Korea is amazing. Monika is amazing. And let me tell you, chanting monks are amazing. We spent the first day or two in Busan we spent recovering and checking out Monika's hood, her mountain and her secret meditation spot. Thursday Monika had an extra full work day so we headed to Golgulsa, a Buddhist temple high in a Mountain about 2.5 hours away.
Our stay at the temple really grounded us in the fact that we are indeed in Korea and not just visiting Monika somewhere in the world (which happens). Golgusa is known for its martial arts, specifically an art called sunmudo. For my Tae Kwon Do people, Golgusa is a temple built in the Silla (pronounced Shilla) Dynasty circa 7th Century - and yes, a site of the Hwarang youth warriors. The dynasty after the Silla brought in Confusionism and destroyed a lot of the Buddhist temples in the cities on military order. The ones in the mountains are the oldest and only remaining. Whoa is this temple on a mountain. There is a lot of vertical "walking": if you're going somewhere, it's up or down. We got our full workout just going to meals. The martial art training and bowing meditation on top of that has left us super sore, but feeling good about it. Sunmudo has some super clear links to Tae Kwon Do - up/down motion, unity of action and breath, balance - but its much more like a dance and makes TKD exaggeratedly direct. The monks study Qui Chong and other some other aspects of zen martial art. There were at least 4 monks between 12-15 in the Hwarang practice - real Hwarang warriors. It was awesome for me to connect little bits of history I've learned to recite and the people who are living it today.
Last night we had a BIG NIGHT out in Busan with the Busan Sisters. An amazing group of women, both foreign and Korean, who embrace an... alternative lifestyle - women loving women. It all ended around 5am at a karaoke club. We're in Asia now.
Today: Ocean - maybe surfing. Screen golf? and tomorrow a 10k bridge walk and maybe a latern festival.
Korea is treating us well. Monika is wonderful as always.
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