to get ready for bed. We carried cushions and blankets into the meditation room, washed faces and brushed teeth, and retired to attempt to sleep. I think I maybe managed three hours at most. Others perhaps didn't sleep at all.
They woke us up at 3:50am, to brush teeth and wash faces again before attending the early Sunday services at the main hall. (They woke us up before 4:00am and didn't even give us coffee. And I thought Buddhists were supposed to be compassionate!) We went to the services, again starting with three sets of bows, then moving on to chanting and periodic bowing. Then the monk from the night before came and lead us to another hall, the hall for the Bodhisattva of Compassion. He talked to us a little about bowing then proceeded to lead us through a large number of them. Although I didn't count, I don't think it was the full 108 bows. I'd put it at around 50 at a rough guess. In any case, it was a lot of exercise and my legs were very tired by the end.
After the bows, we did a walking meditation. I've done this before, but only inside. This one we did on a rough path that runs up the steep hill behind the temple. It's amazing how much harder it is to walk slowly than it is to walk quickly, especially on uneven ground in the dark. The sun began to rise as we were walking. It would have been beautiful and serene were it not for the mosquitoes. Because we were walking very slowly, the mosquitoes had no trouble finding us and feasting. All of us were bitten many times, mostly on the face and hands, as the clothing they'd provided was thick enough to prevent bites. Although I quite like walking meditation indoors, I was very happy when this outdoor one was over.
After this, it was finally breakfast time. I was quite looking forward to it until I got into the eating hall and remembered that Korean breakfast food is no different than Korean dinner food: kimchee and other spicy side dishes, soup, and rice. Since I couldn't face much spicy food for breakfast, I only took a small amount of the side dishes, and mostly ate rice and soup. Although this meal was not a ritual, the rule of no left overs applies to any meal at a temple. Buddhists greatly frown on wasting food.
They offered us ointment for the mosquito bites, and I felt sorry for the volunteer who lead us, as she had even more bites than I did. I didn't use the ointment, though, as I'd bought some topical antihistasmine for my previous bites, and I waited to use that when we returned to the meditation hall.
At this point we were taken on a full tour of the temple, which is made up of many separate buildings, plus pagodas, pools, and statues, including an enormous stone statue of Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha of the future).
We had another break where they served fruit and juice after that, and then we had a formal Korean tea ceremony. This is somewhat similar to Japanese tea ceremony, but definitely not the same. Along with the green tea (which was steeped from tea leaves, not powder), they served small plates of something like sweet potato chips covered in bits of rice, and sliced hearts of lotus covered in cinnamon and sugar.
After the ceremony, it was offered to us to try to practice serving tea ourselves. Most of us were too intimidated, but Maria accepted, and the woman who officiated guided her through the steps, and we drank tea again.
When all of us had had enough tea, they taught us how to make lotus lanterns, which are quite pretty. I couldn't keep mine, however, as they would have gotten crushed in my suitcase.
Then we had another meditation session. We did a 15-minute meditation, followed by a short (indoor!) walking meditation, and then another 15-minute session. Then we had another discussion period, they gave us each a bracelet of wooden beads with a central bead that has an image of the Maitreya Buddha statue at the temple, and this brought an end to our temple stay.
We changed back into our every day clothes, and prepared to leave. On the way out I took some pictures, and I'll try to get those sorted through and posted along with all the others soon.
From the description, a temple stay probably doesn't sound like much fun. Certainly there were parts that weren't fun in themselves, but while it's easy to list all the things we did, it's not as easy to capture the sense of quiet, peacefulness, and being apart from ordinary life. I certainly wouldn't call it a "rip-roaring good time", but I found the whole experience very enjoyable, and I'm really glad that we got the opportunity to do it, thanks to Maria's perseverance in calling the temple and making arrangements.