Bulguksa Temple & Seokguram Grotto: Journey to Enlightenment (2011.07.18)

 

The Front view of Bulguksa Temple

   After Buddhism first came to Korea by way of China in the fourth century C.E, this foreign-born religion gradually permeated all aspects of people’s lives, forming the foundation of Korean consciousness.  It reached the pinnacle of its development with its official recognition as a state religion by the Silla Kingdom (BCE 57-CE 935), and after Silla unified the Korean peninsula, it not only served a religious function, but was looked upon as a protective power. Temples of magnificent scale were built in and around Gyeongju, capital of Silla. Among those, Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto (C.E. 751) were the two supreme accomplishments of Korean Buddhist architecture.

   Bulguksa, a grand complex of various worship halls and pagodas, is a depiction of the Buddhist Elysium described in some scriptures, while the man-made cave temple Seokguram, apparently built to complement Bulguksa, judging from its size and atmosphere, represents the state of Nirvana. This shows that the people who designed these temples envisioned the combination of Buddhist practice and ultimate enlightenment - in other words the realization of Buddhist ideals and the awakening to one’s true-self. In this arrangement, the journey to enlightenment began at Bulguksa on the western slope of Mt. Tohamsan, which was considered a holy mountain by the people of Silla. The final destination of this pilgrimage was, of course, Seokguram Grotto, near the top of the mountain. It was a way to seek the radiance of enlightenment.

 

Bulguksa : Realization of Buddha Land

 

As the name Bulguk (佛國) implies, the temple was designed to manifest the blissful land of the Buddha in the present world.  It was intended to embody the happy land where mortal beings are liberated from the sufferings of life by following the teachings of the Buddha. Therefore, the temple had to be not only faithful to the teachings of the Buddha but also beautiful as well.

The temple compound is divided into three sections: the realm of Sakyamuni Buddha, the realm of Amitabha, and the realm of Vairocana Buddha. The main courtyard which is dedicated to Sakyamuni, the Historical Buddha, is reached by climbing up the thirty-three stone stairs named Baekun-gyo (白雲橋, “The Bridge of White Clouds”) and Cheongun-gyo (靑雲橋, The Bridge of Blue Cloud), and through the Jaha-mun (紫霞門, Mauve Mist Gate). “Jaha” refers to the auspicious mist which is said to surround the awakened one, Buddha. These bridge-like stairways symbolically connect the earthly world below and the world of Buddha above.

   In front of Daeung-jeon, the main Buddha hall enshrining a gilt-bronze Buddha triad, stand a pair of famous pagodas, Seokga-tap, or the Shakyamuni Pagoda, and Dabo-tap, or the Pagoda of Many Treasures. The arrangement of these two pagodas is the realization of the scene from the Lotus Sutra, where the Buddha of Many Treasures emerged out of the earth to witness the greatness and truth of Shakyamuni’s teachings.

   The two pagodas form a rather dramatic contrast in their appearance. The three-story Seokga-tap is a model of simplicity and princely dignity, while the highly decorated Dabo-tap pushes the limits of aestheticism that can be reached by a stone pagoda.

   The Geuknak-jeon, or the Paradise Hall, dedicated to Amitabha, is located to the west of the main courtyard.  From the surrounding area, the hall is reached through a separate gate, Anyang-mun (安養門, “Gate of the Pure Land”) and stairs named Yeonwha-gyo (蓮花橋, “The Lotus Bridge”) and Chilbo-gyo (七寶橋, “The Bridge of Seven Treasures”). Amitabha, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, vowed that all who called his name would be born into this paradise after death.

 

* Acknowledgements UNESCO World Heritage: Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto(1995) National Treasures: Dabo-tap(No.20), Seokga-tap(No. 21), Yeonwha-gyo, Chilbo-gyo (No. 22), Cheongun-gyo, Baekun-gyo (No. 23), Seokguram Grotto(No.24), the Golden Seated Vairocana Buddhist Statue (No. 26), the Golden Seated Amitabha Statue (No. 27), and Sari-tap (No.61).

 

 

Seokguram : Smile of Enlightenment

 

   Seokguram Grotto is located about 4 km from Bulguksa, an hour-long walk up a steep, winding mountain path. Meticulously designed to guide the faithful into the holy land of the Buddha, this stone temple guides one on a mystical spiritual journey to the realm of nirvana in a limited span of time and space.

   After passing through the arched entrance into the rectangular antechamber and proceeding down a corridor, walls decorated with images of various guardian deities, worshipers leave the secular world behind and prepare to face Buddha in the main rotunda.  An image of serenity and power, the Buddha is seated cross-legged on a lotus throne, with his eyes half-closed in meditation and a faint smile on his lips. This depicts the moment of his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree after long years of meditation, with his hands poised in a hand gesture touching the earth to call it to witness his realization of enlightenment. Worshipers who experience Nirvana realize that life and death are one in the void of nothingness.

   Chiseled out of a single granite block, the 3.5 meter-high Buddha image envisages Shakyamuni, the Historical Buddha with sublime beauty and majestic dignity, epitomizing the aestheticism of Korean Buddhist sculpture. With the combination of masculine strength and feminine grace and the personification of divine and human natures, the Buddha represents the ideal human being who has perfected his existence in this world - not as a supernatural figure superior to mere mortal sentient beings, but as a one who started his search as a man and finally attained eternity.  The Buddha looks as if, since is also a man, that he knows everything about us, and that everyone else is a Buddha too.

   There are forty different divinities such as Bodhisattvas, Buddha’s disciples, heavenly kings and protectors embodying various aspects of Buddhist teaching enshrined there; this small but noble grotto temple symbolizes Buddhist philosophy and aestheticism, and was the epitome of religious belief, science and fine arts in the golden, enlightened age of ancient Korean architecture.

Story by Yangja Ha & photo by Yang, Byung-joo (www.zenphoto.kr)