Redemption at Guinsa: Journey to a Lost World

There are times when I almost believe that there are forces at work that are beyond human comprehension. Some people call it God's will - I don't know what to call it. Lets call them lucky accidents - Serendipity, not in relation to the film by that name but by the dictionary meaning of the word.
On a chilly Saturday morning, long before the sun had come up, Ivan and I set out for a little known Buddhist monastery in the remote mountains in central Korea. We didn't know what to expect but were just happy to go away from the crowd and the noise of Seoul for the weekend. This was my first foray out of Seoul on my own and I was excited. We reached Guinsa - the base of the mountain where the monastery was located, at around 10am. It was quite cold as the sun had still not touched the valley floor and we had to negotiate a steep uphill walk to reach the gates of the monastery. We were far from Seoul, in a remote mountain monastery and almost no one around us spoke English. Entrance to the monastery complex. The approach was rather steep and it was very very cold.
Inscriptions from an age that was long gone. The modern Korean language as we know it today, had its beginning in the 15th century. Before it, everything was written in Chinese.Gates to a Lost world. A place where very few outsiders have ever been before. It might sound like an exaggeration but we only know how true it is. Even now, people there would greet a foreigner with great surprise.

We were on our own to find our way and a place to stay for the night. In comes a man - a Korean man who resides in Canada and can speak English fairly well. He helped us find a place for the night and volunteered to show us around. He had retired from his job and had come back to Korea after 32 years. He had lost his wife in a car accident and had been staying in the monastery for about a month. He took us to the top if the hill and on the way, we learned about how the monastery worked.Ivan and Adjushi (a Korean word that means uncle ... we don't remember his name but he was like a savior in a place where English is non-existent and our knowledge of Korean is not very encouraging as well!)Steps that lead to the tomb uphill and the summit. They are well maintained. Adjushi told us that the volunteers in the temple kept the slopes free from snow.View from the summit. After a really long time, I could see the open countryside and I stared at it with great wonder and amazement. The bright blue sky enhanced he feeling.
We then walked downhill, encountering a number of pilgrims who were struggling their way uphill to the tomb. After about half an hour, we were at the main temple courtyard.The main monastery building. I really missed a wide angle lens here. The place was still in the shadows and it was very cold but it didn't stop me from taking off my gloves and clicking a few pics. We stayed there for sometime before descending to the lower levels of the temple. Adjushi took us to the kitchen of the temple which fed thousands of people everyday. There the monks and nuns greeted us and Adjushi translated it for us. Some of them had been to India on pilgrimages and asked me about Sakyamuni (Buddha's human form). I told them that I was Hindu but preferred not to adhere to some particular religion. I told them that I was determined to be open to all ideas but never to be a believer of a particular one. We spent the rest of the day exploring the monastery complex and taking pictures. Some of them are shown below:

Adjushi took us to a temple where a ceremony was going on. It was a unique experience to witness a Buddhist ceremony in full swing. Initially I was tired of seating with folded legs but soon I experienced something totally different. It was the voice of a monk. It was almost hypnotic ... a baritone that kept me fixed at the place where I was sitting. I didn't understand what he was saying but whatever it was, it was brilliant. I lost track of time and space, drifting into a nothingness and for a moment I ceased to remember who I was. I was completely absorbed in this archaic ceremony and the wonderful colors all around me. It was as if being in a dream, so near yet so far, so clear yet so mysterious. When the ceremony ended, I realised that I had been sitting still for nearly 2 hours and yet somehow didn't realise that such a long time had passed by. A few pictures from the ceremony and inside of the temple:
Once out of the temple, the world changed quickly. I was feeling sleepy and yearned to sleep for a few hours, before the nocturnal praying session. But something else was in store for us.
We met a some children on our way. It was probably the first time that they were seeing foreigners (waeguk saram in Korean) in close quarters. Initially, they were pretty shy and reluctant to approach us but soon things began to change. The first wave of 'attacks' were focused on Ivan but soon the wave was directed towards me. I was too busy with the camera to realise that the attention had shifted to me but by the time I had realised it, it was too late. I was surrounded from all sides and there was no escape.
The kids swarmed us. I sent Ivan to seek for Adjushi and stayed back to face the flak. It was a unique experience. It was a group of very inquisitive kids and they riddled me with questions ... I understood a few of them but unfortunately lacked the skills to answer them. And man ... they were naughty. Within moments they were all over me ... like ants attacking a grasshopper. I succumbed to their charm and energy and traded my specs for my freedom! But it was fun ... something I had never experienced before.
Later that evening, after supper, Ivan and I volunteered to help the kitchen. We were assigned to clean the dishes. And it was hell of an experience. First of all, it was an incident finding a pair of boots and apron suitable for my size. People flocked around me to see the foreigners at work. It took a lot of time and confusion to get me a pair of shoes and apron of my size. And as I proceeded to 'work' I was helped by a group of overenthusiastic Adjumanis (aunt) as to how to properly clean the plates. I must say that I'm a fast learner and I soon found myself all over the kitchen, helping them clean the plates, wash them up and arranging them for being transported back to the dining room. Ivan was fixed at cleaning the plates but I shifted from one job to another and it was fun! And it was a humbling experience. Working amongst people you don't know make you loose your identity and become a part of the common people who keeps the world (and the kitchen) running everyday. After the cleaning session was over, we were welcomed into the kitchen. People offered us fruits, snacks and tea (which is a mark of respect). We were overwhelmed at the response and attitude of the people.
Ivan and I set out on a cold Saturday morning with modest ambitions and no expectations and no hope. What we experienced was beyond our wildest imagination. We visited a place where a few foreigners have every been before and the hospitality of the people transformed us. It was one of the most wonderful and humbling experiences of my life.
Later that night, we were welcomed into the inner sanctum of the head priest - and honor that few mortals have ever experienced before. It was a fabulous room with silk thangkas and Chinese inscriptions. The priest told us that he hailed from Pusan and had not seen civilization for 30 years. He'd been a student activist in his days but hadn't been out of Guinsa for more than 30 years. When we volunteered to show him Seoul, he politely refused, saying that he had forsaken that 'life' years before he'd taken up the job! For the rest of the night we heard about Buddhism as we slowly drifted into sleep into a warm floor. As I closed my eyes, I could hear the baritone of the priest and the deep hypnotic chant ... and I slowly fell into a deep and peaceful sleep. I woke in the wee hours of the morning as Ivan called me. I decided to skip the sunrise and sleep for a few more hours. Later, that day we visited a spectacular limestone cave and returned to Seoul tired after a weekend worth of 'sight-seeing'. That evening I visited a restaurant serving Indian food and I really enjoyed myself gorging on the Indian food.
A scene from the kitchen after the cleaning up session. The Korean man is in charge of running the show.
Sight of the prayer hall at night.

Ivan and I set out with modest ambitions. The way things turned out to be, was beyond our expectations. It was far more interesting than a conventional organised temple stay. Finding out the place on your own, meeting new people along the way made it a very interesting experience indeed.