Round Mountain Slopes Closing in Like Lotus Flower Petals

I drove down the highway in the early morning and exited at the tollgate.
The quiet darkness was thick with fog.
As I passed the Cheongtong Police Station and walked through the temple’s One Pillar Gate, the thick fog disappeared as if it had only been an illusion.
In daylight, the view from Eunhaesa Temple would have been reminiscent of a silver sea.

At 6 a.m., it was still pitch dark.
I stood blankly in front of the Templestay lodging where I had promised to meet my group.
Perhaps because of the spring air, my heart was warming up.
Beep, beep, the sound of a ghost bird, like the sound of a rusty seesaw, arose from the valley, and the sound of a flowing stream fed by melting ice resonated on the mountainside.
Spring seems to be heralded by sounds first before colors and scents.

As the eastern sky began to brighten, I met with my group who had just finished breakfast, and we toured Eunhaesa Temple together.
Upon exiting Geungnakbojeon Hall after paying my respects, I came across a monk who was quietly sweeping the courtyard.
He looked at me, and when I approached him and greeted him with joined palms, he only slightly bowed his head.
I became pensive, thinking that he was sweeping with true sincerity.
I gave up the idea of sitting under a fragrant zelkova tree and chatting with him, thinking it might be rude.
I quietly crossed the temple courtyard, now beautifully decorated with rows from the monk’s broom, and headed straight for Unbuam Hermitage.

Mt. Palgongsan, although not very high, has long valleys, many oddly-shaped stone formations, and sandstone cliffs that boast spectacular views, so it can truly be called a great mountain.
And among the many hermitages on the mountain, Unbuam Hermitage is considered the most famous due to its geomantically auspicious location.

Passing the reservoir, now dried up in the spring drought, I followed a narrow valley until I saw a hermitage in the distance.
Many say that Mahayeon Seon Center is the best in the northern part of South Korea and Unbu Seon Center is the best in the southern part, a saying many acknowledge as true.
The rounded mountains surrounding the hermitage on all sides remind me of lotus blossom petals, and the hermitage sitting high above tightly layered stone walls is like a lotus seed pod.
When there is a fairly large pond nearby, the temple compound looks just like a lotus blossom.

I had no idea there would be such a wide space in a mountain valley that would take at least half a day to walk to from the village.
Moreover, there was not a single jagged rock or peak in sight in all directions, so even though I was deep in the mountains, I felt like I was just visiting a neighbor’s house at the entrance to the village.

Many Great Monks Resided at Unbuam

After climbing the stairs, a two-story pavilion appeared. Bohwaru: the three characters on the large door plaque were imposing enough that they dwarfed the plaque they were written on.
This plaque was the work of the modern master calligrapher Yu Han-ik (pen name, Haegwan).

The pavilion was supported by unpainted pillars of crooked pine, revealing a cracked and worn-out interior.
Suddenly, I thought of my maternal grandmother, her bright smile beaming from a deeply wrinkled face.
Long ago, I used to visit her, changing buses three times, and she would stand up from weeding the garlic field and greet me with this exact look.
“Will I grow old like that?”
Pondering this question, I stroked the worn wood grain on the posts for a long time, reminiscing of childhood memories while standing in a pavilion filled with spring sunlight.

Due to the passage of time and weathering, there is no evidence left to prove the origin of Unbuam Hermitage.
However, there is a legend that the eminent Silla monk Uisang plunged his cane into the ground here and it grew into a zelkova tree.
That tree still stands, its insides now rotted away, so the history of Unbuam is truly very long.

According to literature, the great master Moun Jineon—a highly esteemed scholar of Hwaeom (Avataṃsaka) studies during the Joseon Dynasty—held a Hwaeom Dharma assembly at Unbuam to spread the teachings of Hwaeom Buddhism.
And the great master Yeongpa Seonggyu built Hoe-eunjae at Unbuam in his later years and resided there until he passed away.
Great master Jing-wol Jeonghun also passed away at Unbuam.

Based on these anecdotes, it is presumed that Unbuam was the residence of some of the greatest Buddhist elders for generations.
Moreover, in modern times, many great monks, including Gyeongheo, Hyewol, Unbong, Seongcheol, and Hyanggok, all resided here, so the Chinese poet Wangbo’s saying that “great people emerge because the land is sacred,” is indeed true.

Unbuam as it appears today is said to have been rebuilt in 1862 by the monks Eungheo and Chimdam.
The main buddha hall, Wontongjeon, is flanked by U-uidang Hall and Unbunanya Hall on both sides.
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva is enshrined in Wontongjeon Hall.
This Bodhisattva statue, adorned with splendid ornaments and decorations, was made in the 15th century and is currently designated a “general treasure” of South Korea.
I paid my respects to the Bodhisattva and approached to examine it more closely.
Its chubby-cheeked profile reminded me of a beautiful woman.

