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| Day 6 - Haeinsa and Silla Tombs |
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If anyone has questions, please don't hesitate to ask me! I would be more than happy to work on getting an answer for you - and comments are always appreciated!
We checked out of our beautiful hotel and headed on for Haeinsa. I was especially excited about this excursion – and it did not disappoint!
Generally you have to hike up the hill as part of the process of readying yourself to enter the Buddhist Temple. Here two there are gates that protect you as you pass through them. Technically, walking up the entire mountain would be a multi-day journey, again to prepare you for your arrival on sacred grounds. Due to time constraints we actually drove up most of it, which was a little disappointing, but by doing so we witnessed the sounding of the bell that called everyone to prayer. The sounding of the fish calls all of the creatures of the seas, the cloud calls all the birds and heavens, the drum calls all the animals on earth, and the ringing of the bell temporarily relieves those in hell from anguish and calls the people to prayer.
We made it into the Haeinsa Temple complex with enough time to hear the bell sounding and then witness the prayer service. We watched the beauty of the service as one of the monks voices lilted through the courtyard that overlooked rolling green Gaya mountain range that peaked out from misty clouds. The interior of the main temple was very beautiful, but again, taking pictures would have been offensive.
We were soon led to lunch and briefed on the “rules” about how to eat among the Buddhist monks. There were two rules. One, no talking. Two, everything on your plate must be eaten. So, we approached the buffet style line (that contained a few modest dishes) and carefully placed food on our plates that we knew we would have to finish ourselves. We ate quietly, contemplatively, and reflectively. It was actually quite nice and made you reflect on how much food you truly needed. Some of us were more concerned about being able to finish all of our food than others, but we all made it!
After lunch, we visited the Tripitaka Koreana, which was something I was very excited to see! This is a collection of woodblocks that the Buddhist monks carved to create a comprehensive collection of the Buddhist documents on 81, 258 wooden blocks. The Mongols invaded in the 1200’s and burned the collection to the ground, but the monks persevered and recarved the blocks in 16 years. Thus we stood outside one of the most comprehensive collections of Buddhist documents, admiring the 700+ year old works. Pretty awesome.
We enjoyed the nice long walk down the mountain as we wound through the peaceful forest path that ran along side a beautiful babbling brook. Our next stops were sights that were of historical relevance to the beginnings of the Silla Dynasty, which historians claim lasted from 57 BCE – 918 CE. It was originally one of four dominant kingdoms, but later unified the peninsula in 668 CE under its authority. Our first site was the site of an old well that was claimed to be the place where the Bak Hyeokgoese, the first Silla King, was discovered. We also visited Orung which means “five tombs” and houses most of the first five Silla Kings. Last, we went to another well site where Alyonyjong, the woman who became the first king’s wife, was supposedly found.
Dinner was a classic Korean table dinner where we sat on the floor and ate a meal from the many different dishes on the table which ranged from potatoes, mushrooms, kim chi, shark, and whole fish that stared you in the eye. My pictures don’t truly do justice to the beautiful sights of the Gaya Mountains that I soaked in as a stood at the steps of the Haeinsa temple, but hopefully you will enjoy them just the same. It was a wonderful day - I could spend hours standing at the steps of the temple soaking in the beauty of the Gaya mountains as they slip in and out of fog.
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