Regular readers know how much I respect Somewhere in Dhamma, a fine blog written by Joseph Bengivenni. So when I planned my trip to Korea, I very much wanted to visit with Joseph and his family. Thanks to Joseph's flexibility and the efforts of my friend, Hee Suk, we were able to meet together at Haeinsa.
Haeinsa is one of the most important temples in Korean Buddhism. It houses the famous Tripitaka Koreana, the entire Buddhist canon carved in Chinese characters on over 81,000 wooden blocks, a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
Frankly, the temple was a bit pimped out for my taste. When I was last there, in 1996, it had a much calmer, more respectful atmosphere. But on this visit there were bright banners and a "fun" maze for people to follow. Okay, I guess, but I wasn't there for fun.
Instead, I had the great pleasure of hanging out with Joseph and his family. In fact, the temple bling faded into the background as Joseph, Eunbong, Fina, Hee Suk and I got to know one another.
At two years old, Fina was on top of her game. I was entranced and she sorta seemed to like me, too. I thought to myself, "Oh, this is what it would be like to be a grandfather!" Not bad at all.
We were joined by a local tea master, one of Hee Suk's many friends, who helped us tour the temple grounds and with whom we went to dinner. Finally, we ended the day at a wonderful exhibition of traditional Korean Buddhist texts, which included the world's first books printed with movable metal type (sorry, Gutenberg!).
On the leaving the exhibition, Fina took my finger and we strolled into the night. Wow!
Fabulous!
Posted by: Marcus | November 09, 2011 at 07:02 AM
Terrific. Thanks for the post! I'm glad that you got to meet the people you wanted to and to do the things you'd planned to; trips to Korea don't come along that often! One question--when I was at Haeinsa, we walked the maze, and I had the impression that it was for walking meditation, not "fun." I guess someone used that word to you there, though? You obviously have more familiarity with Korean temples than I, so you would know what's the usual thing and what's frippery. :)
Posted by: Lu | November 09, 2011 at 08:07 AM
Barry -
Thanks for the notes and photos.
Would you settle for being a surrogate grandpa? I've been enjoying that role myself.
Is that Fina in the foreground of the temple grounds? She looks lonesome but lovely.
Posted by: Ben | November 09, 2011 at 08:39 AM
What a wonderful experience, meeting Joseph and his family! And these "diary" posts have been beautiful to read.
You would make a fantastic Grampa - surrogate, surrogate, surrogate, bodhi Grampa!,
Posted by: Genju | November 09, 2011 at 09:19 AM
Hi Lu - I used the word "fun" to describe the mazes because that's how people walking in them seemed to treat their experience - there was laughter and general gaiety - not exactly like my experience of walking meditation. Maybe I've been walking with the wrong crowd!!
Thanks Marcus, Ben and Genju. Maybe someday I'll be an actual grandpa (no pressure, dear daughter, no pressure!).
Posted by: Barry Briggs | November 09, 2011 at 02:10 PM
Hi Barry,
The shape of that looks like it might be Uisang's Ocean Seal Dharani.
http://www.korearoot.net/sasang/me3/image/hwaeumdo.gif
Posted by: Chong Go Sunim | November 09, 2011 at 10:00 PM
We really enjoyed this day, as well!
EunBong ended up having a wonderful conversation with the Tea master and we'll be planning a trip soon to visit him again.
Ben - Don't worry about her looking lonesome, she's an adventurer and it's usually a struggle to keep her near! She was posing for a photo here in front of the woodblocks.
Posted by: Joseph | November 10, 2011 at 04:22 AM