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| Climbing up Haeinsa Mountain... there's a beautiful brook in back of me |
Hae-In was built during the 9th century. One of its unique features are the prayer mazes which faithful people follow as they chant their prayers. But what makes it really special are the 81,000 wood blocks upon which are carved all of Buddha's teachings. They are housed, library style, in this temple so that prints can be taken from them and used to spread the word of Buddha. Amazingly, though the temple was built centuries ago, they have quite sophisticated (and time-proven) methods to keep the wood blocks in good shape. First of all, before they even cared the blocks they took the wood (mostly magnolia wood, I believe) and soaked it in sea water for three years. Then they exposed it to winds for three years. Then they carved the blocks and built a storage structure to keep them in condition. Besides building the temple so high above sea level to avoid moisture, the temple is facing in the precise direction in order to take advantage of dry winds. Additionally, the building that holds the blocks was built on a base which has layers of calcium oxide, salt, lime, charcoal, and sand to absorb moisture.
Ironically, a few years ago someone got the bright idea to build a new storage area for the blocks with state-of-the-art technology to preserve them. Luckily, they moved only a few test blocks into the new facility to see what would happen. The test blocks became mildewed, and that's when they realized, "Hey, the blocks remained in perfect condition for a thousand years in the old place, maybe the monks who built it actually knew what they were doing!" And so, the blocks remain at Haeinsa. We weren't allowed to photograph the blocks but I did buy an ink print of one of them for a mere 5,000 won ($5 bucks).
As we wandered around the complex we heard the chanting which grew louder and louder as more worshipers came to pray. At 10:45 Dr. Peterson led us to where a giant drum was hanging (by giant I mean the size of my car). Four monks were waiting until the proper time to begin the drum call to prayer. Finally, one arose and began seriously beating out some rhythms on this drum. Ringo Starr would have been green with envy at monk #1's skill. After he planed for a while he sidled over to the right and that was the signal for monk #2 to come and play side by side with him for a moment before #1 slipped back into his seat and #2 soloed. This guy was even better than the first! I was thinking that if they got progressively better monks #3 and #4 were going to be superhuman. However, they were evidently beginners and didn't stack up to the first two. After each of the monks had played they had a grand finale and then rang the giant bell which hangs next to the drum. It was a moving and awe-inspiring experience.
Our visit to Hae-In ended with a meal provided by the monks. Evidently the temple's monks provide free food to all who show up (though I understand that since our group was so large the Korea Society did make a donation to the monastery). As we stood in line to go into the cafeteria-style eating area people were going down the rows of people saying "Eat everything on your plate and don't talk." I guess it makes sense that the monks would be offended if we wasted any of the meal they gave us. And silence, of course, fits in with the monastic life. Now, at this point I had been in Korea for two weeks and had eaten a "traditional" Korean meal at least twice a day. I wasn't planning of taking much food until I saw potatoes! Mmmmm, potatoes. To a girl who's had about 100 pounds of rice over the past fourteen days, potatoes looked substantial, tasty, and filling. I loaded up on potatoes. Then, foolishly, I took a fairly decent sized portion of greens, some bean sprouts, two starchy-looking squares of white stuff, and a bowl of soup. But I really was excited about the potatoes. Imagine my chagrin when I bit into the first potato and realized that they were picked turnips! Ewwww. They were disgusting. And I'd taken about six big chunks of them. And, on top of that the soup wasn't so good and the starchy things were worse. And I had to eat everything or risk offending the monks and pissing off Mrs. Chai. Well, I could drag out this entry forever by describing all the mental manipulation I was practicing to try and force those turnips (and the other food) down, but suffice it to say that the power of mind over matter combined with some camouflage got me to the point where I felt I could bring my plate up to the monks in the kitchen - even though I ran out of there pretty fast before they noticed the turnips I'd hidden under the bowl.
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| One of the monks standing in front of the building where the free lunches are served.... Make sure you eat everything on your plate! And think twice before you take those potatoes! |
One last interesting story about Haeinsa.... During the Korean War a pilot - I'm really not sure if he was for the North or South - was ordered to bomb the Haeinsa site because there were reports that their were guerillas hiding out there and using its high vantage for reconnaissance. So he flew over the site ready to drop his bombs. But as he looked down, he remembered coming there as a little boy with his mother, who was a very devout Buddhist. He remembered the sacredness of the site, he remembered the 80,000 wood blocks with the words of the Buddha carved into them, and he remembered his mother.... and he couldn't drop the bombs. So he went out over the sea and harmlessly discharged the bombs, and flew back to his air base where he was promptly arrested for treason for failing to carry out his mission. He was stripped of his rank and sentenced to jail. After the war was over, however, the government starting thinking, "Hey, he's not a traitor. He saved a national treasure, which makes him a patriot." Thus, he rank was restored and he was released from jail a hero. Nice story, right?
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