Although Buddhism entered Korea for almost two thousand years and that Christianity entered only a century and a half ago, the latter spread until it becomes more widespread than Buddhism, And what distinguishes South Korea from other Eastern Asian countries is the strong presence of the Christian religion in it despite the prevalence of the historical Buddhist of the State.
While some people may think that Korea is a Buddhist state, the truth is not totally, as Christians constitute between 28 and 30% of the country’s population, while Buddhists constitute around 22%, and those who consider “non -religious” mostly occupy the remaining percentage, with simple proportions of other religions and sects such as Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhs and others.
During our presence in the Korean capital, Seoul, we decided to visit the Buddhist temple and a Christian cathedral, to take readers visiting the two largest religions in the country, during which we meet parties on both sides.
Buddhism
Buddhism entered Korea through China in 372 AD during the three kingdoms, then it was rooted in politics, philosophy and the arts, however, under the reign of the kingdom of Joseon (1392-1897) in Korea South, confused – the blind from China – replaced Buddhism as the ideology of the State, this led to the abolition of this Last for several centuries, despite its pursuit in rural areas and mountain temples.
Today, the “Gaghi sect” is the country’s largest Buddhist sect, with a number of followers of around 7 million people, and is supervised by 13 thousand monks.
Gogisa temple
Among all these temples, we have visited the temple of Gogosa, located in the region of Jongheno in the heart of the capital, Seoul, and is the spiritual and administrative center of the community of Gaghi, and a major axis of Buddhist and Buddhist and cultural activities.
This temple, founded in 1910, is famous for the Annual Lanterns Festival which takes place on the Buddha’s birthday, and attracts thousands of visitors, and is also famous for the Daonggion Hall – the main Buddha Hall – which contains a Huge statue of a statue of the huge statue of the statue of the enormous statue of Buddha in the middle and its right and to the right of two other statues representing the hopes of Buddha.
The site of the temple of the center of Seoul allows visitors to see Buddhist practices before their eyes, who include meditation, recitation of hymns and residence in temples, and despite the decrease in the number of Buddhists in recent years due to The modernity and the propagation of Christianity, Buddhism is always an important part of Korean cultural identity.
NUN PUB
During our visit to the temple, we met the nun Boubachin (37), who said that she had started to volunteer in the temple in order to help people, then felt “the need to Diving into the understanding of Buddhism “, so she started studies 7 years ago, and after that, she decided to become a Buddhist nun.
Bubchin says that she shaved her hair after terror, “because haircuts mean the lack of attachment to the world, and in Buddhism, we see that attachment to the world is the cause of suffering and Pain, and haircuts mean in one way or another to get rid of suffering, “as she said.
As for her study of Buddhism and how long it takes it to finish it, she said that the study of Buddhism for the nuns was “endless” and indicated that she had visited the temple that day to take A new book for the teachings of the Buddha to study it and added: “Whenever we finish studying a book, we start a new book.”
On marriage, Boubesen says that the Buddhist nuns do not marry “we marry the whole world by gift and love,” she said, and about the tradition of allowing candles in the temple, she said that “this symbolizes the propagation of light and the expulsion of darkness, and to remember the nature of deadly life by seeing the candle melt.”.
Buddhist rituals
We also met in the temple, one of his visitors, Jong Koan Sun, 43, and told Al -jazeera Net that he had visited this temple periodically because his father worked there, and he explained that His father was not a monk, but he was “very religious buddia to the point of monasticism”, and he accompanied him in his childhood.
Kwan Sun says that when he enters as much as possible, he knelt down 3 times in 3 directions, and in doing so, he greets and respects three: Buddha and Darma (Buddha’s lessons) and Sanga (disciples of Buddha), and in order to To “get rid of the three toxins: greed, hatred and illusion,” he said.
On their prayers, he said that there is no cult in Buddhism in the same sense that exists in celestial religions, but rather to worship, they have “a contemplation of existence and ourselves ourselves and the passion to control our emotions “.
The Cathedral of the Lady of Emotion
We left the Buddhist temple, where visitors were not allowed to photograph inside, and we got into the “pure pregnancy” cathedral known as the Dong Meonging cathedral, compared to the district In which it is located in Jong -soul, and is considered to be the siege of the heads of the bishops of the capital, Peter Chung Sun Tai
The cathedral – which was established at the end of the 19th century – worked as a community teacher, tourist attraction and leading symbol of the Catholic Church in Korea, and the government announced a historic site on November 22, 1977.
Although Christianity entered Korea at separate moments through Catholic books and missionaries in the 17th century, it did not spread significantly before the end of the 19th century when the Protestant missionaries arrived from the West , and Christianity experienced rapid growth after the Korean War (1950-1953) where churches played a major role in the supply of social assistance and educational.
There are approximately 5.8 million Catholics and around 10 million Protestants, and the country includes more than 1,700 Catholic churches, in particular the cathedral of Mongig Dong visited by Al -jazeera Net, and also includes some of the largest Protestant churches world, like the evangelical church Kido de Seoul, which is the largest church in the world, has a number of members exceeding 800,000 people, depending on the church.
Physical wave
Al -jazeera Net could not speak with the clergy of the cathedral, because the administration of the church stipulated that an previous request was submitted, but during our visit to his young Kyle Jong and his fiancée Lucia Yu , we met Lucia told Al -jazeera Net that they visited the cathedral because there is no church near their residence, and in this church finds peace and Reassurance, she said.
As for Kyle, we asked him questions about his vision of the future of Christianity in Korea.
Despite the challenges that Christianity was confronted in South Korea, including competition with traditional religions such as Buddhism, this remains a major power in the country’s religious and social life, while Buddhism still maintains its position and has a clear impact on culture, thought and daily life.