Over 1000 staff and family members from my school (TCIS) and our sister school (GSIS) met in Gyeongju for a weekend retreat. Needless to say, this was a wonderful time to get to know the new staff and rekindle friendships with returning staff. Most of the weekend was made up of meetings, times of worship and opportunities of recreation and playing tourist.
I did not know this at first but many of the most famous and photographed historic sites in South Korea are in the Gyeongju area, the former capital during the Silla Dynasty (57 BC–935 AD). This includes our first stop at the Bulguksa Temple, the oldest Korean Buddhist site constructed by King Pob Hung in 535 AD. Koreans were introduced to Buddhism at this time and the king wanted a place for his queen to pray.
As you approach this religious site you encounter two grand stairways, a magnificent entry into the temple compound. These staircases are named the Blue Cloud Bridge and White Cloud Bridge, each having 33 steps that represent the 33 levels of heaven in Buddhist legends. Climbing these stairs serves as a reminder that Buddhists can transition into Buddha Land or the Land of Happiness.
At the top of the stairs visitors enter the courtyard of the Daeungjeon, which is the main building known as the Great Enlightenment Temple. Each building and statue throughout the complex is either symbolic in some way of the Buddhist religion or has a defined purpose to enhance the religious experience. The courtyard is guarded by statues to ward off evil spirits, for instance, and two pagodas in the courtyard represent the teachings of Sokka Yorae (a collection of stories about the trials of the ten lives of Sakyamuni Buddha).
Buddhism is so rooted in the Korean culture that the Seokgatap pagoda is displayed on the 10 won coin, its value similar to the penny in US and Canadian currencies.
Behind the main temple visitors encounter a steep staircase that leads to a series of smaller temples. In this upper tier of the Bulguksa Temple compound you can find hundreds of small stones stacked along ornate walls from one temple to another. Apparently these stones are placed by Buddhist believers to enhance their chances of good fortune.
Did you know the swastika is a decorative Hindu symbol from which Buddhism evolved? Hindus and Buddhists will often display this symbol on the main doors and gates of their homes as was evident in my former neighborhood in downtown Daejon.Undoubtedly, I was fascinated by the near 1500 year old site and its Buddhist architecture during my visit to the Bulguksa Temple.
But as a Christian believing in the God of the Bible, my heart goes out to those who believe reincarnation and gaining a preferred state of consciousness is the way to everlasting peace. My hope and prayer is that seekers will come to know that everlasting peace can only come through repentance and accepting the shed blood of Christ as payment for their sin and then by establishing a relationship with the living Christ! Unlike the efforts needed to attain the 33 heavens in Buddhism, our God offers only one heaven reserved for His followers where true eternal joy and peace with Him is promised as our ultimate gift!But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. ...For He Himself is our peace.
Eph 2:4-9,14
