I spent the day today at a Buddhist temple in the city of Busan. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and I'm living in one of its suburbs. The temple I went to puts on a special talk/activity day for foreigners. Today we heard from a Zen master who was originally from Philadelphia. He's been living all over the world since then at Buddhist centers. His talk was a basic overview of Buddhist philosophy. His talk was interesting and motivating. I think I might look into Buddhism more after hearing from him.After his talk we had a break. My friend, Karen, and I walked around the temple, drank tea, and ate some snacks. We even chatted with the Zen master in a small group. Then it was time for the activity part of the day. Today's activity was paper lantern making. We made two different kinds of lanterns. The first was the orange one on the right in the photo. It involved "painting" strips of paper with glue and then pressing them onto a metal-wire frame. After letting it dry you can put a candle in it and hang it from a line. I actually have it lit right now in my apartment and it looks great!
The other type of lantern we made was called a lotus lantern. It is much more ornate and is supposedly made in honor of Buddha's birthday which is the 21st of May--right around the corner. It is made using the same kind of lantern we had just made but then you glue on the flower petals around the outside of it in order to make it look like a lotus flower. They are actually quite beautiful and surprisingly difficult to make! I had a ton of fun doing it though. During are time there some children who were on a retreat at the temple for a week joined us and made their own lanterns. They were dressed and treated as monks which meant people were not allowed to touch their heads or play with them. They were really cute though!
The ceiling of the temple was covered with ornate painting and hundreds of paper lanterns. The colors were amazing! It was such a bright, warm, and welcoming atmosphere. The pictures I have don't do the temple justice.
The papers hanging from the lanterns have wishes written on them.
wow! these pics are spectacular - i can only imagine what it must be like to actually be there - a real feast for the senses. from what you wrote on may 1st, it sounds like you have a pretty busy schedule. kindergarten thru middle school kids? i give you a lot of credit. as far as the weather goes, my brother was there when he was in the army and according to him the summer isn't much different than the southern usa. thanks for this blog - am living vicariously through your experience :-)
ReplyDeleteNeat, Zach! We've been so swamped with high enrollment and new students that I haven't had a chance to catch up with your blog much. This is phenomenal! You are really experiencing the world and I love your lanterns! The pictures are just gorgeous! Be well and keep us updated!
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