Seoul Hero

For Ian, one of my two best friends, and a person who has made Seoul very special for me.

The gate signifies departures. Two days ago I had the pleasure of meeting my friend Wyatt for lunch in Sinchon. It was great to see him again, and we may not have many chances to meet each other before his departure. Then yesterday Chae Young went for a little reunion with three of her best friends, leaving me with a free day. Since it is rare for me to be alone nowadays, I made plans to meet my good friend Ian. Again, all-day meetings with him will be rare, since there is not much time until my own departure, if all goes well. We went to Bongeunsa to take pictures, thus plugging another long-standing hole in my old HifromSeoul blog, where the entry on Bongeunsa only featured pictures of the giant statue. It was a very cold day, and I didn’t bring my jacket (because the subways are always so hot).

The next photographs show the area just inside the outer gate.

The following picture shows the temple store. There are detectors by the doors inside the store.

Expats in this country will recognize the Shinhan bank machine logo on the sign in front of one of the temple buildings. There seemed to be a bank branch on the grounds, but I didn’t look long enough to be sure.

The next two shots feature the contrast of new and old. I would have missed the first shot, but Ian spotted it.

The next pictures show the temple square from the platform of the main prayer hall, and the main prayer hall itself.

Interior shots of the main prayer hall, which is quite beautiful.

Notice the cat in the lap of the ajoshi above. He got up to make his bows, and I kneeled down to take a picture. At that point, this cat, one of many on the temple grounds, jumped into my lap. I patted him, cuddled him, and he purred very loudly! I felt supremely happy; previous visits to Buddhist temples had always reminded me of the emptiness in my life, whereas I now had wife, son, friends, and even this cat.

There were many other cats on the temple grounds. Here’s one of the youngest members of the holy tribe:

The next two pictures are interesting because they show–within the same temple complex–different symbols used on the buildings: what I call “the dots” and “the backwards swastika” [not connected to Naziism].

I rather liked taking that picture of my good friend taking a picture of his own. The next picture shows the two of us in front of the statue…

…while the following picture shows one of the demons in relief at the base of the statue. Notice the flower at the base.

The building in the next picture has these wonderfully painted panel scenes underneath it.

It is a lasting regret that the above shot remains a bit blurry. I had to kneel down on the cold cement and look straight up to take it, but the next one is much better:

You are now leaving Bongeunsa, and depending on who you are, you may even soon be leaving the country. Life is difficult, sometimes frightening:

Remember, though, that friends stick together: