Buddha's Birthday

Freedom of religion is fully guaranteed in the Republic of Korea, and the 2 main ones are Buddhism and Christianity. The last time we visited, we attended one of the many Sunday worship services at Yoido Full Gospel Choir Church. It was amazing! Yoido is the largest Christian church in the world in regards to congregational size, which is over 80,000 members. (Hosanna has room to grow!)

This time, our travel coincided with Buddha's 2554th Birthday, which was Friday, May 21st. We had read about the celebrations at the temples. Thursday evening, after we picked up the chops in Insadong, we walked over to Jogyesa, a large temple nearby, to see the festivities. They were just setting up for the Friday celebration.

We went to have tea at a traditional teahouse and later returned to see the lanterns all lit. You can purchase a lantern to have hung here during the celebration for $100 - $200.

The Korean Buddhist temples in Seoul offer the opportunity to stay at the temples to meditate, sweep, make repairs, and craft things like lanterns. For John, the most appealing part of a temple stay would be the requirement of total silence during the stay. He is not used to handling an overly excited mom missing her little boy and waiting to get her new twins. Needless to say, we are not doing a temple stay and I miss talking to girlfriends!