The Place where Fools Gathered

I stepped off of the high door stone placed beneath the door of Wontongjeon and headed to U-uidang, used as the temple office.
But there was no one in the office to guide me to the spiritual director.
I went to the spiritual director’s quarters, but he was not there.
I went in reluctantly using the excuse that I had an appointment with him.
The oiled hanji paper covering the warmer part of the ondol floor was blackened, suggesting it was heated by firewood.
Even the round pillars used in the wall were meticulously wallpapered.
It was comfortable and cozy, and I felt as if I had gone back to my childhood in a time machine.
I leaned back in the corner and sat down, feeling the warmth of the floor spread through my entire body.
I grew drowsy.

After a while, the spiritual director of the Seon center, Bulsan Seunim, arrived.
He told me we should have lunch first, so we headed to the dining hall together.
The fresh kimchi with jepi spice and the siraegi (dried radish green) soup were so delicious that I think I ate at least two bowls.
Bulsan Seunim told me to wait for him, saying he was having tea with the monks of the Seon hall.
I returned to U-uidang Hall, sat down again, leaned back and waited, becoming drowsy again.
How strange. I was in a temple where strict discipline was expected, but it felt like home to me.

Bulsan Seunim offered me tea made from date plum leaves.
I spoke first, hoping to dispel the awkwardness of our first meeting.
“The path from Eunhaesa Temple to Unbuam Hermitage was really nice to walk.”
He said, “When I was young, I studied under Master Jinje for 30 years.
One day, Ilta Seunim called me and asked, ‘What good is it if there’s only a building and no monks?’
He then directed me to open a new Seon center at Unbuam Hermitage.
So, I opened a Seon center, and on the first meditation retreat, as many as 14 monks came.
At that time, the path to the temple was so winding and narrow that it was even hard to visit the main temple, Eunhaesa.
And the hermitage was in a national park, so there was no road.
So, during our meditation retreat, I would practice Seon with the others, and afterward, I would drive a forklift and move electric poles and other supplies myself to make a road.”

Bulsan Seunim stopped talking and laughed heartily.
“Ha ha, 20 years have passed like that and I’ve destroyed three forklifts.
I’ve spent all my youth building that road.”
His easygoing demeanor made me feel comfortable, so I asked him.
“Seunim, I heard that this place has auspicious energy. How do you feel about living here?”
He answered, “At first, I didn’t like it. Back then, I was full of energy.
I wanted thrills and excitement, like swords clanging against spears.
It was too quiet, like a shrine for a memorial service.
I found it boring, dull, and stuffy. But as time passed, I realized that this was a great place.
It was a natural gateless barrier, so there was no need for fences or barbed wire.
On top of that, it had the ability to purify the minds of all who came here, so worldly thoughts vanished naturally.
I used to be a person who couldn’t stand losing, but that ego dissipated on its own.
You forget everything and your mind becomes empty naturally.
So, there was no urgency, nothing to do, no need to struggle, and one naturally came to feel at peace.
It’s not just me; everyone who lived here experienced the same.
Even people who used to run wild calmed down after a while here, to the point where you wonder, ‘How can a person change like that?’
One who has a keen sense of being on a mission may say we look like fools.
But I disagree; we are just innocents, not fools.”

He stopped talking and laughed again.
“We live with what we have, and we live even with what we don’t have.
We neither appeal to devotees nor are we bound by money.
If we could make a Dharma talk sound appealing, people would flock to us, but there is no one here who has that talent.
But the people who live here are all satisfied.
Come to think of it, this place must be a fool’s paradise.”

After drinking three cups of tea with me, Bulsan Seunim stepped down off the door stone, said “Goodbye,” and disappeared without looking back.
I felt dizzy, possibly because of the spring air or the temple’s great energy.
As I stood blankly in the temple yard and regained my senses, I saw the couplet hanging on a pillar of Unbunanya Hall.
It must have been Bulsan Seunim’s enlightenment poem.

The way of the Dharma staff is that
all living beings have buddha nature, even
the ones we can’t see.

Even after coming to Unbuam Hermitage in person, my longing to come here, a desire I had harbored for a long time, did not go away.
As I descended the mountain road with the spring sunlight on my back, I began to miss already this place where fools gather.

 Seong Jae-heon served as a sutra translator at the Dongguk Institute of the Tripitaka and is currently working as a member of the translation committee for the Collected Works of Korean Buddhism. He participated as a member of the Jogye Order's writing committee for Life of the Buddha and Introduction to Buddhism for Youth. His books published in Korean include Coffee and Dharma and People Who Have Met the Buddha.