Buddha on the Mount

Following the early morning departure from Daegu, we traveled about 1-1/2 hours to Haein-sa Temple.  This Buddhist temple complex, nestled in the safety of Gayasan Mountain, is isolated enough to continue providing a legitimately meditative oasis and yet is close enough to Daegu and other accommodations so as to be convenient for visitors.

In the main courtyard, you will find a maze marked out on the ground (currently lined with lanterns to which written prayers can be attached).  This maze coincides with a Buddhist poem that discusses the twists and turns that we experience in our quest to find "the way".  Many in our group chose to walk the path of the maze, which should be accomplished in silence so as to allow your mind to focus on freeing itself of the distractions of life and focus simply on "the way."

Additionally, in the courtyard you will find the traditional temple platform which supports the bell, the drum, and other instruments used in summonsing all "sentient beings" to prayer.  We were able to witness the summons which began with three monks taking turns on the drum; it was very intriguing the way that they would shift to the side as their turn was ending which would then allow another to slip in and to begin his turn without interrupting the sound.

As the monks made the transition from the drum to the bell a song which my church's choir sings began flowing through my mind: "Holy Spirit rain down..."  All of a sudden this wonderful gentle rain began falling.  It was so peaceful and just that extra "something special" to add to the moment.

As the sounds for the call to prayer, the three monks scurried off to join their brothers (and maybe sisters too, since female monks are allowed) who were already chanting their prayers prior to lunch.  Our group respectfully followed behind so as to quietly enter the temple so as to observe some of the art on the walls.  It is considered disrespectful to take pictures while actually inside the temple so I do not have images of the paintings depicting the traditional eight moments in the life of the Buddha.  From outside of the temple, I was able to "zoom in" so as to get a couple of images of the Buddha statues.

Following our venture into the temple itself it was time for lunch.  Arrangements had been made for us to dine in the cafeteria of the temple complex.  There were to caveats for dining: 1) you must eat in total silence...no talking and 2) you may take as much as you like from the serving line to eat but you must finish every single morsel of food so as not to be wasteful.  The selection include noodles, rice, cucumbers, spinach, a vegetarian sauce, watermelon, and tea.  Even with chopsticks (and my soup spoon) I was able to fulfill the requirements for dining.

After lunch we hiked to the highest point in the temple complex to see the buildings which house Haein-sa's greatest treasure: the Tripitaka Koreana.  The Tripitaka is the total sum of Buddhist scriptures carved onto 81,000+ wood blocks.  From these wood blocks the scriptures can then be printed onto paper.  The current Tripitaka collection is actually the second set of the scriptures made on wood blocks in Korea.  The first was destroyed during the Mongol invasion and a second set was completed in 1252.  Currently, visitors are not allowed to enter the specially designed buildings with serve as the library for the Tripitaka.

from a photo display nearby the library hall

Following another rain shower, we concluded our time at Haein-sa and began the four hour drive back to Seoul.

Make NEW friends, but keep the OLD

Following a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, we set out for a 50 minute drive to the POSCO steel factory/mill and headquarters in Pohang, South Korea on the coast of the East Sea (aka Sea of Japan).  POSCO began in 1968 and today is the third leading producer of steel in the world; many consider Pohang to be the jewel of Korea's industrial crown.  We were able to walk through a company curated museum so as to gain a historical understanding of the company's history and then we went on a tour/bus drive through the primary production compound.  Due to fears of corporate espionage, we were not allowed to take photographs during the tour; in fact special bags were given to us for us to place our camera phones inside of so that we were not tempted to use them for photographing.  One point along the bus ride we did stop and walked inside one of the buildings.  In this phase the machines were cooling down long (100+ feet) sheets of steel.  As the steel moved along the conveyor belts we could feel the massive heat coming off of the sheets.  I had a moment of remembrance of my maternal grandfather who worked in a (much smaller scale) steel factory in Oklahoma City many years ago.

Following lunch in Pohang, we journeyed back to Geongju for a visit to the Geongju National Museum.  Most of the items in the collection are from the Silla era of the Three Kingdoms, the era of growth and flourishing of Buddhism in Korea prior to the era of the introduction of Confucianism.  One of buildings on the compound dealt with the architectural details of Buddhist temples.  Another building focused on various statues, large and small, of the Buddha which were unearthed during excavations of destroyed/eroded temples.

Our next stop was to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Cheonmachong (aka the Flying Horse Tomb).  This tomb mound is in an area of Geongju in which many burial mounds were close together.  Typical Korean practice is to only excavate tombs if there is no knowledge of who is buried there.  There was no general agreement on who might be buried in this tomb so it was excited and one of the items found inside was a a saddle flap on which a flying horse had been painted.  This finding helps to give testimony that horses were significant to early Sills culture.  Of the various tomb mounds we've visited, this was the only one in which would could go inside.

Our final stop before dinner was to a site of two Buddhist temples.  Bunhwangsa is a small temple with an important pagoda in the history of Korean Buddhism.  Most of the more "recent" temple pagodas in Korea are made of stone.  This particular pagoda was envisioned by someone who had made an expedition to China and saw many pagodas made of brick.  Rather than actually making Bunhwangsa's pagoda out of brick, stones were cut to resemble brick.  This temple is immediately adjacent to the ruins of another temple: Hwangnyongsa.  The temple and pagoda previously standing on this site burned in 1238 (originally built in 600s).  This temple and pagoda were made primarily of wood, but the stone braces on which the structures rested as well as the stone reinforcements placed under the portion of the temple which held the heavy stone Buddha statue are still visible today after having been unearthed several decades ago.

It was a great day of remote road roaming that helped me to interact with POSCO, one of Korea's newer friends (historically speaking), and these special historic sites.

Tombs & Temples & Too Much MSG...Oh My

This morning we left Cheongju to head out for a longer drive that would take us to Kyungju where will be tonight and tomorrow night.  Our first, and a very brief stop, was to Najung.  Near a well on this site Korean folk lore, similar to the legends of King Arthur and the Sword in the Stone, contends that a beautiful horse laid a magnificent egg and from this egg hatched a boy.  When this boy turned 13 local chieftains declared him to be the first king of Silla (an early Korean empire).

We then drove a few minutes away to the Oreung Tombs, which are believed to house the remains of the first king of Silla, his queen (also born from an egg near these burial grounds), as well as the second, third, and fifth kings of Silla.  Again, these mounds are similar to those of the North American mound builders.  Also, around the grounds there are Confucian style structures for ancestor remembrance ceremonies; this is important in that Confucian philosophies were not a part of Korean religious life during the era of these kings and were added later in time.

Following a stop for lunch, and seeing MANY more burial mounds throughout the country-side from the windows on the bus, we went to Seokguram Grotto and its accompanying  Bulguk-sa Temple.  Seokguram features a large white granite statue of the Buddha.  Rather than being placed inside of a preexisting cave, the creators of this Buddha built a chapel cave to surround the statue.  Mark Peterson, the professor I previously mentioned in "Icons of Korean Language", noted that Buddhas within a cave were a symbol of safety along the silk road from western Asia (Middle East) all the way to East Asia.  The Seokguram Grotto Buddha is the eastern most Buddha within a cave and, thus, a marker for the eastern most extent of the silk road.  A small temple outside of this grotto displays thousands of colorful lanterns on which written prayers are placed.

About 3 km away from the grotto is the primary temple which would oversee the care of the Seokguram Buddha.  Bulguk-sa Temple was built during the reign of Silla King Beopheung who reigned from 514-540.  The temple, as well as the Buddha in the grotto, have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

We have now settled in for our first of two nights within the Gyeongju area.