Unmunsa, the Nun's Hermitage (6/10)

Unmunsa, a Buddhist nun's temple in the mountains near Daegu

T H E   O N E   T H I N G   that every person from the previous year's trip told me to do was to talk Dr. Yi into taking us to Unmunsa, a special Buddhist temple in the mountains near Yeungnam. They all said it was their favorite visit of the entire trip, so of course I was interested, given how much I'd enjoyed the other temples we'd seen throughout our travels. My other travelmates had heard the same thing, and we'd been collectively working on convincing Dr. Yi since our arrival in Daegu. Unmunsa wasn't an official scheduled visit, but because we had another day off due to the weekend, Dr. Yi finally caved and consented to taking us. Since her business from the previous day had kept her away, our plan was to catch a bus to the temple (whose location Dr. Yi explained to Dr. Tessman over the phone) and meet up with her there.

Daegu's transit system-- not at all confusing or intimidating, right?!

It was certainly nice to have Dr. Tessman as a guide-- even though he didn't know much more Korean than the rest of us, he had been to the area several times, and had the added benefit of being a Respected Authority Figure and whatnot. That, and the fact that I was far from traveling alone, calmed my trepidation towards the Korean transit system after my struggles from the previous day. Things did go a bit rockily for a while-- our bus's departure lept forward an hour unannounced, and Dr. Yi's travel plans got delayed-- but we all ended up safely at the temple's gates before too long.

On a bus again

Inside the gate of Unmunsa

The temple itself was divided in two-- it had a dharma hall, several shrines, and various other facilities including dorms and a cafeteria (because Unmunsa, like Tongdosa, is a Buddhist training school as well as a temple) in the main facility, the grounds on which we initially found ourselves; and, a short hike away, there was another set of shrines and halls atop a mountain, overlooking a valley. We poked around the main grounds for a while as we waited for Dr. Yi, but upon her arrival took off for the mountaintop hermitage, where a special lunch was being held.

Hiking to the hermitage

A view from the top

Upon arrival atop the mountain, we were ushered into a special meeting room with a few Buddhist nuns who shared some lotus root tea with us. Dr. Yi interpreted a conversation she had with the nuns to us about the history and significance of the temple. The temple was originally built to train monks, but was converted to a nun-only facility in the 20th century. This was apparently the largest nun temple in the world, with classes exceeding 300 people over four years of training to become official nuns. Many Buddhist countries don't allow women to participate in the same capacities as men, but Korea and Taiwan are unique in that women can lead ceremonies and do anything else men can, once they're ordained at a place such as Unmunsa. The head of the school, Myongsang-Sunim, is the female equivalent of the Dali Lama-- she is the head of all Buddhist nuns in the world, and we were going to get to meet her later in the afternoon! We were very lucky to be in such a closed-off environment-- although visitors are allowed, absolutely nothing is co-ed at Unmunsa-- women only!

Our private tea ceremony

Lotus root tea in beautiful hand-made cups!

After our talk, we were led around the mountaintop facilities. It was incredible how beautifully the temple's architecture blended with the surroundings. Just look at the pictures above-- the shrines are built into natural shelters on the mountain!

Some of the shrines at the mountaintop

Observing a ceremony at one of the cooler-looking shrines

After our visit to the mountaintop, we hiked back down to the main facilities, where we saw more of the temple grounds, watched the playing of the Four Instruments (which I was unfortunately explicitly forbidden from recording) and the recitation of the evening chants (with over 100 nuns), and had dinner with the nuns-in-training. We also got to visit Myongsang-sunim's private study, where she met with us and gave us all gorgeous Buddhist bracelets. We didn't have much time to talk with her, as her schedule wouldn't allow it (our visit was somewhat last-minute, after all), but we were allowed to wander through her private garden, which was one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited in my life. So peaceful and serene!

Walking to Myongsang-sunim's quarters

Myongsang-sunim handing out bracelets

Group picture!

Myongsang's private garden-- gorgeous!

Me outside the main dharma hall!

Although I didn't quite feel the same connection to Unmunsa that I felt to Tongdosa-- largely because Unmunsa wasn't meant for me, it was a women's space-- I thoroughly enjoyed and was immensely grateful for the opportunity to visit there. And to meet someone as important as Myongsang-sunim? Insane! We were very lucky to convince Dr. Yi to take us.

Our ride back to Yeungnam was uneventful, as was the evening that followed it. I was excited to get back to classes for one more week before heading to Japan!