Gyeongju

As soon as the three day weekend was announced I began searching for cools ways to enjoy it. There had been several people who had recommended seeing Gyeongju. This city lies about an hour north by bus and is said to be the largest outdoor museum in Korea due to the large abundance of temples and ancient structures. Gyeongju was the capital of the kingdom of Silla which ruled most of Korea from the 7th to 9th century. Upon further research I found that there is quite a cool temple stay that can be enjoyed by anyone who is interested.

Friday morning came along and Alex, my friend over here teaching with me, and I made our way up to Gyeongju. We arrived in under an hour and transferred onto an inter city bus which dropped us off 45 mins later in the foothills of outer Gyeongju. After another 30 mins of walking up into a small valley we had made it to Golgulsa Temple!

There were about 8 different structures spread out through the property and after checking in I did some exploring. The main attractions to this temple are the Maya Tathagata Buddha, which was carved from solid stone in the 6th century, and Sunmudo, a Buddhist form of martial arts. I checked out the stone carving and went for a short hike up into the hills. Everything smelled wonderful and the light was slowly fading behind the other side of the mountain. Little pink flowers dotted the forest floor quietly announcing the arrival of spring. It was so nice to be completely surrounded by the sights sounds and smells of nature. Dinner was served around 5:30 and was quite a tasty traditional Korean meal, usually a large portion of rice, a variety of different spicy fermented vegetables like kimchi and a seasonal vegetable combo. We went to the main Sunmudo hall after and had an orientation. Five monks arrived and did their evening chanting while me Alex and about 10 other guests listened from a seated half lotus position. After studying Buddhism in college this was the first time I had actually been seated with monks listening to their chants. A very peaceful feeling was wafting through the air with their deep rhythmic tones. This was about 3o mins long and then it was Sunmudo Time!!! Sunmudo felt like a mixture of Yoga, Tai Chi, and Taekwondo. Our teacher was an average height shaved head smiley individual. His main comments to the class were relax and breathe with your movements. We practiced different yoga inspired poses for about 20 mins and went into different high kicks and forms of punches. He also had the class get into different crouching and squatting stances and hold them for quite some time which was the most strenuous part of the training for me. I have been doing Muay Tai now for about 4 months so it was neat to practice another form of fighting. After 90 minuets of training it was time to retire, sort of. Sleeping arrangements were a pillow 2 blankets and the floor. Lets just say even going to bed at 10, 4 am came way too early.

Through the mist of sleep I could hear a constant beat of a wooden block and deep sounds of chanting. Soon I knew it was not a dream, but my 4 am wake up call. In the dark I slowly got dressed and rubbed my eyes awake. We all moved up the hill into the main shrine and listened to the morning chanting. My body and mind were even more willing to let the sounds wash over and relax me. It was quite a heavy and energizing experience. I did another 30 min meditation and a walking mediation led by one of the monks down to the entrance of the property. It was so special to be entering slowly into a new day waking up alongside the rest of the trees and birds of Golgulsa. Straight to breakfast afterward and then Sunmudo training once again. The weather was so beautiful we were able to have outdoor practice and focused a lot on hand movements and energy flow. Afterward we did 108 full bows down to the floor to Buddha. We were told that you are basically humbling yourself and bowing to the full possibilities of achievement within life. There was another 30 min meditation lunch and then we left.

Hopped on a bus over to Bulguksa one of the largest Buddhist temples in Korea. It was amazing to see the intricate architecture and the the different Buddha's who were all doing different hand positions called Mudra's. Several of the sculptures were actually national treasures. The size of the compound was quite impressive and the variety of structures was amazing. Alex and I then hiked up about 2.6km to another temple on the top of the mountain. Seokguram Grotto is home to a sculpture of Buddha that is said to be the best example of an oriental Buddha in Asia. I was definitely awestruck by the power and serenity of the this particular Buddha. It sits at the end of a stone corridor which is all engraved with different protectors of Buddha. I left with a little extra boost thinking about how amazing it is that sites and places like this still exist out in the sometimes crazy world.

Both Bulguksa and Seokguram are UNESCO world heritage sites which is another really cool tidbit.

Here are a couple of links to wiki articles on the different places i visited. Be sure to click the flickr link on the right hand side of my page to view some the photos I took on the trip:

Gyeongju:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyeongju

Sunmudo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunmudo

Bulguksa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulguksa

Seokguram
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokkuram