Thursday Templelife Program In Bongeunsa Temple In South Korea
I participated in this program
2017. It was my first time in South Korea, I had attended a convention and traveled alone. I used my mileage for my airfare. That allowed me to book a hotel conveniently located near almost everywhere I wanted to be.
I took an airport bus from the airport. Its last station was the Korea City Air Terminal, my destination. Across the street was the hotel, five minutes away was COEX (the venue of the convention), seven minutes away was Samseong subway station (the nearest from and to the hotel), two subway stations away was Gangnam, and 15 minutes away was Bongeunsa Temple.
Bongeunsa Temple is a Buddhist temple founded in 794. Bongeunsa means the act of honoring the king.
The temple offers several types of programs for visitors who want to experience the everyday life in the temple and the life of a monk. Temple Stay programs for 1 or 3 nights stay and a Thursday Templelife program for only 2 hours.
Thursday Templelife program is scheduled every Thursday from 2 pm until 4 pm. It costs 20000 Korean won. Only non-Koreans can participate.
Thursday Templelife program
I joined the Thursday Templelife program. We were around 10 in the group. It was a guided tour.
We toured the temple and its vicinity.
Had a Tea Ceremony
It is one of the meditations to practice mindfulness and concentration through brewing and drinking tea. Tea and meditation are the same. When you drink tea, your five senses work at the same time. Your eyes see the color, ears hear the sound of the water, nose smells the fragrance, the tongue tastes the flavor of the tea and your hands feel the warmth of the cup.
-Bongeunsa Temple website
Meditation with the monks
Lotus flower making
Every May on Buddha’s birthday. Bongeunsa holds the Lotus Lantern Festival.
At the end of the program, each one of us got this souvenir.
It was all worth it. Experiencing Korean culture in a different way. It’s a beautiful and meaningful experience. I had fun with the group. Though diverse, we all keenly and respectfully participated in the activities of the program. If I will be given the chance, I will surely do it again and not go to the usual places people go.
I went there on the last stretch of the Spring season. The scorching sun hit before noon. My umbrella saved my day. Like what Linda Ng wrote, Asians can’t live without umbrellas, we love them. Even if I looked awkward and out of place, I don’t care. I can endure them more than the blazing sun.
