South Korea, 2024

So this afternoon we travelled to Haeinsa Temple, settled in amongst the Gaya Mountains.

We were taking part in their Templestay programme. This is something that is run across Korea in a select number of temples. Our experience started around 1400. Firstly, we explored the temple by ourselves as we wanted to see the UNESCO World Heritage Site of wooden printing blocks.

*Wooden Printing Blocks*

Haeinsa is most notable for being the home of the Tripitaka Koreana, the whole of the Buddhist Scriptures carved onto 81,350 wooden printing blocks. The blocks were carved in the 13th century, since then they have survived seven serious fires and one near-bombing during the Korean War when a pilot disobeyed orders because he remembered that the temple held priceless treasures.

The blocks are the oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script, if the blocks were laid side by side you would need to walk 37 miles to read the script in full.

*Templestay*

We began our Templestay with a guided tour, and then the next stop was dinner. We had to wait for the 3 minutes warning which a young monk rang a bell for, and then we had to proceed to the canteen and queue with the monks before going in for dinner.

Once inside we had to queue up in pairs and serve our own food and then sit down, all awhile making sure to remain in ‘noble silence.’ The food was questionable, there were salad leaves, one that tasted of aniseed another that tasted of balsamic, really spicy kimchi, and then a potato curry. The saviour of the meal was the amazing rice and the coleslaw that tasted AMAZING! So much so I wished I got more. If I was a monk I think I’d live on a diet of rice and coleslaw.

After we had dinner it was then time to hear the playing of the four Dharma instruments (the dharma drum, the wooden fish, the cloud-shaped gong, and the large brahma bell). The instruments were played over a period of 10-15 minutes starting at exactly 18:38. It was a very soothing experience hearing the loud bang of drums and the bell against the chirping of birds and the backdrop of a setting sun against the mountains. Then in the distance was the singing of a monk starting evening prayer.

Then it was time for bed as we were up at 04:00 for morning prayer.Read more