I still can't access any of my photos, but hopefully I will get that all sorted once I get to Beijing tomorrow. In the meantime I wanted to write a quick post about my recent temple stay experience at the Golgulsa Temple near Gyeongju.
I went into the temple stay anticipating 24 hours of relaxation and meditation to recharge after camp ended. That wasn't quite what I got. Golgulsa is the home of the Korean martial art, sunmudo. On the evening I arrived we had a 90-minute training session complete with kicks and jumps. That followed a vegan Korean meal during which we were instructed to leave nothing on the plate.
After the training session it was right to bed as we had to be up at 4:00am to walk up a steep mountain to the shrine on top where we participated in the morning chant session. After the chat session we did both seated and walking meditation. The walking meditation was my favorite part of the stay as we paced slowly down the mountain in a silent straight line just as the sun was rising. We then had a short break before breakfast (during which I napped) and then had another vegan meal, which marked the first time I had ever eaten kimchi for breakfast (not a rare occurrence for most Koreans.)
Breakfast was followed by another 90-minute sunmudo training session, but "luckily" this one featured mostly yoga poses rather than actual martial arts. It was still pretty tough and my legs almost gave out after the 50th back bend we were instructed to do. Following the training was more meditation and 108 poses, which is a lot harder than it sounds. After what seemed like forever, we were done and were allowed to hike back up the hill to watch the actual professionals do a sunmudo demonstration.
The last event of the stay was a traditional Buddhist ceremonial meal. I will explain more about this when I have some more time, but you not only had to eat every single thing on the plate, but also clean all your bowls with water that you were then required to drink. I actually didn't have too much a problem with drinking the nasty dirty bowl water, but I did have to choke down my seaweed soup. I am not a fan of seaweed.
Once I can get some photos posted I will show you the fancy outfit I got to wear as well as the beautiful surroundings of the temple. Next time I write will be from Beijing!
Wow, Jen, what an adventure! It may not have been what you were expecting/hoping for, but nonetheless it sounds like a fascinating experience. I am so excited for you, though I miss you very much and can't believe you are seeing all of these places without your Amazing Race teammate! (I mean, come on, we could be quarreling in Beijing right now!!) I can hardly wait to hear about your adventures in China... travel safely and be well... I love you!
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