The Korean Wave 2006 - Korean Cultural Service

The New York Times, sunday, november 26, 2006
TR3
Immersion
in Buddhist Austerity
By CATHERINE PRICE
At 3:30 a.m. in a temple in South Korea the sound
of the moktak – a wooden percussion instrument
that Buddhist monks play every morning to start
the temple’s day – jolted me awake. I pulled myself up
from my floor mat, straightened my itchy gray uniform
and stumbled through the pre-dawn darkness to the temple,
where pink lotus lanterns illuminated a small group
of people waiting to begin their morning prostrations.
I was at the Lotus Lantern International Meditation
Center on an overnight trip run by an organization
called Templestay Korea. Created by the Jogye Order of
Korean Buddhism – the largest Buddhist order in Korea
– the program aims to allow visitors to “sample ordained
lifestyle and experience the mental training and cultural
experience of Korea’s ancient Buddhist tradition,” according
to its Web site. Although the program only began in
2002 on the occasion of the World Cup soccer tournament
held in Korea and Japan, it has grown swiftly over
the last four years from 14 temples to 50, with 52,549
participants in 2005.
The meditation center on Ganghwa Island, about two
hours from Seoul by public transportation, certainly seems
like the sort of place that could inspire calm. The grounds
are nestled between rice paddies and a leafy forest, and
the center’s brightly painted temple sits several stone steps
up from a gentle brook and a small pond stocked with
lotus flowers and koi. Monks wander silently, occasionally
gathering at an outdoor wooden table and offering tea
and small snacks to guests.
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