Amazing Buddhist Korea

Wisdom Quarterly, Lonely Planet, P.R. Crossman, Frommers

The intricate stone carvings of Seokbulsa hermitage (Anosteen/Flickr)

BUSAN, South Korea - Seokbulsa ("Stone Buddha") Temple is an amazing, out of the way treasure. Lonely Planet, the backpacker's Bible, describes it in brief:

Hard to find but a wonder to behold, Seokbulsa Temple is a [Buddhist] hermitage carved into rock. Massive boulders stretching 40m in height jut out from the mountainside to form a U-shaped enclave with three rock facings that is now a place of worship.

Inside the enclave enormous Buddhist images have been meticulously etched into stone. Visually powerful in scale and impact, it's the kind of work that moves first-time visitors to exclaim "Wow" as they step back and arch their necks to get the full picture.

Patrick R. Crossman, Angelica, and Maria quietly explore the wonders of Seokbulsa, Korea

Quietly walk past the women bowing on the shoes-off platform and step into the small caves for a close-up look at the Buddha glowing in soft candlelight.

Getting to Seokbulsa is a worthwhile challenge for anyone with a desire to explore out-of-the-way places.

The most interesting -- and strenuous -- route is to add this stop to your Geumjeongsan Mountain hike. From the South Gate (남문), the path indicated by the Mandeokchon (만덕촌) sign leads to a collection of restaurants and foot-volleyball courts in Namman Village (남만 마을). More

• Seokbulsa: Korean Travel Journal (Tigers & Magpies)
  
• Seokguram (Stone Grotto) is a hermitage and part of the Bulguksa temple complex, four km east of the temple on Mt. Tohamsan, in Gyeongju, South Korea. It is classified as National Treasure No. 24 by the South Korean government. The grotto overlooks the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and rests 750 meters above sea level. In 1962, it was designated the 24th national treasure of Korea. In 1995, Seokguram was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List together with the Bulguksa Temple. It exemplifies some of the best Buddhist sculptures in the world.
• Seokbulsa: Dale's Korean Temple Adventures
• Thai Buddhist Cave Temple
  
• (Frommers) Most people don't know about this small temple south of Geumjeong Fortress and north of Mandeok tunnel. Since it's a walk to get here (no buses stop nearby), it's a quiet temple even on the busiest of summer weekends. The temple got its name from the statues of the Buddha carved in the rock here (Seokbul means "stone Buddha"). More
  

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Shaolin Temple Secret: Dragon Herbs

Ron Teaguarden (DragonHerbs.com), Wisdom Quarterly edit


American herbalist Ron Teaguarden and Buddhist monks strolling at the Shaolin Temple.

Inside the Shaolin Temple’s Herbal Tradition

Last summer (2010) master herbalist Ron Teaguarden spent some quality time in China. He took this trip to identify, qualify, and purchase herbs in person for our "Dragon Herbs" products. We meet up with growers, collectors, processors, scientists, teachers, masters, and experts that make tonic herbalism so remarkably great.

He also got to meet up with the great China crew. These are things done every year. But this trip had a wonderful, special bonus. I took a truly exotic excursion to the mystical Song Shan Mountains, Henan Provence, China’s heartland, and visited the world famous, 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple.

Monk Wang Hui and Ron at the Reishi mural in the Shaolin Temple inner sanctum

Many people know that the Shaolin Temple is the iconic birthplace and incubator of kung fu. Shaolin kung fu is extreme, extraordinary, and steeped in spiritual practices.

Indeed, kung fu is a fundamental part of the Buddhist monks’ daily routine. It is a path to enlightenment. As a result, the Shaolin monks who practice kung fu are known as “warrior monks.”

There are also monks at the Shaolin Temple who do not practice kung fu. They focus on Buddhist meditation or the healing arts.

They are therefore known as “meditating monks” and “healing monks.” As awesome and popular as this kung fu legacy is, the Shaolin Temple has an even greater historic legacy: It is the temple where Zen Buddhism was first conceived and where it developed into one of the most famous and important spiritual practices in the world.

These days, in the west in particular, people think of Zen as a Japanese path. But the Japanese were not the originators of Zen. For centuries before Zen was adapted into Japanese Zen Buddhism, it was practiced and developed in China.

In China, the practice is “Chan” (禪). Zen is simply the Japanese pronunciation of the foreign Chinese word Chan. [The original Indian-Buddhist word is jhana, from the ancient Sanskrit word dhyana.] Actually, Chan Buddhism spread first from China to Vietnam (Thien), then to Korea (Seon), and then on to Japan (Zen). From Japan, it has spread throughout the world. More