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! 

Comments

[Jae-Min]

Just a question to clarify, are you currently wearing Tibetan robes? I thought you were wearing either the Korean or Vietnamese robes. As for those names you read out, they would be either names of the deceased, or more likely at that particular time, names of sponsers and people there who wished to have prayers said for them, known as 축원, I think.

[Rinchen Gyatso]

I will continue to wear my Tibetan robes until November, it seems. The head of the education dept. at Jogye-sa wants to check on my progress in the Korean language. If I've made enough progress, I will become a Jogye-jong monk at that time.