Daeseungsa | 대승사 | 大乘寺

There’s something interesting that occasionally happens where I’ll somehow hear about a temple and soon after happen to find my way there without really planning to. This was the case with Daeseungsa, a few weeks ago, as my friends are I were having a playful chat about best or strangest temple names. I mentioned the...

Korea’s “Top Seven” Temples

I’ve “borrowed” this list directly from Professor David A Mason, but it’s one that we’ve discussed and debated several times. Opinions begin to vary and become subjective once you extend the list, as there are dozens of temple that are equally deserving of even a few more spots on the list. These seven are definitively...

Buyongam | 부용암 | 芙蓉庵

A few years ago, a friend posted a photo of a small hermitage, explaining that it was were Seung Sahn Daesa was staying when he had his enlightenment experience. I was in Canada when the post was made but knew if I returned to Korea that I’d like to search it out. Once I got...

Ganwolam | 간월암 | 看月庵

Around the South and West coasts of Korea, there are a few islands that are famous for becoming accessible at low tide, as land bridges form when the tide recedes. Ganwoldo, Seosan’s contribution to these phenomena, may be less dramatic than others that I’ve visited but is special for the hermitage, Ganwolam, that takes up...

Ulsan Bawi

Ulsan Bawi (bawi is a Korean term used to denote a particularly interesting or grand rock) is basically a wall of granite that juts practically straight up, over 800 meters from the ground, at the foot of Seoraksan, South Korea's most popular mountain. Just over the border in North Korea are the Diamond Mountains, some...

Spam

I've been told that the World Health Organization has recognized the Korean diet as being one of the healthiest in the world. I don't know how the report was worded, exactly, but I expect the word 'traditional' had to be in there somewhere, probably just before the words 'Korean diet'. If I wrote the report...