The Majestic Mountain Backdrop Resembles a Painting of Guardian Deities

“The entrance to Bulhoesa Temple is truly beautiful,” as someone once told me.
Indeed, it is. Cypress, cherry, maple, and holly trees adorn the entrance path cut along the stream.
I also passed between two stone totem poles (jangseung), which stand facing each other like temple guardians.
The one with the braided beard is the grandfather, and the one smiling gently is the grandmother.
I playfully greeted them silently, “Hello, grandma and grandpa.”

Crossing the stream, I turned toward Daeungjeon (the Main Buddha Hall).
The mountain colors spreading before my eyes are in sharp contrast.
The colors seem to be vertically arranged in three layers, in the same way some Buddhist altar paintings demarcate upper, middle, and lower sections with yellow clouds.
The low-lying, gray-green sheen reflecting the sunlight above the tiled roof of the buddha hall comes from a grove of camellia trees, and the upper section is a grove of dark green, intensely vibrant Korean nutmeg trees (bija).
Some gray-white branches have not yet sprouted leaves, but each leaf bud is full of the energy of spring.
I think they are galcham oaks (oriental white oaks).
The large white magnolia blossoms on the lower left of the mountain are in full bloom, and the red plum blossoms beside them are very fragrant.

I approach the magnolia tree.
From a distance, the flowers seem as big as a fist and grab all the attention, but as I get closer, I see another main character under the thick bija trees, a tea tree.
The leaves that have withstood the winter look quite rough, but between them, plump, fluffy leaf buds quietly sparkle.
In spring, they bring a joy that only those who see them can know.
They are everywhere.

Tea that Heals the Mind, Vairocana Healing Tea

The central subject of Bulhoesa’s Templestay is Vairocana Healing Tea.
The Bulhoesa Temple community produces Vairocana tea, a type of leaf tea, starting in early May after Gogu, one of the 24 solar periods.
And after mid-May, they make their own unique doncha (coin-shaped, compressed tea).
The devotees and villagers gather together to pick tea leaves, pound them in a mortar, and then press them firmly into a coin-shaped mold.
If you come to the Templestay during this time, you will naturally experience making tea.

“We start a full-fledged tea-making Templestay beginning in early June.
We pick tea leaves for an hour in the morning and then brew green doncha tea according to our individual tastes.
We also have a furnace in the front yard of the Templestay center.
There we pound the tea leaves on the ground and make doncha while sitting on the wooden veranda,” says Cheorin Seunim.

Vairocana Healing Tea is made by mixing in seven medicinal herbs.
I wondered if they had a secret recipe, but Cheorin Seunim told us the ingredients without hesitation.
“We use healthy ingredients like wrinkled giant hyssop, cloves, cinnamon, and dried ginger, and since tea has a naturally “cold nature,” we add “warm herbs” to warm the body and balance the yin and yang.
However, it is not good to drink freshly made Vairocana tea, so for those who participated in making tea this year, we serve tea made last year and aged.
The older it gets, the clearer and stronger the flavor becomes.”

How much can they produce?
If we can pick about one ton of fresh tea leaves, they can produce about 300 kilograms of tea.
The variable is labor.
As the number of workers decreases and there are fewer people to pick tea leaves, they can only produce about 100 kilograms.
This year, it was quite cold up until March, and the spring is dry, so I was concerned about the harvest, but the abbot assured me, “This year’s tea will keep its promise.”

“In areas where new tea plants were planted to expand the tea fields, many of the young trees are still suffering from frost damage, but the trunks and roots of the original wild tea trees are safe.
I believe there will be no problems with growth this year.”

A Tea Tradition that Has Continued Since the Joseon Dynasty

Vairocana Healing Tea has been made by Bulhoesa Temple since the mid-Joseon Dynasty.
It is made by crushing tea leaves and compressing them, a tradition that began when Chajing (The Book of Tea) by Lu Yu was first brought to Goryeo.
At that time, it was called jeoncha or doncha. Jeoncha is familiar to those who drink Chinese tea.
“Is it different?” I asked, to which the abbot smiled in response.
“Chinese jeoncha tea was named for its shape, which resembled a brick.
Our Vairocana Healing tea is called doncha (‘coin tea’) because its shape resembles Joseon coins which have a hole in the middle, so Koreans chose that term.
Doncha tea was produced in the Unified Silla period and has even been found in Goguryeo tombs.”

