Lotus Flower: Purity of the Body, Speech, and Mind

Monday morning and another weekend comes to a close. This weekend was the perfect amount of peaceful relaxation, going out, and Korean culture. Friday night Sean and I enjoyed dinner and then caught a live jazz performance at a cafe in one of my favorite spots in Bundang, cafe street. Cafe street is a little street in Jeongja (one subway stop away from me) filled with little cafes and restaurants galore. At night twinkle lights brighten the street and the atmosphere is so romantic. Walking down this little street makes you feel as though you are miles away from Asia in some little Europen town.

Saturday night after a delicious meal, a big group of us celebrated a friend's birthday at one of our frequented spots in Gangnam. After some good conversation, a terrible game of darts, and flash-back to the ninety's music, I called it a night.

Sunday there was a huge festival in Seoul, the Lotus Lantern Festival. It is an event sponsored by the Buddhist temple near Insa-dong, Jogyesa. We arrived a little later in the afternoon missed the arts and crafts portion of the day where people could create their own paper lanterns to take home. After walking around exploring and photographing the hundreds of lanterns, Sean introduced me to a Korean favorite at a little cafe in Insa-dong. Bingsu is a Korean summer treat made of soy milk, fruit, red beans, rice cake, nuts, and crushed ice all mixed together in one yummy concoction. We also ordered sikhye, a Korean sweet rice drink with bits of rice inside. I personally don't like it because I cringe at the soggy floating pieces of rice, but most Koreans I have met love it.

Buddhist monks

paper lanterns

in front of the Jogyesa temple

lotus lantern with Buddhist symbol

bingsu

sikhye

We finished our bingsu and then headed through Insa-dong and over to the main road to claim a spot for the lantern parade. The streets were packed and we were lucky to have gotten a front row spot. People marched in traditional Korean clothing holding lanterns of all colors and shapes. There were Korean musicians, dancers, and entertainers. The lantern floats were my favorite. They were all at least 5 feet tall and lit up from the inside out. The colors, lights, and sounds were really unlike anything I had seen. It was such a cool experience and I'm glad I got to see it. We finished out the weekend with our Sunday night BBQ tradition.

hanboks and lanterns

elephant lantern float

Korean character

king lantern float

fan dancers

The greatest achievement is selflessness.

The greatest worth is self-mastery.

The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.

The greatest precept is continual awareness.

The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.

The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.

The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.

The greatest generosity is non-attachment.

The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.

The greatest patience is humility.

The greatest effort is not concerned with results.

The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.

-Atisha, Buddhist teaching

Namaste