Every May Buddha's birthday is celebrated in Korea. Last year I wanted to check it out and went with Jong-In, one of my closest friends, to the main Buddhist temple downtown. It was a wet, wet day, but we still enjoyed ourselves. It was quite beautiful, actually.
There were sculptures of baby Buddhas and shrines where incense was burned. People could pay a small fee and have their names strung up above us attached to a lantern. The colored lanterns represent good luck. I didn't buy a lantern, but I should have. I could have used that good luck. There's no downside to those types of things.
Hanging lanterns for good luck.
Baby Buddha. Isn't he cute?
Inside the temple, tons of people were bowing down and praying to the three golden Buddhas. It was beautiful inside and there were lots of interesting architectural details.
But the most touching moment was the shrine about the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre. There was a list of all the victims and it brought tears to my eyes. People placed offerings of fruit to the victims.
Later on, there was a drum performance. Three men played traditional drums without any other instruments. It was incredible. Most of the people there were older men and women moving with the tribal beats. It reminded me of the kind of drum and bass we have in nightclubs in the west. The interesting thing is that in the west, this type of music is only appreciated by the youth. Here, middle-aged people were grooving to the sounds.
Life is so beautiful.
2 comments:
Hey! Very nice choice of pictures, and combination with text. Actually, I wanted to write in "Table for One" (I love the name of it!) but realized you haven't allowed comments. Anyway, I just wanted to say -- that's the Leita I know: passionate, honest, and strong (even if she thinks she's weak). I don't wish you the same kind of inspiration in the future, but I certainly hope you keep writing this "personal prose" (I'm not sure what to call it... I've been trying to "classify" my little writings too, but no luck so far). Read you soon...
Thanks for your words. I guess I have decided to keep comments from being written in the other blog because in some ways it's so personal, like an online journal, that I'm almost afraid of other peoples' reaction to it. It's on the dark side of things and I'm trying to use it as a form of therapy. Not sure it's working yet, but I'll just keep doing it until...who knows.
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