Temples adorn the Korean mountains in all the out-of-the way places. I pointed out some examples of the temple fixtures in my post last year. Buseok-sa is perhaps the most famous and treasured temple in all of Korea. well over a thousand years old, it's considered a national treasure and historic landmark. Buseok may be a small town in the countryside, but all Koreans know about it because it has Buseok-sa.
All Korean temples have 4 guards at the entrance to keep any would be intruders at bay. These guys are all about 15 feet tall and scary looking. I'm not sure if they come to life if you try to mess with the temple, I didn't want to risk it.
Most temples built the old fashioned way are amazing because they use as little metal as possible. Many structures are built completely out of wood and glue with tiled roofs. The metal is considered to be an antithesis to the life force of the wood, and blocks the power in these meditative structures. This concept is still very strong with Buddhist cultures. During their occupation of Seoul, the Japanese buried many large metal rods behind the Korean palace in order to block its power. The spot where the palace was situated in Seoul was said to be an ultimate seat of power according to Feng Shui. It seems pretty superstitious to me that a modern army would go through all this trouble, but it illustrates the persuasive sway Feng Shui and Buddhism hold.
Anyway, back to the temple.
According to legend, Buseok-sa was founded when the head monk Ui Sang-desa summoned an invisible dragon to make the above rock fly and scare away some rabble rousers. The rock still has some magic left in it today; supposedly a thread can pass under the stone and it will go all the way to the back of the mound - it's still flying.
You can even make a wish on the rock if you can balance a coin on the side. Many have successfully done this, but we were unable to do it without destroying someone else's wish - oops.
Another interesting feature of Buseok-sa is this caged wonder-plant. It's never been watered in it's 600 year history. It lives under the eaves of this temple building which makes it difficult for it to get any rain water. I think the cage was erected to stop people from stealing its lucky leaves, but it also serves as proof that the tree has found its own water supply. Ironically, the cage is metal.
The temple is filled with chambers small and large with altars to Buddha and various implements to meditate. The drums, bells, and this wood block could all make a sweet band. I just need to recruit a monk to be the lead chanter, and we'll go rock star.
There are a bunch of signs in the main temple chamber telling you not to take photos of stuff (so I didn't), but there aren't any in the other rooms. I'm not sure if these photos are totally irreverent, but I love this painting and the colorful ceiling.
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