Mihwangsa Temple Stay

I'm back!

It's been months since I last blogged. The idea of blogging just started to make me feel anxious so I thought it was best to take a break.

But hey, let's try this again.

I just have so much traveling coming up over the next few months that I thought it was time to start writing again.

Anyway ~

This past weekend I was supposed to go on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone and Joint Security Area but, woefully, it was closed because of the Mers outbreak. So, in a last minute bid to check something else off my Korea Bucket List, we signed up for a Temple Stay.



Megan, Chia and I decided to go to Mihwangsa Temple (미황사) in Haenam County, a little over 2 hours away from Gwangju at the southernmost tip of the Korean peninsula. Supposedly there are simpler ways to get there, but we ended up taking a bus to Haenam, catching a local bus and then catching a taxi. We arrived at the temple Saturday afternoon and were immediately welcomed by Jajae, our wonderful guide and interpreter. She presented us with grey Buddhist temple clothes, showed us to our room, and then we had some free time to explore before we had our introduction to the temple.

Jajae began by explaining the temple history. The temple's foundation story is really interesting; it all begins with a ship from India. Supposedly, once upon a time (1600ish years ago), Koreans noticed a beautiful stone ship off the coast of Korea. They were intrigued and tried to approach the boat but it would recede. Venerable Uijo started chanting and praying and the boat finally docked.  They discovered that no one was in the boat but found a large box made of gold and a large black rock. Inside the box was a Buddha statue and sutras. When the rock was broken open, a large black cow emerged.
That night the monk dreamt of a golden man who told him the boat had come from India and that they should build a wherever the cow came to rest. The cow climb the mountain and, halfway up, mood loudly and collapsed. Thus, the Main Buddha Hall (Daewoongbojeon) was built in that spot. In a way, the building was built to look like a ship and the cornerstones of the building are decorated with the shapes of turtles and craps.

It was so beautiful with the fog in the mountains. So much nature!

Absolutely beautiful.

Posing in front of the main temple in our temple clothes. We're holding English translations of the chants.

After learning about the temple we were taught the proper way to enter/leave temples, bow, and chant. We then had more free time to wander or rest before dinner. I took the time to find as many hidden Buddhas as I could (see pictures). After dinner the sound of a large bell called us to Yebul, evening chanting. Megan, Chia and I had the opportunity to ring the large bell (which was much harder than it looked).

Learning how to properly meditate.

Where we ate all of our meals.

All the hidden tiny Buddhas! So cute.

 

 

 

When I wasn't thinking too hard about messing up the bowing, I found evening prayer to be relaxing and strangely meditative. When we were finished, we followed the head monk outside to circle the courtyard 3 times in silence before making our way to Tea Meditation. A monk made us delicious tea and then we mostly sat in silence enjoying it. The tea room had a wall of books and I was able to find an English book about Korean temple motifs to read before passing out at the incredibly late time of 9:30.

We loved how traditional everything was but he still ladled the water into a Brita Filter and used an electric kettle.

The light sound of a Moktak (a wooden percussion instrument) woke us up at a bright and early 4am for morning chanting. Chanting was extra relaxing as I was still half asleep and more comfortable with bowing. However, once I started getting comfortable, we began our 20 minutes of meditation and all was lost. The previous day we learned how to properly meditate and my legs were in pain/asleep after maybe 5 minutes. I focused in vain on my breathing but I think I spent 10 minutes just watching the monks meditating.

After breakfast we were supposed to have Oolyeok, or working meditation, but that never came to fruition. Instead we wandered back to the tea room and it was one of the best decisions we could have made. We ended up having coffee and tea with a monk and 2 temple employees for over an hour. The monk read all of our palms and just chatted about life. He had been at the temple for 20 years- and this is a tiny temple! There are only 5-7 monks living there full time. He told me my palms said that I would be wealthy but I would end up with bad quality men. So...at least I'll have money? He also gave us wish bracelets; when they fall off naturally your wish is supposed to come true. I actually received one in Thailand and wore it for almost a year before it fell off. Can't wait to see how dirty this one gets.

Reading Megan's palm. Wealthy but also bad quality men in her life.

Reading a temple employees hand. She wasn't going to wealthy but she was fine with that.

After getting over-caffeinated, we decided to hike up the beautiful Dalmasan mountain. It took us around 45 minutes to reach the top. Jajae had given us a pear and other snacks to eat at the top and we took in the view. When we returned from to the temple it was time for lunch and then the temple stay technically ended. Yet, Jajae gave us the opportunity to make bracelets. Whenever we put a bead on the string we were supposed to think of happy thoughts or wishes.

View from the top of the mountain.

Jajae gave us a ride to a nearby town and we caught a bus straight to Gwangju. Overall, it was a really relaxing weekend. The temple was absolutely beautiful and I wish it was closer- I would definitely go back if I could!

Peace!