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Beomeosa temple

Today, we visited Beomeosa temple. This is one of the oldest and largest Buddhist temples in Korea. All over the pagodas and buildings are various Buddhist symbols, such as animals, dragons, and the Buddhist swastika, and of course, the Buddha.

On the walkway to the temple, Buddhist lanterns hung above us.

A volunteer at the temple was kind enough to be a tour guide, and showed us around the grounds, explaining the beliefs and symbolism behind the different buildings, decorations, and paintings. We encountered the first gate which is formed by four pillars, representing the Four Noble Truths. It’s called the “One Pillar Gate” because, as seen from the side, it is held up by a single pillar symbolizing the one true path of enlightenment that supports the world.

Near the museum is the temple’s seven story pagoda. Contained within the pagoda is a Sari of the Buddha.

The museum was small, but very peaceful and quiet. It had a number of historical and religious artifacts, and the museum had some information in English.. Here’s a close-up of the museum’s outside architecture.

At the second gate, there were four statues of the guardians of the temple. The guardians were gigantic. In front of the guardians, there are demons cowering.

After the second gate there’s a building that houses instruments (and the gift shop). There are four instruments, a drum representing land animals/beings, a cloud shaped gong representing birds/sky animals, a wooden fish representing water animals, and a bell representing heavenly spirits. They are all sounded each morning and night, and supposedly their sound makes all beings want to pray.

We took the  path up past the temple, which ran next to a stream.

Up the path we found what appeared to be an additional temple, or an extension of the temple grounds.

A monk greeted us here, (The Venerable) Sung Ta. Rather spontaneously, he invited us to view some of his artwork. He then invited us to tea. Next thing we knew, we were in his residence drinking green tea, getting an explanation of Buddhist principles, and being trained to meditate. We tried to give him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a gift, but I don’t think he understood the gesture. Then, he made a small painting for each of us to keep in our pockets as good luck charms. The painting is of what he called “Dalma,” which is supposed to be the Buddha as he was meditating right before he died. He then showed us his skills with a wooden sword.

Sung Ta then showed us a water shrine(small cave) behind the building, and gave us some of the water from the shrine. He walked us into the building and instructed us in some of the rights, such as incense burning and how to bow and prostrate. He then introduced us to some young Korean practitioners who invited us to their meeting/service. The service started with bowing, chanting, and a lot of prostrating. There were some opening procedures administered by a layperson, which lasted about half an hour, and then Sung Ta spoke, giving what was essentially a sermon. He also introduced us to everyone. Then a layperson took over again and gave a small sermon. It was very interesting, and two of the young Koreans explained some points of the sermon to us while it was going on. Afterward, we ate watermelon with Sung Ta and then continued up the mountain.

We continued up the mountain for about 2+km, and wound up at the north gate to the fortress wall. This wall is often nicknamed “The Great Wall of Korea.”

…and that’s what we did today. It was pretty fun. Maybe I’ll go back and post pictures of other things we’ve done, like the beaches.

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