A Monk Amok

One Peace

I have just received an email from Danny Fisher about an upcomming event:

I recently received an email from an acquaintance of mine, Mr. Shisir Khanal, who is the executive director of Sarvodaya USA. Sarvodaya USA is the American branch of Sri Lanka's Sarvodaya Shramana Movement--the largest NGO in the South Asian nation, devoted to the "sustainable empowerment" of rural Sri Lankens in 15,000 villages across 34 districts.  Its founder, Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and one of the great figures in the modern Engaged Buddhist movement (along with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, Sulak Sivaraksa, Maha Ghosananda, and others).  Shisir and Sarvodaya are hoping Buddhobloggers and others will help promote Dr. Ariyaratne's upcoming visit to Michigan.  He will be one of two main speakers at One Peace, a dialogue and meditation event to be held at the Eastern Michigan Convocation Center in Ypsilante, MI, on the United Nations' International Day of Peace (Sept. 21).

Check out the details here. 

In other news, I've been out and about lately finally trying to get over the jet lag.  I have a few pics to post later.  Will blog soon....

I don't have a catchy title for this post--I'm just trying to stay awake

I'm pooped. On Thursday after the mid-day chanting service (called "yebul"), a visiting monk ascended the throne to teach.  We all had books layed out in front of us to read along while we stood on our knees, palms together.  Surprisingly, I was able to follow along in the text for the most part, but I couldn't understand what I was reading.  At one point, there was a question and answer section, so one of the senior monks read the answers. 

Now, I had a cushion under me so my knees weren't doing to bad, but my lower back was starting to ache.  Before that became a problem, though, my legs starting shaking, I started sweating profusely, all the blood left my face and I felt like I was going to pass out and possibly vomit on the floor (sorry, Carrie--I know you don't like that visual).  I tried deep breathing, but that didn't work, so I finally stood up and left through a side door near me.  Of course, the house was packed and everyone noticed, but I figured it was better to be embarrased for leaving than to make a scene and a mess.  I just stepped outside the doors and sat on the floor to put my head between my knees.   

It took about 15 minutes to recover, but I decided to stay put.  I looked through a hole in the paper covering the door and saw that the monks were still in that same position.  I decided it was best not to risk it.  When the service ended, one of the women volunteers waiting around the corner from me in that space rounded the corner and was surprised to see me.  She led me under the Buddha statues of the main altar to where my shoes were on the other side of the altar room.  I hadn't realized there was a way to walk under there.  I think these women take care of some of the offerings before service begins.  They even have a fridge under there, I think it sits right under Kwan Se Eum Bosal, the bodhisattva of compassion.

Right after the service was lunch.  The weird thing was no one said anything.  It wasn't until the next day at lunch that some of the monks were laughing about it. I didn't get what they were talking about at first, though they tried to explain.  When I did finally understand, I explained in pidgin Korean and with a lot of gesturing why I had left.  They thought I was just tired because I go to all the services (3:40am, 10:30am and 6:00pm). 

I had to admit, however,  that I hadn't gone to the morning service that day as I hadn't slept a wink the night before.  Normally, I would still have gone to the service and tried to sleep later, but we were going to another temple that day (Friday) to wish happy birthday to my No Seunim (my "grandfather" in our particular "family" within the order), and I didn't know how long we'd stay.  We arrived at around 6:45am, I think, and got all gussied up in our monastic finest before heading to the top floor to bow and pay our respects.  Jeong U Seunim (that's my No Seunim's name) said a few words to everyone.  When it came to me, he simply said, "Yeorae-sa...good"?  I replied in Korean, "Johsumnida" ("It's good").  Yeorae-sa is my temple here.  He smiled and said something about me speaking Korean.  Later, a monk who speaks English translated for me while I introduced myself to everyone.  It gave me a chance to publicly thank the monks of Yeorae-sa and my vocation master for their kindness.

After that, we had a quick breakfast. There was even a cake with candles for Jeong U Seunim to blow out.  I sat at a table with the two Geshe's from my temple and two more Tibetans, plus a couple of Korean nuns. 

After we got back, I was strangely not tired, so I worked on editing a document for my vocation master and then attended the mid-day service (thankfully, there was no fainting incident).  Lunch that day was when everyone was laughing about my walking out of the service the day before.

Last night I hardly got a wink again, probably becuase I slept for a while yesterday afternoon.  Today I'm going to try and go to the Dharma group in Seoul again and stay up until a normal hour so I can get a good night's sleep. If that doesn't work, I may just have to try wacking myself over the head with a frying pan.

