This weekend took my friends and I to Haeinsa Temple. This is one of 16 temples that offer a cultural program to experience the life of Buddhist practitioners in a traditional temple. The program started at 4:00pm on Saturday and was finished by 10:00am on Sunday. Though less than 24 hours, the experience was amazing.
Day 1
Getting to the temple was a bit of a chore...train to Daegu, 90 minute bus ride up the mountain, then a bit of a walk up to the temple. Upon arrival, we were promptly given our temple attire and lead to our room so we could change. Once we donned our temple outfit, it was time to learn the ropes. We learned the proper greeting, the proper bow, the proper way to hold our hands and the proper way to meditate. We were told that we were supposed to remain as silent as possible throughout the entire event, especially while eating.
Now that we were properly trained, it was time to head out into the temple. First stop was dinner. We had a traditional Buddhist meal which was eaten in silence. After dinner we watched the drum ceremony and then went into the main temple. While in the temple, the monks performed their evening ceremony with chanting, bell ringing and lots of bowing. We were instructed to bow as the monks did. After the ceremony, we had a Q & A session with one of the monks. We enjoyed some lotus tea as he answered our questions. Finally, it was time for bed. Our room slept about 10 people on the floor with traditional Korean sleeping mats.
Getting to the temple was a bit of a chore...train to Daegu, 90 minute bus ride up the mountain, then a bit of a walk up to the temple. Upon arrival, we were promptly given our temple attire and lead to our room so we could change. Once we donned our temple outfit, it was time to learn the ropes. We learned the proper greeting, the proper bow, the proper way to hold our hands and the proper way to meditate. We were told that we were supposed to remain as silent as possible throughout the entire event, especially while eating.
Now that we were properly trained, it was time to head out into the temple. First stop was dinner. We had a traditional Buddhist meal which was eaten in silence. After dinner we watched the drum ceremony and then went into the main temple. While in the temple, the monks performed their evening ceremony with chanting, bell ringing and lots of bowing. We were instructed to bow as the monks did. After the ceremony, we had a Q & A session with one of the monks. We enjoyed some lotus tea as he answered our questions. Finally, it was time for bed. Our room slept about 10 people on the floor with traditional Korean sleeping mats.
A short clip of the drum ceremony...
Day 2
Our wake-up call was at 3:00am. At 3:20, we were lined up to watch the morning drum ceremony. It was basically the same as we had observed last night, but it felt different being in the dark with the stars above. We then moved to the main temple for the morning ceremony. This one was also similar to the previous nights, but the chanting seemed to go on longer and it felt like we did a lot more bowing. After the ceremony, we moved to another room to do our bowing and meditation. A monk came to lead us through the events. The bowing turned out to be quite a workout. For the bow, we start in the standing position, then drop to our knees, put our hands down in front of us, then put our forehead on the mat. Next, we turn our hands over so the palms face up, then turn the palms back over, sit up, and finally we return to a standing position. We did this 108 times...and boy did I feel it later! After bowing, we did two 20-minute sessions of meditation then went to breakfast.
After breakfast, it was time to do our community work. My friends and I swept some of the common areas. Other people cleaned up the rooms. The morning ended with a tour of the temple. We saw several areas including the Tripitaka Koreana. These are wooden blocks that are carved with Buddhist scriptures that date back to the 13th century. There are 81,258 wood blocks with 52,382,960 characters. In 1995, these blocks (as well as the building that houses them) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Our wake-up call was at 3:00am. At 3:20, we were lined up to watch the morning drum ceremony. It was basically the same as we had observed last night, but it felt different being in the dark with the stars above. We then moved to the main temple for the morning ceremony. This one was also similar to the previous nights, but the chanting seemed to go on longer and it felt like we did a lot more bowing. After the ceremony, we moved to another room to do our bowing and meditation. A monk came to lead us through the events. The bowing turned out to be quite a workout. For the bow, we start in the standing position, then drop to our knees, put our hands down in front of us, then put our forehead on the mat. Next, we turn our hands over so the palms face up, then turn the palms back over, sit up, and finally we return to a standing position. We did this 108 times...and boy did I feel it later! After bowing, we did two 20-minute sessions of meditation then went to breakfast.
After breakfast, it was time to do our community work. My friends and I swept some of the common areas. Other people cleaned up the rooms. The morning ended with a tour of the temple. We saw several areas including the Tripitaka Koreana. These are wooden blocks that are carved with Buddhist scriptures that date back to the 13th century. There are 81,258 wood blocks with 52,382,960 characters. In 1995, these blocks (as well as the building that houses them) were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
After the tour, our templestay officially ended, but we could still explore the grounds on our own. We took a few more pictures then headed to the bus for the journey back home. All in all, it was an amazing experience!
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