This is the book for anyone who is curious about Korean Buddhism. It offers a wide range of information, from history to temple life to bhikkunis (ordained women) to tours of the more famous temples, leaving the deeper, more philosophical side to a later date. Some of the articles included here are for the beginner and some for the more scholarly searcher. At the back there are a few of the main chants and some teachings for inspiration.

Korean Buddhism is a living tradition which is difficult to become familiar with because of the lack of available material in languages other than Korean and Chinese characters. The Hermit Kingdom, as Korea was sometimes called, has not been any more open in the Buddhist field than in any other. Therefore many aspects of Korean Buddhism remain beyond the reach of interested people and this is only recently beginning to change. In the last few years, a number of new books have come out but there is still nothing which offers a basic introduction. Therefore we decided to put together this material. It is mostly taken from articles that we have written; there are three excellent articles written by others also included, adapted to the present volume.

We have tried hard to make the material correct, interesting and useful. To these ends, we have opted for a rather unusual style. Interjected into the text at the appropriate points are articles which enlarge upon a particular aspect. As the style of this information is different, the reader may find the jolt strange. Therefore we have begun and ended each article with a lotus flower (?) so that the item can be skipped and read later if the reader so wishes.

The book opens with a look at the history from two perspectives. This leads into a consideration of the features which make Korean Buddhism individual. Monastic life follows with details on the ordination and activities of monks. Here we have included two long articles on bhikkunis because there is much interst in ordained women today and they are so little known. The first concerns the history which is often speculative because of the lack of records. The second is a modern article about how ordained women live. The next section, Visiting Temples, is all about how to go to a temple and what you will see. After that we have written about the main temples of Korea incorporating information about different subjects into the narrative. Thus dragons are dealt with in the article on Yongju-sa, for example. As many visitors have no time to travel away from Seoul, we decided to give an overview of some of the principle temples of the capital. The book terminates with a few chants and teachings of Korean monks. At the back, in the Appendix, there is a short glossary of some of the more special terms used in the book as well as a list of the kings with their dates. There is no index because we felt that the material lent itself well to a detailed contents instead.

We hope that many people will be spurred on to read more about Korean Buddhism, visit the temples and thus become familiar with a rich tradition which offers the teachings of the Buddha in different, simpler trappings than those we are more familiar with.

May all beings be well and happy!

Lotus Lantern Int'l Buddhist Center,
148-5 Soyok-dong, Chongno-ku,
Seoul 110-200, Korea. tel: 82-2-735-5347
fax: 82-2-720-7849
e-mail: buddha@uriel.net
Under the direction of the Head Monk,
Ven. Won-myong Sunim.

Although many people have been involved in the making of this book, I take full responsibility for the contents. Omissions and mistakes can only be blamed on me.

Songbul Hashipshiyo!
Mujin, 1998