Buddhist Temple Stay update

Can I just say that doing a temple stay  was one of the best decisions I’ve made since 2012 began. Not to stay that I’ve made any bad decisions but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I packed a simple overnight backpack with some necessities. (The temple gives you a uniform but when I arrived my guide assured me that me my own clothes would be more comfortable.) 

When I arrive to Chungju (Saturday 2/11/12) I was so happy to get off the bus. The bus ride was 4.5 hours from Ulsan. Not that long, I know, but I was relieved none the less. This province is actually the hometown of Ban Kim Moon the UN Secretary General. And they are also known for their apples. The first thing I noticed when heading from the terminal to the temple were the mountains. Such a breathtaking site they were. Actually Korea is said to be 70% mountains.

Temple stay programs are very structured but since I was alone I was able to have a guide all to myself. And he was the only one who spoke English. The temple I stayed with is called “Seok Jong Sa” or 석종사 in Hangul. There was a LARGE group of university students there as well.

Monks can be called “Seon nims” so I will refer to my guide with this title. Since he is not ordained yet he is really still a “monk in training”. His story was really remarkable. He told me that he is from New Jersey and went to Rutgers University. He is Korean American and made the decision to become a monk after studying Buddhism in University. He has been at this temple for about a year and a half. He is also the second youngest student at the temple. I forgot to ask his age but I think he is around 24-26. I spoke to him on the phone when I was still at the terminal and thought “hmmm he sounds like he is from NYC”. Hahaha…us tristate area (NY/CT/NJ) folks can spot each other out for sure.

After introductions Seon nim lead me to the dining hall. He said they prepared something special for me. That wasn’t really the case haha. But I noticed the way he used his words was really different. For lunch they served “bibimbap”/비뱜밮 . This is one of my favorite Korean meals. And since monks are vegetarian I finally got a chance to taste a version prepared with vegetables and roots that were extremely fresh and pure.
It was really delicious. Seon nim had to take care of something so I ate alone. An older couple was eating at the table next to me and gave me four pieces of rice cake. I could barely finish one. And one of the dining hall workers or “lay people” as the are called  gave me an extra bowl of soup. I could barely finish that too.
This worried me because I read that I needed to finish every morsel of food that I was given. But it turned out not to be as strict. Though I did get some stares. But people are always staring at me so I wasn’t sure if it was because I didn’t finish my rice cakes 🙁

Seon nim was waiting outside when I was finished lunch. I thought I glimpsed him pacing behind the next building over. When he approached me he asked how was lunch and if I “had enough” and if I was “full to my hearts content”.  I smiled and told him yes. See he has a way with words and I realized before I left that it was the Buddhist way.

After lunch I walked around with my guide. He showed me my room and then we toured the compound some more. He pointed out every building and path and explained what they were for. He also wanted to know why I decided to do a temple stay. I explained to him that frankly its something I wrote down wanting to do before leaving Korea. And that I didn’t know much about Buddhism and thought this was the best way to learn. He told me that he would try to answer all my questions and help me understand anything I wanted to know. We walked and talked for about and hour. Then he led me to one of his elders (who was actually my friends cousin) and we had tea and talked some more. It was bout 4 p.m. at this point. My guide told me that I could retire back to my room and get some rest before dinner and the 6 p.m. drumming ceremony.

I went back to my room after tea and laid down on my floor mat. I started thinking about how courageous my guide was for choosing this path in life. Becoming a monk means completely cutting all ties with your family and friends. He is an anomaly I think though. Because his mother is very supportive and has visited him 3 times in 1.5 years. Since he is studying the “Korean Soen” the purpose of their teaching is trying to reach the state of enlightenment. They follow what is called 4 noble truths and have 8 steps to enlightenment.
Now I’m not going to recount that aspect of our conversation because I don’t want to state anything incorrectly. But he did share some books I can read to gain more knowledge that I will post at the end.

I headed back to the dining hall after resting to have dinner. I forgot what we ate. Maybe bibimbap again. But this time Seon nim ate with me. The university students came in for dinner as well and everyone was staring at us. I’m not sure if it was because he was eating with me ( the monks usually eat at different times together).

After dinner I went back to my room again to chill and think. I headed to meet up with the group at 6pm for the night drumming ceremony. After the ceremony everyone headed to the main temple for the “yebul” which is the chanting/prayer to the Buddha. I had no idea what the words were to the chant because the books were in Korean. I mean I can pronounce/read Hangul…but not that fast!

After this Seon nim and I walked back to the same tea room as before and had more tea with elders. I asked if monks here did any community service work. They showed me a certificate and picture of a program/donation that they made to children in Africa. I returned back to my room at around 8pm and got ready for bed.

I had to be up at 3am on Sunday for the morning drumming ceremony so going to sleep early was ideal. However I couldn’t fall asleep until 12am because the university students were making soooo much noise >.

Anyway this is what I saw at 3a.m. in the morning 🙂



the moon at 3am sunday and the evening drumming the night before