Photos!

I've finally downloaded some photos to my flash drive.  Here are a few random pics.

This is the "Bean" in Millenium Park in Chicago on the lake front. 

Again, the Bean and the skyline.

  

My buddy Shakya and Sue the Dino at the Field Museum in Chicago. I have a great shot of Shakya in the Bean, but for some reason it won't load.

Shakya the Cowboy.  We went horseback riding at Moraine View State Park near my hometown in IL after a couple of nights in Chicago.  The wind kept blowing Shakya's hat off, so he pushed it down hard on his head. By the end of the ride, I realized he had it on backwards.

My backside hurt by the end of the ride. And yes, that's me wearing jeans.  Black jeans on a hot day, however, is not recommended.

This is Jesse, his wife Khoa, me and Shakya at an Indian restaurant in Peoria.  Jesse and Khoa are friends from CA who happen to be from central IL like me.  They're home for the summer, so we got to see them.

This is Jesse, myself and Shakya at the Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL.  Best museum I've ever been to.  I told Jesse later, "You know, it's good to have friends you can do nerd things with."  ..Like going to presidential museums.

Me at Dharma Bums, a small center in San Diego, CA.  This is actually from May before I left CA for IL.

And here's Ven. Guhwa at the same place.  I have to admit, we were only pretending to meditate for photos.

Ven. Kiet freezing at the beach in San Diego.  This was only my second time at the beach in CA in two years.  I should have gone out more....

Ven. Guhwa was so excited to be at the beach that he took off his socks and shoes and actually went at least knee deep in the water.  I was all wrapped up but I was too cold. 

I actually haven't taken too many photos yet since I arrived in Korea, but this is a halfway decent picture of the front of Yeorae-sa (Tathagatha Temple) where I'm currently staying.  It's in Ilsan, a suburb of Seoul.  My room is on the third floor overlooking part of Jeongbal Mountain, a park area behind the temple.

This is a view out a third floor window looking south.  The temple is in a fairly quiet neighborhood, though there's a middle school next door so I'm sometimes treated to pop music over the loud speakers during their lunch hour.

These are two Tibetan Geshe's that live at the temple, Namkha on the left and Yeonten on the right.  They're both from Kham originally (East Tibet).  There are a fair number of Tibetan monks in Korea.  These two were brought here to learn Korean and teach the academic side of the tradition, but neither of them are teaching yet I believe. 

That's all for now.  I'll be sure to take my camera out more later.

The Dharma of Paranoia

Yesterday, I went to the Seoul Buddhist English Library (I think that's what it's called) for a weekly Dharma group meeting including some meditation and discussion.  Afterwards, I went to dinner at a pizza place with my new friend, Chongo Seunim and one of the Korean participants in the Dharma Group, Mr. Bak.  For some reason, the issue of the anti-government militias came up, and Chongo Seunim said quite seriously that he thought in the absence of any spirituality in their lives, "paranoia is the Redneck search for meaning."  I had to slap my hand over my face to keep from making a scene with my rather loud laugh.  I still almost fell out of my chair. He does have a point, though.  Their identity is created in opposition to the government (and anyone else different from them, I suppose).

That's my quote for the day. 

Kimchi or Bust

It's the crack of dawn on Thursday, and for some reason, my stomach is grumbling.  I had two...yes, two dinners last night.  But more on that in a moment.

The food at the temple is good, though I'm having some difficulty adjusting to all the chili powder used in the cooking.  We basically have a buffet three times a day in our own monks dining room in the first basement (there are three basements here--land is at a premium).  The main thing served is bibimbap, though there's usually a soup or two as well.  For bibimbap, you get a big bowl, put in some rice, then add what you want to the bowl -- there are usually five options including mini slices of veggie omelet at breakfast, and of course, the ubiquitous kimchi.  Kimchi is some kind of pickled vegetable smothered in chili powder.  Sometimes mild, sometimes overpowering, it's served wherever you go.  I basically like it, except that if there's too much chili powder, I'm known to start coughing.  Sometimes I whip the excess powder on the rice, then mix it in so it's diluted.  I always take a little at each meal, as I'm determined to get used to it.  I'd starve if I didn't.  The meal is then finished by pouring some tea in your bowl, swishing it around to clean it, and then drinking it all down.

