I was channel surfing today and caught a bit of a travel show. they were at a Buddhist temple in Japan. It had me thinking of the last time I was at Donghaksa. So, I loaded up the few pictures I took then and enjoyed the memories.
I went on a road trip to Daejeon with 2 co-workers, one Canadian and one Korean. We had a great day. First we went to the art museum. Then we went shopping. Ok, I am not much for shopping but my co-workers really enjoyed it. After that we hooked with a friend of my Korean co-worker for supper.
On the way home HyunSuk thought it would be nice to stop at GyeryongSan park and go to DongHaksa. The sun was starting to set as we got there. Most people were leaving the park. The moon was already up and visible.
When we got to the temple it was getting dark. A lone nun was preparing things in a small hall near the base of a hill.. She came out to talk to us, her English was pretty good and what she could say HyunSuk translated.
The nun was getting ready for the ceremony to call the nuns to evening prayer. She explained what that entailed and then asked us if we wanted to watch or participate. We decided it would be interesting to join in. We were right.
First she led us up a path to the top of the hill where there was a small building with a bell. She performed a ceremony and rang the bell several times. Then we went back down to the hall where she performed another ceremony. It was a great cap to a good day.
The views were fantastic as it got dark. My pictures don't do justice to the beauty of the night. The moon lit things up enough that we had no problem making our way back down to the entrance of the park and our car.
I've been to a few temples in Korea, as well. I mean no offense when I say that if you've seen one, you've seen them all.
ReplyDeleteThe one you must see is Bulguksa, in the hills above Kyoungju.
Hmmmmm.
Give me a minute, and I'll post my pics.
Saw it ... in the spring when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. It was spectacular. :)
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