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Namyangju_Bongseonsa Temple Stay

Learn how to let go and empty out

When my body and soul feel arduous and fatigued, I often want to just take a break from the world. This is when a temple stay comes to my mind. Temple stay has become one of my ways to escape from the world, put down all my worries in the arms of nature and meet my true self. Since it is an opportunity to soothe my exhausted body and soul through meditation, there are many with a religion or, even, no religion who wish to participate in temple stays.



Though a number of temples in Korea run temple stays, “Bongseonsa Temple Stay” is located not too far from Seoul and features a variety of programs, which are gaining great popularity among those who desire to get a taste of an ascetic’s life.




One of the most notable programs at Bongseonsa is the “Scent of Buddha,” which is a youth hope camp. This 4-night, 5-day program proposes the ways for you to look at your problems straight on and offers a time to find and think about a detailed method to solve your issues together within the teachings of Buddha.



If you participate in Bongseonsa Temple Stay, you may also access “Gwangneung Forest,” a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve not open to the general public, with the guidance of a monk. As I walk through a footprint-less, tranquil “Secret Forest Path,” I attempt to meet my genuine self. Other activities you may participate in include cooking steamed multi-grain rice wrapped in a lotus leaf with various garnish; bell striking experience meaning for all people to escape from pain and do away with anguish; chamseon, which is a task to light up your true self and a method of asceticism that lies in the essence of Korean Buddhism; 108 repentances to empty myself out and fill it with new things; rosary making through which individual beads containing our wishes are carefully threaded; and a tea talk with the monks to let out all the words that had been sitting at your heart without being told to anyone.




The worries of my reality that I currently hold do not, all of a sudden, disappear through a temple stay. It is also not likely that drastic changes will occur between yesterday’s me and today’s me through just a few days of practicing asceticism. However, I begin to look into my heart thanks to a small rest that I have experienced within the nature. I learn to empty out my life, which I had only known to fill up to the top.


Realization of how to love and value myself above anyone else is the reason that temple stay’s another name is “joyful trip”.





Written and photos by Kim Sun-joo



Website http://www.bongsunsatemplestay.com/

세부정보

  • Bongseonsa Temple Stay

    Address/ 32, Bongseonsa-gil Jinjeop-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do

    Contact/ 031-527-9969

    Program/ Weekend experience: 60,000 KRW, weekday relaxation: 50,000 KRW, one-day experience: 30,000 KRW

    Parking/ Available

    Website/ http://www.bongsunsatemplestay.com/

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