Month: September 2010

Sunday Photo; SokGyeMun’s 33 Steps to Enlightenment

Ox Herder12 Comments

The entrance to Bul-guk-sa, known as Sok-gye-mun, has among the most elaborate entrances to any temple in Korea. The highlight of which is the thirty-three stepped staircase, representing the thirty-three steps to Enlightenment (according to the one who made it in thirty-three steps… ^_^). It is divided into two sections; the lower section,  Cheong-un-gyo (the Blue Cloud Bridge), and the upper section, Baek-un-gyo (White Cloud Bridge).

Being one of the largest tourist attractions in the country, as well, it’s another temple I like to get to early in the morning, before the grounds become entirely over-run with people. During that short time, the words of the stones can still be listened to and they tell you why it’s called Bul-guk-sa, The Buddha-Land Temple.

a point in every direction (is the same as no point at all)

Ox Herder11 Comments

I remember when I began meditating, I would meet my friend Joe once a week and discuss practice a little, then sit. He’d been sitting for over a decade already, and had studied Buddhism in university. I didn’t even know a Buddha from a Bodhisattva (I’m still a little puzzled at the difference…).

One day, before sitting, he said we should set our intention.

Huh?

My intention was to sit here for 15 minutes without moving and get enlightened, wasn’t it obvious??

It actually took quite a long time to figure out what he was talking about, but I realized, eventually, without intention, I was wandering around, up and down every path I came across, lost in the mountain.  When I found my clear intention, it was like spotting the tip of a pagoda through the trees, pointing the way.

Now I must walk my path to it, keep it in sight, not to be distracted by the obstacles along the way.

Easier said than done!