The Naju region has such a long history of tea, but I am unfamiliar with it, perhaps because I am ill-informed.
I know of regions that seem to be known for tea located south of Daejeon, which is the northern limit of tea tree farming in Korea.
These include Hadong, Agyang, Gurye, Boseong, Jangheung, and even Yeonggwang... But I have rarely heard of Naju tea.

“In 1938, during the Japanese colonial period, a Japanese group named Ieiri Katsuo discovered doncha tea being made at Bulhoesa Temple in Naju, and the following year, they investigated tea production being done in Gangjin, Haenam, Jangheung, even as far away as Hwaeomsa Temple in Gurye.
The results of this investigation were included in Tea and Seon in Joseon.
Tea culture disappeared during the Joseon Dynasty due to the decline of Buddhism, but it was revived in the 19th century by Jeong Yak-yong (Dasan), and Choui Seunim and his disciples.
Lee Hak-chi Seunim, who inherited Choui Seunim’s tea tradition, later served as the abbot of Bulhoesa Temple and revived tea culture in this area, a tradition that continues to this day.”

From His Entry into Monkhood till Today, Tea Has Been an Ever-present Companion

Is it because Cheorin Seunim is the abbot here that he is so well-versed in the history and traditions of Bulhoesa Temple?
An unexpected twist appears.
“I began monastic life here at Bulhoesa Temple. When I first came here, I saw monks making tea. I thought, ‘This temple is not well known, but they produce tea here and the scenery is great, so this would be a good place to practice.’ I decided to become a monk here. I remember that when tea season arrived, five or six monks would take turns making tea from 6 in the morning to 11 at night. It was really hard labor.”

In 2018, after taking office as the abbot of Bulhoesa Temple, which felt like home to him because he entered monkhood here, Cheorin Seunim opened a free tea house named “Biro Dagyeongsil,” across from the temple office.
When Templestay participants arrive, he introduces the temple and opens the tea house.
Visitors are free to brew and drink tea here even if it is not during the Templestay program called “Conversation over Tea with a Monk,” even if there is no monk present.

“Among the four foundations of mindfulness meditation, drinking tea relates to ‘feelings.’ Try focusing on the ‘feeling’ of the entire process of drinking tea, including the sound of pouring water, the movement of your hands, and the feel of the teapot.
However, the practice is not limited to feeling. The purpose of all practice is to understand impermanence, suffering, and non-self.
Drinking tea and living in the world are not done for the purpose of satisfying desires, but to truly experience impermanence.
As you practice this, comfort and a sense of freedom will enter your heart.
I hope that while drinking tea, you will experience becoming the embodiment of compassion without realizing it.”

Bulhoesa Is Pleasant All Year Round

Since ancient times, a saying in this region goes,
“Bulhoesa Temple in spring and Mt. Naejangsan in fall.”
This means that there is no place as gorgeous as Bulhoesa in spring, and Mt. Naejangsan is the best in fall.
Professor Yu Hong-jun once chose Bulhoesa as one temple that people must visit in winter.
I asked Cheorin Seunim again, “Which season is the best among the four seasons?"
The answer I got was obvious, but sincere.
“It’s good in early April when the new leaves are lush, and it’s also good for making tea in the summer.
In the fall, you can enjoy the autumn foliage and relax your mind. In the winter, you can follow Professor Yu Hong-jun’s advice and come visit.
Recently, Naju City created a forest path among the bija trees, where one can walk along the path that circles the temple.
You can walk long distances on this path without getting tired, so it is a natural place to do walking meditation.
Please come to Bulhoesa Temple to experience true rest.”

 Mo Ji-hyeon started writing about Buddhism in 2012. She plans and operates Buddhist cultural programs such as yoga Templestays, tea classes, and singing bowl meditation at Jeungsimsa Temple on Mt. Mudeungsan.