John and I Become Monks

We couldn't post a blog yesterday because John and I were communing with the universe at a Buddhist temple in the mountains. The temple is unusual because it uses the practice of martial arts as a way to meditate.We arrived in the afternoon and were given our baggy monk pants and a vest to wear. Our room was quite nice considering it was a temple. There was no furniture just blankets to sleep on.

We had our first meal and it was....well... monk food. The rule was that you had to eat everything you took on your plate or there would be consequences. It was all vegan food so we figured how bad could it be.



Martial arts room before class



We went to our first martial arts (called Sunmodo) I got nervous when the master picked up a big stick and started hitting his palm with it. I had no idea how hard it would be. It was about 80 degrees with 100% humidity. I didn't know a person could sweat that much and still survive. It was like hot yoga but in extremes. I was the only one over 30 in the class. We collapsed into bed at 9:45.



Demonstration of how it should be done



The next morning we were woken up by a wooden bell at 4 am. We walked up to the temple on the top of the mountain and did chanting (in Korean) for half an hour. Then we went outside and meditated as the sun rose over the mountains. The meditation ended with a walking meditation where we followed the master in a line for a slow half hour walk.

The morning class was a little easier than the night class. It was a kind of warrior yoga. Not at all like my yoga classes with little old ladies in Foster.

We left in the afternoon to return to civilization--exhausted but spiritually renewed. (or maybe just exhausted).