[Buddha-l] Perhaps the Buddhists in Korea have

[Michael J. Wilson]

Temple Stays in Korean sounds popular and if I was in Korea again I would like to do this too.  I will put in some links to it.  There are other must visit Buddhist places in Korea like Kyongju, which was the buddhist centre of a flourishing buddhist civilization during the Silla period.  And there is of course Heinsa temple, home of the Korea Tripitaka wood block prints.

I would contact Lotus Lantern Society.  They offer temple stays - a good introduction.  They also have many books in English on Korean Son buddhism (for free):
http://www.lotuslantern.net/

The two Son temples near where I lived are in Mungkyong County are DaeSon Sa and BeomeoSa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jogye_Order
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beomeosa

You can't stay there to meditate unless you are a monk.  Songgwangsa has accepted foreign medtitators in the past:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songgwangsa

I also recommend going to Seoul and visiting the International Zen Center:
http://www.seoulzen.org/information.html
They also do retreats and you can find all the information you need here, in English.

Lonely Planet travel book has good basic information on Korea and temples to visit.

Good luck

Michael



Hi Lidewij,
  You might also check out the Seoul Dharma Group http://seouldharmagroup.ning.com/   for information about Buddhist activities in English in the Seoul area. Also, a lot of people really enjoy the Temple Stay program. I think they have their own website, and you can also find out information about this at Chogye Temple in Seoul. 

Take care,
Chong Go



--- On Wed, 10/22/08, Lidewij Niezink <lidewij at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Lidewij Niezink <lidewij at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] Perhaps the Buddhists in Korea have
> To: "Buddhist discussion forum" <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
> Date: Wednesday, October 22, 2008, 3:53 PM
> Hi Michael,
> 
> Thank you very much for your reply. Sounds like worth the
> effort! So far, my
> korean is limited to hello, thank you and good bye so
> i've got a long way to
> go ;-).Then again, i am amazed by the warmth and
> friendliness of the Korean
> people in general. We manage quite well with hands, feet
> and laughs. Most
> people over here assure me that learning the alphabet is
> peanuts but
> learning the grammar is ultimate samsara. What to do eh?
> 
> I'll investigate more,
> all the best,
> Lidewij