Hwaeomsa Temple Stay

A couple of weekends ago two friends and I spent the night at Hwaeomsa Temple in Jirisan National Park. A lot of temple stays are really involved, full of ceremonies, meditative "walking" (read: serious mountain scaling), manual labor and 108 bows before the Buddha at 4:00 am, but we unintentionally ended up attending a "relaxation" temple stay. That meant we were basically free to do as we chose as long as we wore our uniforms, appeared at all meals and attended two ceremonies. Unfortunately we didn't have the option to do more, but it did turn out to be relaxing as promised.

 Prettiest spot at Hwaeomsa

There are hundreds of rocks piled like this near temples and often on mountainsides. I'm mostly certain it's something religious but can't ever get a more detailed explanation than "wishing rocks." I tried to make my own little tower and it fell down after only the third rock.

1700 year old lantern, original to the temple

Sweet Korean women who helped us make minimal fools of ourselves during the 100% non-English temple stay

We attended ceremonies in this building twice during the night. There are three enormous gold Buddhas inside. We were relieved to have to complete only 15 complicated bows each time and not 108. Before going into the temple the monks played a large drum to call all living things on earth to prayer, rang a metal lotus to summon heavenly beings, played a hollow wooden fish-shaped instrument to summon sea animals, and a large bell/gong(?) to summon spirits. Because Buddhists believe in reincarnation, no one can be left out. It was definitely one of the most impressive and beautiful parts of the overnight stay.

Pagoda to the Buddha of Filial Piety. It only took me two years to finally understand why pagodas are such a big deal. Pagodas always contain the ashes of someone who has attained enlightenment; they're the tombs of Buddhas!

 Buddha about to receive a teapot baptism, presided over by a fish with a tree-fin? I really don't know.

Bodhisattva (Buddhist saint) riding a lion

We also finally received an explanation for why the lotus is important in Buddhism (sorry, no lotuses pictured). It's the only plant that produces both a seed and a flower at the same time and exists in all of its plant states at once. They symbolize spontaneous generation and the divine birth of the Great Buddha. Because they grow in muddy water, the also represent the possibility of an enlightened life in an imperfect world. 

With so many pagodas and lotuses depicted everywhere in Korea, I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to learn what they actually meant!