At lunch there's always fresh slices of fruit, too: apples, oranges, and some kind of white fruit with a similar consistency to apples, but I don't know what it is.  Yesterday there was cake, but I didn't take any as I'm equally determined to loose a few pounds here.  I eat significantly less than my much thinner brethren, so I can't understand why I haven't dropped a single kilo since I've arrived. I'm exercising a lot with all the walking and bowing as well.  That's it, I'm just building muscle which is heavier than fat.  (Work with me, people.)

Anyway, after dinner, which is served at 5:00 pm, and then evening chanting, one of the monks found me on the third floor and invited me to join him at a restaurant.  It took about an hour to get there -- traffic in Seoul can be terrible and this city is freaking huge -- but with his "nabi" (navigation unit) we made it there without a hitch.  The odd thing was all the crosses we saw on the way there from the highway, some framed in neon.  Christian churches here are everywhere, but hardly a Buddhist temple in site, despite the fact that these two religions are in rough parity in South Korea, about 25% each with the remaining people generally being non-religious.

But I digress....  When we arrived, we went to a small private room in a kind of mom-and-pop neighborhood joint.  It was the first time I'd tried Nenmyeon (I think I spelled that right -- it's cold noodles).  Perfect for a warm summer night.  We tried to communicate as best we could.  Then we headed back to their temple -- Bulgwang-sa -- famous for it's Seon (Zen) master.  The temple is about 50 years old, making it one of the older temples in the Seoul area (Buddhism was kicked out of the cities by the last royal dynasty which adhered to a form of neo-Confucianism).  Thus the temple looks more traditional for the most part than many other temples here, including the one where I live. 

Anyway, we went to one of the monk's rooms and sat and had tea.  He likes music, so we listened to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" and some Andrea Bocelli.  He called himself a "Bourgeois monk" with a chuckle. 

After that, we headed home, but stopped at a convenience store on the way to pick up a few things.  I've discovered a love of banana milk, so I picked up one and a small soda for later.  We got back right around 11:00 pm, but I had to get up for morning chanting by 3:30 am, so I haven't had much sleep.

Almost time for breakfast!

Christian Fundamentalism in Korea

Check out this story on The Buddhist Channel. I just can't wrap my head around what motivates arrogant fundamentalists.

On this same topic, do a search for Frank Tedesco's article on the Buddhist temple burnings that happened here in the 80's and 90's. Unfortunately, it looks like the fundamentalist brands of Christianity that were exported to Korea largely from the states have been taken to an extreme here. I've been told that the temple attacks ended after some major Christian groups in the U.S. expressed how disgusted they were with the attacks.

If anyone is interested in learning more about Christianity in Korea, check out Christianity in Korea edited by Buswell and Lee. I used this book for my master's thesis.

UPDATE:

It's Monday morning, July 7th.  I have seen the news on TV the past couple of nights and the protests continue.  From what I saw last night, huge numbers of people (a thousand or more perhaps in the shots that I saw, but I don't really know how many people) were in the streets in Seoul participating in a peaceful, candlelight protest over the fundamentalist Christian bias in the current administration.  I think they center around Jogye-sa, the head temple in the heart of Seoul.

If you didn't read the article, someone in the president's administration or on his staff described the protestors as "Satanic."  Aigo!

Week One

So it's Thursday...I think.  The days are a bit of a blur, even though I think I'm over the jet lag. Being so busy the first several days made the transition easy.

Last Friday, I met with my vocation master's brother, Beopjang Seunim, the head of the education department for the Jogye order and abbot of Mujin Beopjang-sa, a small temple in the Seoul area.  Jogye monks have to do four years of basic training after ordination at either a meditation hall, a traditional academic center or at a modern university (generally doing Buddhist Studies).  Given that I'm already a monk and have a master's degree in Buddhist Studies, they're not quite sure yet what to do with me.  The master's degree was only two years, so they have to decide if I need to do two more years or the full four.  I think they're leaning toward the full four which is fine with me.  I haven't decided which basic program is best for me, though I still have a year to decide.

During the meeting, Beopjang Seunim invited me to stay the weekend at his temple.  After a quick run for some undies (as I wasn't planning on staying away from my home temple overnight) we headed back to his temple.  In the car on the way there, we tried to communicate a bit with my extremely limited Korean and his almost-as-limited English.  After a while he said, "You...Korean Language...possible."  Whew!

