Temple Stay pics slideshow

BaekRyunSa (벡련사) Temple Stay Experience(05_06 Sep 2008)

A long held dream to get a temple stay experience got fulfilled during the first weekend of this month.

Call it serendipity, I had a plan to apply to any of the Buddhist temples around Gyeonggi-do for a temple-stay experience during Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving holidays. Conveniently, my company planned a templestay experience programme for the 5th evening and 6th first-half, and I was game.

These days, I notice, I don't get too curious to know more than I need. A certain kind of detachment prevails. In fact, till just around the 5th, I was not even knowing the name of the temple!

I have been working on my Korean through a company-sponsored online course as well as trying new words with my colleagues, yet my Korean skills leave a lot to be desired. The positive part is that everyday finds me improving! Realizing that the templestay experience at Baekryunsa Temple would be all Korean was a challenge as well as an oppurtunity.

Friday evening found me trudging along to the bus at 4:30 pm, with a little trepidation, and a lot of concealed excitement. Over the period of about two years of living in Korea, my concepts of punctuality have undergone a huge change :) The fact that we left at 4:35 pm made me fretful!

Baekryunsa Temple is just about 2 hours from Suwon city. In two hours, the scenery gets a dramatic makeover. Built at the foothills of the beautiful mountains, it does present an amazing sight to behold. It is not quite a huge complex, yet, amidst sylvan surroundings looks so very beautiful. The lush green surroundings, pure mountain air, clean natural flowing water, all go a long way in making one stay in such places longer. Once in a while a break from the tediousness of city life is surely beneficial and enervating.

A foreigner among Koreans is usually a good thing, considering that not too many foreigners live in this country. And being from India, in a buddhist temple is doubly special!

By the time we reached the temple, it was past 6 pm. After a change of clothes, a special dress(a modified hanbok, my Korean colleagues inform me) needed to be worn by us.

It was dinner time. And boy, was I glad to have come here! For the time ever, in Korea, I got to eat an amazing array of vegetarian fare. And they tasted so great! I was looking forward to the complete experience :) Unfortunately, I hadn't taken my camera to the dining hall...




Post dinner, it was time to learn about the buddhist style of praying and also the method of eating food. Praying 108 times was a new experience for me. It was almost 10 pm...we needed to sleep early since we had to be up for the dawn prayers at 4:30 am! But, then my Chinese friend, Zheng, wanted to indulge his Pentax SLR, and so I joined him for some night-time photography!

Probably, I was too afraid of missing the morning prayers! I could hardly sleep. I cannot remember when I have taken a shower at 4:00 in the morning, but then I wanted to take the experience fully!

It was awesome to see the temple sanctum bathed in light, when all around was pitch-dark. The prayer book was useless for me, since it was all Korean. By the time, I finished reading a line of prayer, it would be too late! So, I just ended up doing the 108 bows leaving aside the prayers.

A monk's life is so systematic, and may I say scientific. Though it is really different and immensely interesting for a day, I find it difficult to imagine going through the grind everyday.

After the bows, we had to take a walk in the open spaces for some minutes and then return to the temple for meditation! It was 6:30 and time for breakfast.

I have experienced the 4 bowls style of eating food(바로) at Jogyesa temple before. Yet, even this time, it was a challenge to keep the bowls clean. It surely is an education for us not to waste food. I do notice that after the temple experience, I tend to waste less food during lunch times at the cafetaria. I hope this continues.

After a little rest, it was time to take a walk on the mountain trails. I was not too keen considering my breathing difficulties while hiking. But, my dejection at the prospect of 2 hours of walking gave way to awe. I have never seen mountains look so beautiful. The morning mist had draped the mountains so beautifully. Despite man's great achievements nature's beauty can never be surpassed. Existence or non-existence of God is a different matter altogether! I tend to think of myself as an agnostic on that front.

The sounds of water flowing down the hills, clean air, tall trees reminded me of my trip to Dharamsala. I seem to have an old fascination for Buddhist places!

When we were back at the room, I was too tired and sleepy. And I got my migraine! It is a race between me and my headache each time I have a change of timing for food or the sun!

After a quick nap, it was time to spend time with the head monk. He had things to say on modern lifestyles and general talk. I could get the drift of his talk but could not quite understand fully, and everytime asking the nearest korean for help was not the right thing in that place. I was more keen on enjoying the Chinese tea. Looks like the tea we were served was too expensive for Chinese to buy. For the two Chinese guys with me, for them it was a first time! We received a gift of tea-strainer, a Taiwan patented one at that.

It was time for lunch. And, again a fabulous fare!

I almost missed telling about the kind lady who gave me a bunch of coriander leaves from the temple garden. Probably, only Buddhist monks like eating coriander leaves in Korea. It sure is a treasure for us while we live in this country! By afternoon, the head monk knew me by name, it sure felt good. He offered some more coriander himself! After filling a survey form ( this is something I do all the time in Korea!!!), it was time to leave.

A send-off prayer and a group photograph taken, we boarded the bus. A truly educative and rejuvenating experience!