Temple Stay

Looking to add some memories to your stay in Korea but tired of the same old pictures of the inside of a bar or restaurant?  How about a temple stay at one of Korea’s excellent temples to rest, relax and meditate your way to inner peace.

Upcoming with the Chuseok holiday, you can take advantage of a temple stay program and avoid the hassle of being in town while the restaurants and shops are all closed.  Spend your holiday in a traditional Korean temple. During Chuseok, the temple stay is September 10th~11th from 2pm~the next day 10:30am

If you’ve already got plans for Chuseok, you can still make a temple stay reality on the 17th~18th of September.

Both temple stay events are to be held in Guinsa temple in the Yeonwha area of the Sobaek mountains  near Danyang in Chungcheongbuk-do. Guinsa temple is the headquarters of the CHeontae style of Buddhism in Korea. The temple can house as many as 10,000 people and feed twice that many. Halls are sprinkled though out the mountain valley and numerous, beautiful structures are within the compound.

During the temple stay, attendees can expect to follow a schedule similar, although not exactly, as follows:

2:00PM ~ 3:50PM Orientation & Visit Dharma Halls

3:50PM ~ 5:50PM Three different practices. (108 prostrations, “KwanSeUm Bosal”, Meditation).

6:00PM ~ 6:30PM Evening ceremony

6:40PM ~ 8:30PM Temple Balu Dinner

8:30PM ~ 9:30PM Make lotus flowers or Experience the Dharma Drum : first hand

9:30PM ~ 3:00AM(the next day) Rest for the next day

3:20AM ~ 5:00AM The Early Morning Ceremony

5:00AM ~ 6:00AM Visit Nirvana tomb

6:00 ~ 6:30AM Breakfast

6:30 ~ 9:00AM Morning meditation & Make rice cake “SongPyeon” (Chuseok only)

If you plan to attend, you should bring basic essentials such as soap, towels, toothbrush, blankets, etc. Wear comfortable clothing. (So you’ll be able to sit in a lotus position) Comfortable hiking shoes. (It’s quite steep at Guinsa) Don’t forget your socks.  Don’t bother bringing hot, uncomfortable pants, short sleeves or sandals.

You can read more about Guinsa on Hyeonduk Seoh’s website  (Sorry – only in Korean) or on Wikipedia.

or on her blog at http://blog.naver.com/hyeonduk

The fee for a temple stay  is 50,000 Korean won for an adult, 30,000Korean won for a student for 1 night and 2 days.  Interested folks should contact Hyeonduk Seoh at 043) 420-7493.  Ask for Hyeonduk and tell them you read about it on UlsanOnline.com