Saturday morning we got up at about 3:30am for the morning chanting. Of course, I can only join in about 10% of it, but that's better than nothing at this point.  If the chanting is slow enough I can fake some of it, but mostly I just stand there.  Actually, in Korean Buddhism ther's a lot of up and down. Tibetan robes were unfortunately not made for Buddhist chant-er-sizing, so I regularly come close to falling on my tukus after stepping on my shanthap (the skirt) and the chugu (or yellow shawl) is always falling off.  Maybe I'm struggling with the chanting in part because I'm trying to keep my clothes on...?

Anyway, after breakfast, Beopjang Seunim, his disciple Yeoil Seunim and eight lay women from the temple jumped in the temple van and had a five hour trek up to a military base about 10 k from the DMZ.  This was the base where my vocation master was stationed when he was a military chaplain (all Korean men are required to do a few years of military service--even the monks).  I didn't realize it was a formal affair, but when we arrived (after five hours on the road because we got lost) we all donned white gloves and cut a ribbon to inaugurate a new temple on the base for the soldiers and their families.  Then after some short chanting and Christian-style Buddhist hymns, Beopjang Seunim gave a short Dharma talk. I think he was showing me off a little, saying that I had come all the way from American to join "our Jogye order," but that was fine withe me.  In decades past at least, Koreans connected Christianity with being modern and international, so it's good for them to see Western monks--white folk, frankly--who've taken up the Dharma.  It might in some way help balance out the opinion of some Koreans who say Buddhism is old, backwards and no longer relevant.

Anyway, after that we sat and enjoyed some fruit a drinks and less formal conversation, during which Beopjang Seunim asked me to say a few words about my impression of the day. One of the soldiers had lived in the U.S. for a year and could speak some English, so he translated for me.  I said in part that coming from a country with so few Buddhists it was wonderful to see such a vibrant community of the faithful in such a remote location.  And believe me, it was remote--way up in the mountains on a long, winding and only occastionally paved road.

Sunday morning, back in Seoul, I joined in the morning service at Beopjang-sa again.  At the mid-day service, Beopjang Seunim again told the crowd that I had come from the States to joing the Jogye order.  He had me stand up and bow to the crowd. 

That afternoon, a lay woman from the temple took me halfway back to Ilsan where I live on the subway which was a two hour ride.  Ohhh I was pooped, but it was a good weekend.

One thing that has struck me so far is how active the lay people are in the temples.  At the 4:00am service here at Yeorae-sa, there are always 20 or so people in attendance.  Today at the mid-day service (usually 10:00am at most temples), the temple was full--150 or 200 people perhaps and maybe more, everyone chanting along wiht the monks.  The sound is beautiful.  I was upfront with the other monks stumbling on my robes, but when it was time to read the names of people on some big white cards (people who've passed away?) I was given a stack to read as well. Thank goodness I can pronouce Korean writing!  I think I got most of the names right.  After the service, one of the senior monks smiled and gave me the thumbs up.  I think he was please that I at least kept up appearances in front of the crowd.

I'm making friends as well. One of the monks here at the temple (Dong Seon Seunim...or is it Don Seong?  Ratz! I'm having trouble with names.) invited me into his room for tea.  At first I thought he was asking for tea as he was working hard on carving a sign with Chinese characters on it, so I disappeard to bring him some.  When I got back and presented him with the cup, he pointed at his tea set and we both laughed.  We tried to have a conversation, but I didn't understand most of what he said.  Despite all that, he invited me back.

Oh!  Time for dinner! 

Say...what?

I've finally arrived in Korea!  I got to the temple around midnight last night, but more on that in a moment.

First, I must say I had a great time during Shakya's visit to the Midwest.  He said one of his favorite things was horseback riding, and I must agree.  We also spent a total of 3 nights in Chicago, seeing things like the Field Museum and the Baha'i temple in Evanston.  We also got together with Jesse and his wife Khoa in Peoria, a little more than half and hour from my hometown.  Jesse is a classmate from UWest who also happens to be from the Midwest like me.  I miss my friends, but am so caught up in getting settled right now I don't have time to reflect very much.

When I arrived at the airport, I had the easiest time ever getting from the plan to the parking lot.  I've had more difficulty re-entering the U.S. than I did getting to Korea!  One funny thing that happened is that when I picked up my luggage in Seoul a woman from some military or government agency that meets U.S. service members arriving in Korea approached me to ask if I was in the military.  Given that I was wearing my monastic robes (which includes a skirt for those of you who don't know), I had to chuckle at the question. 

