One perspective on how a “Seoul” illuminates.
- submitted to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Illumination
Please click on a picture to see a slideshow.
The Saturday I arrived at MuSangSa (Kyeryongsan International Zen Center), marked the last week of Kyol Che (Tight Dharma). This meant I was going to be spending my time with people who had been silent for up to 3 months: silent and unplugged from all things tech. My adventures into the “don’t know” mind began. Here is a basic run down of our daily schedule:
Mornings started off at 3:25am with 108 bows in Meditation Hall (see pictures below), followed by Kido chanting at 4am at the Buddha Hall. We then would walk back down to the Meditation Hall to start sitting meditation at 4:40am until 6am, when we would head to Dinning Hall for our formal breakfast. Then it’s time for working meditation until 7:40am. We break until 9am, where we meet in silence for 2 hours of meditation. Remember, except for the chanting, this is all done in silence. Then it’s a formal lunch. Then break. Then meditation from 1:30 until 4:30. Then a silent informal dinner. Break. Our final chanting of the day begins at 6pm. Once this is over, we return to meditate until 9pm in the Meditation Hall. Lights are out at 9:20pm.
We do it again the next day.
The regiment, the order, the silence, and the community has a fascinating impact on ones thoughts. For once, I got a glimpse into what real clarity might be like.
Learnings to hold on to
- The fact that we think that we think we make decisions is a huge delusion. – Won San Sunim
- We take audio and visual silence for granted. It’s amazing how much one word or one image can trigger the ego.
- DanJeon (Tantien) breathing techniques helped keep me focused when meditation got hard.
- Zen sticks are necessary for rigorous meditation. I couldn’t have done without those courteous wake up calls.
- Zen Masters are pretty darn cool to talk to in Kong-an interviews or simply over tea.
- “Decide and do.” – Bo Haeng Sunim
- “Have a ‘don’t know’ mind” – Seung Sahn Haeng Won Sunim
- 41.5 hours of meditation in 7 days taught me that I need to meditate a whole lot more.
Dan-poong (단풍).
This single Korean word describes the period of time when leaves change color in autumn. In English you have to describe this event within a phrase (“the colors of the leaves this fall are spectacular!”), but in Korean all you have to utter is “dan-poong is spectacular!”. I love this about the Korean language. Complex events or experiences are often described within one word. (See jeong & han)
Dan-poong is a wondrous phenomenon of nature and deserves to be in this week’s photo challenge: wonder.
My husband and I visited an arboretum today. We followed a long path up the mountain that indicated it would lead us to a look-off. Below is the look-off building, and above is one of its windows.
This is what I’ve been seeing during my morning and afternoon commute this week. The yellow pops, and I wake up just a bit more.
“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot; others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”
–Pablo Picasso
- to provide (something) by law.
Who knows where I picked this one up. It’s amazing to notice what vocabulary sticks. Yesterday I couldn’t even remember how I should address my sister-in-law, but I remember the verb for making something lawful? Linguistics is truly a mystery.
Hmmm…curious how ‘law’ is involved in both the English versions of the words I was playing with. Just noticed that, and I like it.
Sorry 아가씨 agassi! (miss/madmoiselle)When I came upon this lone bright pink flower, sprouted from the muted gray matter of the earth, I was immediately inspired to take a photo, but I kept having a hard time capturing the beauty that I saw. That is when I realized that not only was I inspired by the flower, but that I was also mesmerized by the sun’s visual cadence.
