| Temple Stay: Come, Stay and Discover | |
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During a temple stay, one must wake up at around 3 a.m., the same time the monks get up every morning, to usher in a new day. / Korea Times File |
 By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
Delving into the world of another culture is always a thrilling encounter, especially when people can feel, taste, smell and see it as it is.
When the government was looking for adequate lodging facilities for foreigners during the 2002 World Cup Games, head monks of several temples scattered across the country thought it was a good idea to lend a hand, introducing the concept "Temple Stay" for the first time here in Korea.
"It still seems a bit foreign because it`s an English term. But that is basically how it started. The lodging problem was an important issue back then, and everyone put their heads together to come up with a way to not only offer visitors a place to eat and sleep, but also a place where they could learn Korean culture. So, the temples opened up,` Ven. Jong Hun, the director of the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, told The Korea Times during an interview at Jogye temple.
The division was launched back in 2002 when the need for lodging was on the rise, and it has since become the headquarters of temple stays.
A total of 110,000 visitors, 20,000 of them foreigners, participated in temple stays last year, a 36 percent jump over 2007.
The objective of the program was to offer a place to stay for foreigners and also enlighten them with traditional rituals they could only learn by spending time in the temples hidden in the mountains.
The program has grown into a cultural program where visitors get to spend several days at a temple, following the exact same daily routine of monks living there and participating in special lectures and activities.
``There was once an article written by a foreign reporter who experienced a temple stay. He wrote that it was uncomfortable, busy, messy and complicating, but the bottom line was that he actually enjoyed it. Simple as that,` he added.
Temple stays are indeed not an everyday trip to the mall or hotel, as participants must live as, in fact, a monk: waking up at three a.m. for the temple ritual service that involves chanting and prostrations, eating vegetarian meals without making noise, meditation, daily chores and an early bedtime at around nine p.m.
According to the division, local visitors enjoyed the 108 prostration routine, also known as the `108-bae,` while foreigners enjoy learning `dado` or the tea ceremonies, and the `balwoo-gongyang,` or the meal ceremony.
`Traveling has lost its traditional definition. There is much more than just about going out (to a temple). Now people want to experience their surroundings with their five senses, and we have also realized the shift in interests. We are currently discussing what more we can offer through (temple stays),` he said.
A total of 87 temples currently offer temple stay programs, and the list is growing every year. When a temple applies to the division, a team heads to the temple and evaluates if it`s compatible with criteria including location, facilities and programs.
Activities vary, but the Ven. Jong Hun says that the most important lessons are discovering one`s self and learning how to live together with others.
``Learning how to make tea and paying respect to the Buddha may qualify as interesting activities, but visitors should discover the inner self and also realize that the world is a harmonious place where you must live together with others,` said Ven. Jong hun.
He also added that although the religion started in India and expanded to other countries like Tibet, China, Myanmar and Japan, Korea is one of the only places where people can learn the true meaning of meditation.
Here, many monks carry out a ritual they call `angeo,` which roughly translated into `a quiet, tranquil life.` This retreat discipline happens twice every year, in the summer and winter, with the monks locking themselves in the temples from the outside world to meditate.
Few places in the world carry out this ritual and Korea is one of the places where monks do so every year.
``The temple stay has now become the best cultural asset of Korea, combining tradition and activities, both important elements in attracting tourists and locals,` he said.
As if to prove his words, a Korean tourism booth that included a temple stay session won the Best Exhibitor Award at the Internationale Tourismus Boerse (ITB) Berlin, one of the world`s largest travel trade shows, for the fourth consecutive year this year.
The interest in culture and especially temple stays has indeed grown, and this has brought numerous new ideas, relevant or not, to the table, according to Ven. Jong Hun.
``We are in a transition period. Until now, we`ve been focusing on how to bring temple stay to tourists and locals` minds. We were just running constantly. Now we are interested in bringing the temple stay to the next level, and share our culture with the world as effectively as possible. But how much were we willing to open up?` he asked.
The matter of opening up was about how further the temples and organizers would go to attract foreign visitors: offer an experience as difficult and uncomfortable as it is, or make some compromises along the way?
``If we change the ondol (a Korean traditional floor heating system) to beds and serve steak instead of vegetarian meals, can we call that a temple stay? Some traditions may seem uncomfortable and inconvenient, but we can learn how our ancestors lived and also learn how they adapted to the given environment along the way,` he said.
``Imagine two people, one a fisherman and the other a mountaineer. For the fisherman, fish is nothing special, so when they meet, he will try to offer something that is special to him, in this case, seasonal wild greens from the mountains. But the greens are something the mountaineer eats all the time. For him, fish is a specialty, but this is nothing special for the fisherman. What we need is wisdom, not shortsightedness, to appreciate what we have and try to understand what visitors are willing to risk. It`s not about impressing, but sharing the culture and discovering yourself in the most tranquil environments,` Ven. Jong Hun added.
sanghee@koreatimes.co.kr
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