Jogye steps up push for templestay, temple food
Korea's largest Buddhist sect will focus on templestay and temple food going forward, according to the Culture Corps of Korean Buddhism on Tuesday.
The promotion arm of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism said it would start templestay programs specializing in Jogye's 'seon meditation' by March at 30 of the 158 temples across the country. Seon meditation is what Jogye believes will set Korean Buddhism apart from Buddhist practices elsewhere in Asia.
'What foreigners look for most in templestay, and Korean Buddhism in general, is something intrinsically Korean,' said the Ven. Mandang, who took over as director of the Culture Corps of Korean Buddhism in February 2024. The group has been running templestay programs since 2002.
A book to guide practitioners by outlining 108 ways to approach seon meditation will be published by spring, while the annual Seon Meditation Summit in April will further promote the practice.
The Jogye Order will also introduce templestay to those attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November. The event, to be held in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, will bring together over 6,000 people including global leaders and business executives.
'Our temples there will coordinate templestay tours for interested foreign nationals. Details about the plan will be out shortly,' Mandang added, describing the global meeting as instrumental in helping raise Jogye's global profile.
Promoting awareness of temple food, its variety and health benefits will be another priority.
'We will revive our temple food festival this year,' Mandang said of the Jogye celebration that last took place in 2015. 'It will be a festival for not just Buddhists, but for everyone, including children,' Mandang added, saying the festival will be in June.
Meanwhile, the Jogye Order will ramp up efforts to have the government officially recognize temple food as intangible cultural heritage. The sect will first begin standardizing methods of preparing temple food -- a key process essential to receiving state recognition, according to Mandang.
In August, Jogye will hold an international forum on temple food, inviting food experts from the New York-based Culinary Institute of America and the University of Oxford in the UK. 'It's the universality of temple food that we want to double down on, so people of all origins can relate to it,' Mandang said.
Making templestay more foreigner-friendly is a work in progress, Mandang noted, saying temples are constantly making changes to programs to better serve foreign visitors.
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