Temple Stay

This weekend, me and Christa participated in a Buddhist Temple Stay at Lotus Lantern International Meditation Center near On Soo Ree (a couple of hours West of us). It's a 24-hour program which took us from lunchtime on Saturday to lunchtime Sunday, during which we were taught about various Buddhist practices by the monks there. There were 13 participants this weekend: 2 Canadians, 3 Irish (Northern I think, with accents so thick Christa thought they were talking another language), 1 English (just me, as usual), I think just 1 American, 1 Swiss dude, a couple of Germans and 2 Korean girls. Ok, that's just 12...maybe there were two from Switzerland. The monks were a diverse bunch too: one each from Russia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Korea (the Abbott). Although 46.5% of the South Korean population (according to Wikipedia) express no religious preference, Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in South Korea, so we figured we should learn something about it while we are here. Saturday was mainly taken up with a series of talks by the monks and our guide (I forget her name, but she spoke excellent English) introducing us to the concepts of mediation, mantras, meal offerings and so on, that we would be practising on the Sunday. We also did a little 'community work' in the temple garden, picking flowers until our fingers went numb with cold. They use them to make a rather pleasant tasting tea that we would try later. After dozing through the 'Introduction to Korean Buddhism' DVD they put on for us in the evening, we were sent to bed at around 9:15pm. Early but understandable, as we were to be woken for pre-dawn chanting at 3:45am 'the next day'. Surprisingly I didn't have any problems getting up so early - all these late mornings must've topped up my sleep-reserves. Learning from the previous day's mistakes, I put on my jeans under the training-suit pants that I had been relying on the day before, and an extra pair of socks. Although it was to be a beautiful clear day later, I don't think it ever got above a couple of degrees, so we were very cold in the temple (though most of the other buildings were heated). Obviously we couldn't go around taking too many pictures, but the inside of the temple looked not unlike this. Just picture the air foggy with our breath and you're there. So, 4am chanting and prostrations. We'd been given a Sanskrit mantra to memorise the night before ("Om Amogha vairocana mahamudra manipadma jvala Pravarttaya Hum"; the meaning is apparently irrelevant as it's merely used to focus the mind) but we hadn't really had time to practise so most of us just listened and bowed when signaled to. For the bows, I guess we really we need a demonstration...hang on... To show respect to the Buddha, this has to be done each time you enter the temple and isn't such a big deal. But now imagine doing this at 4am, in the freezing cold. Ok? Now, imagine doing that one hundred and eight times non-stop. Not easy. I think by the final few I was just letting myself fall to the floor... After these and much not-entirely-unpleasant chanting from the monks we moved to a thankfully warmer room to mediate for 20 minutes. We were instructed to just try and count ten breaths in and out without allowing any other thoughts to enter our heads. I don't think I made it beyond 'two' without some stray thought about what breakfast might be, or what I would do in class tomorrow, or how I really really should've gone to the toilet a couple of hours ago when I got up...Failure aside, I did appreciate the possible benefits of the mediations, so will be trying again. All meals were supposed to be consumed in silence, but Sunday's breakfast involved a (simplified) version of the complex Buddhist meal offering rituals. We had been instructed in the methods the night before by our guide, but being a newbie, it seems she'd made a few errors, so the Russian monk talked us through it. The bowl set comprises four bowls, one each for rice, soup (or in our case, gruel), side dishes and water. The set is initially wrapped up in a long cloth, with the bowls all neatly fitting inside each other like Russian dolls. The bowls must be unwrapped and placed on the table in a strict order. Each of us had a certain responsibility - serving gruel, water, etc. After eating, a pan of hot water is brought round; some is poured into the largest bowl, which you must clean out with a small piece of kimchi. The water is then passed in order through the three others and the process is repeated. Then you eat the kimchi and drink the water, so that not a scrap of food is wasted. After drinking the dishwater, cold water is brought around to rinse, but thankfully, you don't have to drink this (unless it's dirty and the abbot thinks you have wasted too much food). Finally, the set is carefully wrapped up again with a pretty bow. Actually, the final thing is unwrapping it all and washing the bowls properly in the sink, although I thought mine was clean enough actually... As the sun was rising we were lead on a walk around the local farm land while meditating on the beauty of nature. In any case, it was a really beautiful time to be out and about so was not at all resentful that on a normal weekend (or any day really) I would still be wrapped in bed for several more hours. We even got a souvenir of the experience (not that we're shallow and can't appreciate the deeper significance blah blah blah, but me and Christa do like a freebie) as next on the agenda was a lesson in Chinese calligraphy using brush and ink: I think it's really pretty, even though I'm sure it's quite eligible. To see just how bad I am at this, take a closer look at the first three columns - they're supposed to be identical. I don't know what it means (again, doesn't really matter, but copying the characters takes all your attention so helps clear your mind), other than it's a sutra - a Buddhist scripture regarded as a record of the oral teachings of Gautama Buddha. Mid-day chanting was at 11, but before that we had time for a special tea ceremony and (translation-assisted) Q&A with the abbot. After that, lunch (all meals strictly veggie by the way, and quite decent fare, too) before being swiftly driven (for once I was grateful for the Korean tendency to drive through red lights) back to the bus stop just in time for the hourly bus home. All in all, a very peaceful and enlightening weekend.