Four people came to meet me--Nayeon and her younger sister Jaeyeon (both Canadian citizens visiting Korea for the summer and staying at the same temple as me) and two other Korean lay women.  They had a piece of paper with my name on it, but then I do stand out in a crowd so they saw me right away.  They took me for a quick bite near the temple in the suburb of Seoul called Ilsan--some kimchi and a bit of grilled fish, then it was straight to the temple.  Speaking of food, I've had three meals here at the temple so far.  I was hoping to loose a bit of weight (like 25 pounds) but I'm not sure that's going to happen.  ;)

Having learned to read the Korean alphabet, called hangeul, before arriving has been very helpful.  The bit of Korean I learned last fall has already come in handy, too. I've been here less than 24 hours and I'm already learning new words.  The muscles of my face, however, are getting quite a workout with all the screwed up, confused looks I inevitably give people.  I'm surpirsed I can't remember how to say, "I don't understand."

I'll post pictures when I can see straight.

I've Returned to Normal

I'm back in my hometown of Normal, IL now visiting family before taking off for South Korea.  My nephews Tommy (five 1/2) and Danny (2) are cute as can be.  They both call me "Uncle Buddha."  Danny doesn't know me so well, so he's a bit shy still, but he's warming up to me, I think.

My dad has gotten into model trains, so the family room now has a large table with train tracks and lots of little houses on it. There are even kids playing baseball and a dog peeing on a fire hydrant.  When dad asked me to look at the fire hydrant, one of the people had fallen down, so I pointed out that the dog was peeing on the person.  He laughed so hard he couldn't set the person upright. My father has a Ph.D.  So much for all that education....

In other news, my friend Hun Lye is blogging again this summer.  I'm not sure where his travels will take him this summer (though he's left Warren-Wilson College for another school the name of which I forget).  In any case, check out his new blog http://hunwanderings08.blogspot.com/.  Hmmm...for some reason, the link isn't showing up as a link.  Well I guess if you're interested, you can cut and paste the link.

Shakya will be here Thursday.  I'll be sure to post plenty of photos of our adventures.

Danny is also blogging like a mad man as usual.  I encourage you to check out his blog (link at right under Blogger Buddies).

Red Lotus Society

Some friends and I from UWest visited The Red Lotus Society on Saturday.  Our friend Peter, who used to live at UWest while working for a sutra translation project, has been heavily involved in the project and currently lives with some of the other people involved. 

Based in San Diego, the Red Lotus Society is a non-profit that promotes secular meditation in schools and homes and also provides a space where teachers from different traditions can provide access to a wide variety of Buddhist traditions.  In fact, they're doing major remodeling on the former Ideal Hotel, a two-story building in the heart of what used to be San Diego's Chinatown.  This has meant months of demolition, rewiring, all new plumbing and a whole lot of other back-breaking tasks. 

Check out their website (still under construction).  If you're in the San Diego area, they can always use volunteers.  Otherwise, consider supporting this worthwhile project with a donation.

Here's part of the exterior of the Ideal Hotel. Venerable Kiet is in the doorway.

 

 

 

 

 

The roof of the building had cutouts so all the interior rooms on the second floor would have direct sunlight. Ven. Kiet and Shakya went up on the upper most section of the roof and Shakya took this photo of me taking one of him from the lower section.  That's Peter holding the ladder and Rev. Bosung is in the brown next to me.  The other Korean monk is Ven. Guhwa.

Here Peter is explaining some of the work they've been doing on the building. I used to do some volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, but I can't imagine doing a project this big.

 

 

 

 

Jeff, one of the guys involved in the project, owns this space they they used for some of the meditation programs for the Dharma Bums center they also run.  The painting above the fireplace was done by a Japanese-American woman.  It's of an American Avalokiteshvara (bodhisattva of compassion).  This space is one-third of a building just behind the Red Lotus Society space. 

Here we are in a loft space looking over the living room area in the shot above.  It's used for meditation.  Here we're settling in for some shots of us pretending to do some meditation as we didn't have time to really sit down for practice. 

Here's our whole group, from left to right: Rev. Bosung, Shirleen, Lanny, Ven. Guhwa, me, Peter, Shakya, and Ven. Kiet.

 

 

 

 

Before leaving town, we ran to the beach to take a few photos.  I think this was my second time at the beach in CA...a week before leaving!  We'll I'll just have to go to the beach in Korea a lot.

 

 

 

 

All of these photos are courtesy of Shakya as I haven't downloaded the photos from my camera yet.  I'm gonna miss these guys.