I have wanted to do a temple stay since coming to Korea and this weekend I finally had the chance to. I stayed at Beomeosa (Beomeo Temple) in the north of Busan with another TaLK scholar and it was quite an interesting experience. Buddhism is quite fascinating and the Korean strain seems particularly complex. I still don’t have a good grasp of many things about it but I feel like I now have just a little more insight into the daily practices and basic beliefs of Korean Buddhists.
Dressed up in the very comfortable temple stay clothes.
A model of the entire temple complex.
Our temple stay started with a welcome, an introduction to temple etiquette, and an opening service. We were taught how to make bows and prostrations in the proper way, which must always be done when entering one of the temple halls. We then went to a mountain stream near the temple where we sat on rocks and meditated for a few minutes. It’s such a beautiful area and very conducive to meditation.
Learning the proper way to hold one’s hands when moving around the temple.
Meditation at the mountain stream.
After this it was time for a tour of the temple grounds. We visited the main Buddha hall, which was originally built more than one thousand years ago but reconstructed in the seventeenth century. The monk that led us gave us a lecture on some of the symbolism of the various images inside the hall.
Beginning the temple tour.
Lotus tiles paving the approach to the main Buddha hall.
The main Buddha hall.
Next, it was dinner time. The true monastic meal consists of four bowls filled with rice, vegetables, and water, but we got a much fuller meal. It was still vegetarian but really delicious. Usually after finishing their meal, the monks will rinse out their bowls with water and then drink the water. I’m glad we didn’t have to do that!
Dinner time!
Vegetarian curry, rice, and side dishes.
After dinner we had some free time to wonder around the temple before returning to hear drums signaling the time for the evening service. This service consisted of monks chanting and doing many bows and prostrations. Our temple stay group watched the service from the outside of the main hall.
Attending the evening service.
Our final activity for the day was the creation of a prayer bead necklace. We had to thread 108 beads onto a string and for each bead we had to make a prostration. Each prostration puts a lot of strain on the joints, so we were completely tired out after the full set of 108. The next day I was so sore I could barely walk!
Making 108 prostrations.
My pile of 108 beads.
The finished product, after much pain and suffering.
Bed time was at 9:00 and we would be waking up at 5:00 the next morning. This was way off my normal schedule but I was so tired that I expected to sleep pretty well. Unfortunately, the snoring in my room kept me awake all night!
The fading sunlight.
Hilarious toilet mantra in the temple bathrooms.
The next morning dawned beautifully with mist shrouding the mountain above. We began with a morning service, followed by breakfast.
Looking out over the temple grounds at 5:00 in the morning.
We then had free time to wonder around the temple grounds, or visit any of the hermitages nearby. I chose to wonder up and down the mountain stream, which looked absolutely beautiful in the early morning light.
The beautiful mountain stream running next to the temple.
We finished off our stay with berry tea, rice cakes, and a conversation with our lead monk. He answered questions from the group and gave some insight into Buddhism.
Red berry tea.
Tea and rice cakes.
Overall, the stay was a great experience!
Un Voyage Extraordinaire 
Wonderful pics. Thank you so much for blogging!
What a wonderful experience and beautiful pictures. God has made beautiful places all over the world. Happy that you are privileged to enjoy some of them. Babu
What a good way to learn about another’s culture and religion! From what we have seen of your pictures, S. Korea is a beautiful place. We think of and pray for you often. Love, Cucu
Sounds awesome! I’m actually doing a templestay at Beomeosa this weekend and had a couple questions! Do they let you wear your normal clothes and then give you other clothes to put over it? Also, obviously you have a lot of pictures from it – is it always okay to take pictures whenever? I didn’t want to be rude or disrespectful by taking pictures when I go! Thanks 🙂
Cool! Yeah, they let you wear the temple clothes over your normal ones. The temple stay staff take lots of pictures during the day but they also let you take plenty of pictures when you are wondering around the temple. Obviously you can’t take them when you’re supposed to be meditating or something but you have some free time to see the sights around the area and taking photos then is fine. Hope you have fun!