Yesterday
(Saturday), I visited along with Han, Wan-hui, his wife Yoon, Mi-yeon, and
their three daughters – Hye-rhim (the oldest) Ji-an (the middle), and Cho-ah yet
another famous temple in South Korea, the Botapsa
Buddhist Temple. In my previous
blogs I had spoken about visiting two other large, famous temples, The Gagwonsa Buddhist Temple in Cheonan and
the Sudoksa Buddhist Temple in
Yaesan-gun. I refer to them in a way
that the reader who may wish to see more pictures of or read more information
about these temples than I can include in my blog can go to the web and find
much more. I will continue to do this
for the major temples that have significant information on the web though I may
not for the smaller temples that do not.
Botapsa, or Botap Temple located in Yeongok-ri,
Jincheon-gun, has a short history compared to the numerous thousand-year-old
Korean Buddhist temples, but it has a three-story wooden pagoda, the only one
in Korea that people are actually allowed to climb up. The name Yeongok-ri means ‘a lotus flower’. It was given the name because the nine
surrounding mountain peaks resemble a lotus flower. To enhance the flower concept, the ambiance
effect of over 200 different varieties
of wild flowers have been cultivated on and around the temple grounds
The Lotus Flower Pond.
The three story Dharma hall was built in
1993 and modeled after Dharma halls of the Three Kingdoms period. With the construction designed to give the
appearance of a lotus flower, the hall stands almost 43 meters high.
Two views of the multilevel Dharma Temple.
The Botapsa Temple has a special meaning for Han, Wan-hui, as he proposed to Yoon, Mi-yeon under the many arms of a special tree that stands out front of the temple. In the act of proposition, being an ocarina master, he played the John Lennon song (which was, by the way, written by Yoko Ono and appeared on the onsaponatime album) “Oh, My Love” on the ocarina – a song that he told me he has not played since.
Han, Wan-hui photographing at a special place.
A very special tree.
It
was in the multistory Dharma Temple that he then performed 108 bows in service
to his special promise to his wife-to-be, his future family, and, of course, to
Buddha to live an honorable life of loyalty and commitment. For those not familiar with Buddhism, the 108
bows of prostration represent the means of casting aside the 108 agonies that
burden all of mankind and with each bow, prayers are sent heavenward. This is how his life change began.
Though
my own interest in Buddhism began years ago, one of my reasons for coming to
Korea was the seeking a greater enlightenment for life. In so doing, I have been following a path that
was long ago blazed by the Gautama Buddha.
The Entranceway.
The Guardians
Yoon, Mi-yeon (dark dress) and her three daughters at a wishing pond.
A philosophy of peace, mainstream Buddhists (I have to put it this way as I am not to be considered an authority so I can only speak to that with which I am familiar and there are numerous smaller sects within Buddhism that do have some variation in beliefs) do not demand or command that you follow their teachings or else face some special kind ill fortune in an afterlife (if you lead a negative life your spirit gets recycled such that it will have to face life once again to try to correct the damaging aspects of your spirit. This recycle process is called ‘karma’). Instead, you are simply told that Buddha took a path and the result was a positive outcome, not just for himself, but for all life around him.
He encouraged others to follow that path, but any who chose to follow a different path were encouraged to do that as well. If, in time the seeker returned to the path suggested by Buddha, then that was equally good. The whole point was to achieve positive life outcomes and alleviate suffering that all must endure to the greatest degree possible. This is something that, to my mind, all people should seek.
Attending to food after the long afternoon temple visit.
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