Templestay

[8] That was a sizable achievement, but more importantly, Korean Buddhism and the Templestay program became known to the wider world as major international media, including CNN,[9] the New York Times,[10] BBC[11] and NHK,[12] paid growing attention and reported feature stories about them.

After the end of the 2002 World Cup, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism announced the permanent establishment of the Templestay program on July 2, 2002.

[13] The Order then established the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism on July 16, 2004 as an operative body to run the Templestay program.

[16] According to statistics issued by the Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism on May 29, 2011, a total of 700,000 people have experienced Templestay in the decade following 2002 when the program began.

As they are led through the various buildings and structures of the temple, they discover firsthand the beauty of monastic architecture, paintings, handicrafts and landscaping, and so see many things that they might have otherwise missed.

However, it does differ in one particular respect and that is that chamseon’s goal is to achieve single-minded absorption through the illogical doubt raised by a hwadu (the punch-line to a koan) so that the rambling mind is momentarily quieted.

Depending on the temple and the program, longer or shorter periods of meditation are offered in which participants learn the aim and method as well as correct posture.

Everyone eats from a set of bowls called "baru" as monastics do, and they are told not to waste a single grain of rice out of respect for the offering.

This ceremony refers to paying respect to the Buddhas enshrined in the Dharma halls three times a day and repeating the teachings, usually before dawn, 10 a.m., and in the evening.

In this respect, the 108 bows symbolize a fresh start as well and so one empties the illusions one has come to believe to make up one’s "self" and earnestly fills the void with new good intentions.

Just as lotus flowers are not stained with the mud in which they grow, ignorant sentient beings can reveal their inherent Buddha Nature once awakened.

Korean Buddhism holds the Lotus Lantern Festival every year on the Buddha’s Birthday, which falls on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month.