216 Bows

Mike and Mr. Choi spent September 6-7 at the Baekryunsa Buddhist temple outside of Seoul where Mike did the 108 bows of anguish... twice. Many of the Buddhist temples here are opening themselves for overnight stays, providing city dwellers a respite from the hectic pace of contemporary Korean life. There are four monks practicing at Baekryunsa, and they were gracious in teaching the etiquette and meanings of their rituals to us. It was an enlightening experience in more ways than one.

The dragonfly in the first photo is the Buddha. We saw Buddha many times in our hike in the mountains. The second photo we are assisting another Buddha in guarding the souls of the dead. The third is in the main temple where we participated in the ceremonies.