For the first time I feel like I have seen something that words can't come close to touching. This week Thursday is the birthday of Buddha, and over the weekend there was a lantern parade. There were many cheesy weird lanterns with kitschy Buddha babies on them, but there were some hundred thousand really beautiful paper and wood lanterns; very ornate and painted. The street was filled with thousands of people usually grouped holding the same style lanterns. The temple grounds were covered in countless strings of lanterns all in uniform patterned rows close as a ceiling and all alight.
I thought about how Buddha's impact on the world in terms of number of followers is close to Jesus' but how his birth month being warmer makes his festival much different. There is a lot of photo op pomp and circumstance to the whole affair. But some real genuine beauty and sincere adoration, (from some). It isn't quite as heavily commercialized as Christmas. Jesus got the corner on the market there, but there is a lot of vendors selling cheap shit. Temple clearing time for sure! But just to be able to wander around the grounds of a temple that is hundreds of years old, surrounded by drums and dancing, and a million lanterns is quite amazing.
It is strange how religion when broken down to its main elements has many of the same elements. rituals involving light and water as metaphors for spiritual cleansing and uplifting. large imagery of the human who set the stage for the religion. Large houses of worship, robes, music, funny hats. I guess the comparison is closer to catholicism than to protestant Christianity.
Taday is warm and sunny and I am about to go for lunch. There is a pretty little street near hear called Garosu-gil meaning tree street or green maybe, due to the Gingko trees that line it. There are some great places to eat a wide variety of foods, while doing some of the worlds finest "people watching".
Anjeong Ha ga say yeo
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8 comments:
ya.. a lot of religions kinda "look alike" so to speak. Even protestant christianity, though perhaps in a slightly different way... I still think there's a lot of idolatry of sorts in the christian church.
nice Korean.
Wow, that sounds beautiful. I think I have a bit of an idea of what it might have been like, as I went to the Lantern festival here last fall. Very small scale in comparison to what you have experienced, and I was even wordless.
Lucky.
woulda liked to see that.
thanks for sharing.
I dont know when I will see you again, but when I do I want to heard you speak Korean.
Hi Josh!
Sounds like the parade was interesting and yet quite an experience for you too all at the same time with all of its colorful lanterns, its pomp and circumstance and yet being able to walk around the grounds, hearing those drums and just taking everything in with all your senses.
So, how has teaching been lately? Are you able to attach some photos so that we can see you and your little students?
Hope you are doing well, eating well and learning lots!
Blessings,
Mary Joan
a couple of weeks ago we had a church meeting. The topic was 'what can we do to change our church' Incorporating different worship music and all that were discussed, but after the service Alan and I thought that money changers would probably bring some spice to our aging church.
I'd love to see A lantern parade
sounds beautiful. and nice korean. i think it is strange that they use the same word for hello and goodbye. i will often "anyoung ha say yo" to my students just to see them cringe as a butcher their language. i'll say something in korean and they'll respond in spanish - crazy koreans.
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