again.
Here are some pictures that happened a long time ago, at a temple where I stayed in the center of South Korea during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) instead of going to Jeju Island.
If you want, you can imagine listening to this while making a full bow (stand, kneel, touch forehead and palms to ground, flip hands and raise above your head [to symbolize making yourself humble and receiving the gift of something], kneel, stand without using your hands) 108 times.
4:30 am, post-108 bows morning walk. My upper legs wouldn't stop shuddering.
mountain temple hike
I look less than happy, don't I? This whole time was hard for me, I couldn't understand the directions, the head monk kept putting me on the spotlight, and no matter how many times I told them my name was Pamela, they kept calling me Stacey, which for some reason made me really mad.
receive the tea with 2 hands
drink the tea with 2 hands
carry the food
bow before the food
receive the food
bow before the food again
eat the food
wash the dishes
bow
bow
bow harder
meditate
can't read my meditation face
MEDITATION FACE (also: look at his thumb. I think we were the only 2 people at the temple wearing nail polish. AWK.)
walk around the temple
gaze at the pretty paintings as if they can save you
take off your shoes (neatly)
bow
make sure your forehead touches the ground. Don't let the gravel grazing your feet distract you.
gosh, my body looks weird.
wipe gravel from forehead
clean your feet
walk to another mini-temple, up the mountain.
take a picture, yell "Fighting!"
that smile is so forced. I really liked the 2 assistant monks who led us, but this guy is the head monk and I really think he has a power complex.
arranging my shoes before I enter the temple
awkward rainbow nail polish
no, but really. doesn't my body look weird?
DYING
little girl bowing
little boy bowing
meditation
I'm happy I went // I was happy to leave. Sometimes I do 108 bows with a metronome alone in my room, not because I'm converting to Buddhism, but because I like the process of it and it's good for my health.
2 comments:
This 108 bows thing sounds so neat. Why 108? Also, how do you use the metronome and at what setting?
108 because Buddhists believe there are 108 kinds of suffering in the world. I use this metronome http://www.webmetronome.com/ at 4 or 5 beats (bows) per minute and I accent every 10 or so bows to know how many I've done/when I'm finished.
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