Our first stop was 해인사 Haeinsa which is in the same province as 김해 Gimhae which is 경상남도 South Gyeongsang province. It's the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It holds the Tripitaka Koreana (all of the Buddhist scriptures carved on wood blocks). We learned a lot about Buddhism here which was interesting since I don't know much about Buddhism. The Buddhist temples that we have seen along with the scenery is gorgeous! So breathtaking! We learned about the Buddha and his life which was really fascinating to me. Below are pictures of his life that I narrated. For lunch, we had vegetarian 비빔밥 Bibimbap (mixed rice with vegetables and meat but because it was a Buddhist lunch, it was just vegetables) because it is practiced in Buddhism to not eat meat. The ladies that was serving us lunch were so funny. They were quiet serving everyone in line until they got to me. Then all of sudden, as I was getting food from each lady, they kept saying "와우! 예뻐!"/Wow, you are so pretty! (wow- yeppo!). No joke; it was EVERY SINGLE lady haha lol. I wish I could have taken a picture of them but they left before I could.
해인사 Haeinsa Temple
We went through this maze that has great significance in Buddhism. Pretty much where we started witht the maze, we ended up in the same place.
Inside this box is a pearl. How I understood this part is that it is believed that when Buddha/Gautama Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama died, jewels flowed out from him.
Pearl
Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama/Gautama Buddha
Eating vegetarian 비빔밥 Bibimbap
비빔밥 with bean sprout soup and 떡 ddeok (duhk) Korean rice cake. Holy goodness galore! That 떡 was huge! I had two bites because I was full and it was just too big to eat.
Not a single grain of rice left behind. The empty bowl is significant because in Buddhism, you MUST EAT EVERYTHING. There can't be a single grain of rice or seed in your bowl or on your plate and utensils. Usually if there's a couple grains a rice, people consider themselves to be finished with the meal but in Buddhism, if that happens, you take water to loosen the leftover food and drink it so there's nothing left behind. What happens if you don't finish everything, in Buddhism, they wash the dishes and the used water they throw outside and they believe that spirits who have not moved onto Nirvana are troubled spirits and they will try to eat what you have thrown out. They are hungry but can't eat. So, to prevent troubled spirits from entering and eating, you must eat everything you have been given.
Below is the story of Buddha/Siddhartha Gautama; it's really interesting! Some of Buddha's teachings are the Four Noble Truths which says that suffering is a part of life. It is caused by attachment; however, attachment can be overcome. The way to overcome attachment is to follow the Noble Eightfold path: right understanding, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Buddha's mother, Queen Maya, had a dream that a white elephant with 6 white tusks entered her right side. After this dream, she found herself to be pregnant.
Siddhartha Gautama was born. He was born through different means. Queen Maya hung onto a tree branch and Siddhartha Gautama was born through her arm. He then declared himself to be something great.
Siddhartha Gautama grew up to be a wealthy prince. As he was in town one day, he saw 3 things that made him very sad: aging, sickness, and death.
Because he was overcome with sadness, he decides to find out how to rid those 3 things. He escapes by horse in the night by jumping over the wall.
He practices fasting but it didn't work out for him very well.
Here is when Buddha tries to overcome seduction of women.
I liked this one the best. They say that if Christ is about love, Buddha is about mercy. The man in the green was a murderer; on this neck are fingers of those he has killed. He begs to Buddha for mercy and Buddha grants him mercy.
After looking at the panels of Buddha's life, we went and saw the Tripitaka Koreana. It's amazing how far printing has come along. What was a painfully tedious process has been simplified.
Tripitaka Koreana
After 해인사 Haeinsa, we grabbed some lunch and then headed to the Flying Horse tomb in 경주 Kyeongju. Inside the tomb was a dolmen and many artifacts from the 신라 Silla dynasty. At the tomb, we ran into the Minnesota Concordia choir. They sang "Arirang" (Korea's national anthem) which was so neat inside the tomb.
Minnesota Concorida choir
While we were talking to the choir, after they left we felt weird. It was weird talking to Americans again even though we're all American on the study abroad. We felt like we couldn't communicate like we used to. We got some dinner at a convenience store. Some of the convenience stores are large enough that they have a couple restaurants inside. I got 우동 (oo-dong) which is a Japanese noodle dish. Honestly, I don't like it. I forced myself to finish it but I didn't enjoy it particularly.
우동 Japanese noodle dish
I feel so dumb on the study abroad when it comes to history. It seems like everyone knows the answers and I'm a deer in the headlights. The south is beautiful. So much history is preserved here. It's really neat. So far, all of the girls, we get along so well. It's easy to talk to each other about anything. All of us have had inside jokes and play off each other's humor. It's awesome. At first, I didn't know anyone except Victoria but I met her a few short times before the study abroad. At first, I wished we had a larger group but now I think it's perfect because we have gotten close. Although I don't know everything about Korea, I'm learning so many things each day we have been out here. It's great. Korea, you're incredible! :-)
Girlies in BYU apparel
