Temple Stay in South Korea - Beomeosa Temple
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This past weekend I had the privilege of traveling to Busan, where I stayed at Beomeosa Temple for 1 night. The temple is located on Beomeosa Mountain, and it's beautiful and full of rich, ancient culture.
A Temple Stay is an experience where you can stay within a Buddhist temple and observe/take part in Buddhist Monks' lifestyle. From meditation to prayer to rituals, you can experience it and detach from the hustle of modern life.
At Beomeosa, there are two options: Experiential Stay and Relaxation Stay. Since my trip to Busan was mainly for relaxing and unwinding, I opted for the Relaxation Stay, which costs 60,000 KRW, or $41.71, and food is included ().
Below is the outline of activities for the Relaxation Stay:
| Day 1 | 13:00~14:00 | Check-in |
| 14:10~15:10 | Orientation of Temple Stay (mandatory) | |
| 15:10~16:50 | Walk in a forest path & Temple tour | |
| 16:50~17:30 | Dinner offering | |
| 17:30~18:00 | Move to Beameosa main dharma hall (Individually) | |
| 18:00~18:50 | Watching Ceremony of Four Dharma Instruments & Join Evening Buddhist Service(Individual attendance) | |
| 19:00~22:00 | Freetime | |
| 22:00~00:00 | Go to sleep | |
| Day 2 | 04:30~05:00 | Morning Buddhist Service(Individual attendance) |
| 07:00~07:30 | Breakfast offering | |
| 07:30~09:00 | Take a rest | |
| 09:00~09:40 | Meditation (mandatory) | |
| 09:40~10:00 | Check-out | |
| 10:00~11:00 | Visit Beomeosa Museum (Individual attendance) |
Food:
Food at Buddhist temples are vegetarian but tasty! You are expected to finish what you take. In other words, wasting food is simply "not allowed."
Rooms:
My room was gorgeous, located in a beautiful, traditional temple. The floors were Ondol, or heated floors, bathrooms were clean, and I had a room all to myself with breathtaking views.
Overall Experience:
As someone that is deeply interested in learning about different cultures and religions, I had a wonderful time at this temple. The people of the temple were so kind, with one regular visitor giving me 20,000 KRW to buy myself a meal. She said she would like for me to eat well, since her daughter is also alone in Seoul. The devotees helped me throughout the prayer with one man giving me a translated version of the prayer on his phone. Everyone within the temple gave me their sweets, fruits, and the head monk gave me a beaded bracelet on his wrist, claiming he was gifting it to me from his heart and Buddha's body.
I am so thankful to everyone there and the stay itself was relaxing and introspective. With plenty of free-time and meditation, it truly is a place to relax and unwind. I strongly recommend that you add Temple Stay to your travel list!
I hope this information was helpful, stay on the lookout for more articles as I explore South Korea! Thank you for reading and I look forward to writing more :)
- Jayani Jayakanthan
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