Attempting ‘Buddahood’ (Korean Temple Stay)
Since our arrival in Korea 8 months ago, we've heard so much buzz surrounding temple stay programs. It is a perfect opportunity for travelers to experience Buddhism, living amongst the temple's monks for 2 long days and one short night. For me it was the chance to try to understand this fascinating religion that I know so little about. In the last 10 months I have visited dozens & dozens of temples spread all over South East Asia & Korea. I have been to temples in the middle of booming Bangkok, temples nestled up-high in Korea's majestic mountains, and temples in Luang Prabang that give visitors a tingling mystical feeling with every step on the temple grounds.
Beomeosa Temple has been coined the “Urban Escape.” It's located outside Busan's bustling city streets, built just under the summit of Mt. Geumjeong. The temple and its many hermitages provide magnificent panoramas of the surrounding mountains mixed in with the pizzazz of Korea's second leading city. Beomeosa Temple was built approximately 1,300 years ago! It was named after a legend claiming there is a golden well on Mt. Geumjeong that never dries up & a golden fish from Nirvana that played in the well. Our temple stay group, or family as our guides suggested, consisted of 18 people. Half were foreigners eager to learn and half were Koreans coming for a memorable weekend with their friends. The program began with an introductory speech from one of the grand master monks who also happened to be our teacher for the entire stay. The monk's infectious grin never faded as he spoke to us about the teachings of Buddha and the Buddha that lies somewhere deep inside every single living thing, we just needed help finding and possessing it. First thing first, in order to practice Buddhism you must perfect the full bow. It is the ultimate way to let go of any ego and show utmost respect for Buddha. With my knees, elbows, and forehead all touching the prayer mat at the same time I felt like I was at the mercy of Buddha himself. Dinner time. Our first meal as a ‘monk’ lasted 2 HOURS. One hour learning how to eat and clean our bowls, and one hour for eating and cleaning. Rule #1, you must eat everything you place in your bowls and leave no waste. After eating in about 5 minutes flat, you pour a couple of tablespoons of clean water into your rice bowl, take your yellow radish and begin to scrub the bowl with your chopsticks. Sounds like a blast doesn't it? Scrubbing a bowl clean with water and a radish? You pour the rice water into your soup bowl and scrub the soup bowl and repeat the process again for your side dish bowl. After all 3 bowls are "cleaned" with your radish, you DRINK the dirty water, and finish at all off by eating your sponge/radish. I felt like I was putting a straw at the bottom of the kitchen sink after washing dishes and sucking up all the dirty water and leftover bits! Koreans would just say, "ONE SHOT!" Thankfully, I learned my lesson at dinner and during breakfast I stayed away from all the foods with red pepper paste. It made the dirty water taste a little bit better. GROSS.
Beomeosa Temple has been coined the “Urban Escape.” It's located outside Busan's bustling city streets, built just under the summit of Mt. Geumjeong. The temple and its many hermitages provide magnificent panoramas of the surrounding mountains mixed in with the pizzazz of Korea's second leading city. Beomeosa Temple was built approximately 1,300 years ago! It was named after a legend claiming there is a golden well on Mt. Geumjeong that never dries up & a golden fish from Nirvana that played in the well. Our temple stay group, or family as our guides suggested, consisted of 18 people. Half were foreigners eager to learn and half were Koreans coming for a memorable weekend with their friends. The program began with an introductory speech from one of the grand master monks who also happened to be our teacher for the entire stay. The monk's infectious grin never faded as he spoke to us about the teachings of Buddha and the Buddha that lies somewhere deep inside every single living thing, we just needed help finding and possessing it. First thing first, in order to practice Buddhism you must perfect the full bow. It is the ultimate way to let go of any ego and show utmost respect for Buddha. With my knees, elbows, and forehead all touching the prayer mat at the same time I felt like I was at the mercy of Buddha himself. Dinner time. Our first meal as a ‘monk’ lasted 2 HOURS. One hour learning how to eat and clean our bowls, and one hour for eating and cleaning. Rule #1, you must eat everything you place in your bowls and leave no waste. After eating in about 5 minutes flat, you pour a couple of tablespoons of clean water into your rice bowl, take your yellow radish and begin to scrub the bowl with your chopsticks. Sounds like a blast doesn't it? Scrubbing a bowl clean with water and a radish? You pour the rice water into your soup bowl and scrub the soup bowl and repeat the process again for your side dish bowl. After all 3 bowls are "cleaned" with your radish, you DRINK the dirty water, and finish at all off by eating your sponge/radish. I felt like I was putting a straw at the bottom of the kitchen sink after washing dishes and sucking up all the dirty water and leftover bits! Koreans would just say, "ONE SHOT!" Thankfully, I learned my lesson at dinner and during breakfast I stayed away from all the foods with red pepper paste. It made the dirty water taste a little bit better. GROSS.
