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Haeinsa Temple is the second of the Three Jewels Temples of Korea, representing the teaching, "haein" means "reflection on a smooth sea." Haein Samadhi is a state of meditation in which an enlightened person sees everything as it is; a world in which all dualities cease. Such a world has a surface like that of a calm sea. When the queen of King Aejang (r.800-809) became ill with a tumor, the king asked Master Sun ung and Master Ich ng to help her. They tied one end of a string to the tumor, the other to a tree and chanted special verses. Miraculously, as the tumor withered, the tree died, out of gratitude for the monks' services, the king built Haenisa Temple. Durimg the Korean War, many guerrillas hid in Haenisa and so the order was given for the Temple to be bombed. The pilot flew over the buildings, trying to judge where best to drop his bomb. As he gazed down at the magnificent halls, he could not bring himself to destroy such a lovely place. He was court-martialed and imprisoned. After the war, however, he became a national hero. After passing through the three gates, there is large courtyard. Continuing up the next flight of stairs, you arrive at the Main Hall, constructed in 1818 on the foundations of the one built by Master Sun ung and Master Ich ng. Inside, there are seven statues. The wooden Vairocana, the Manjusri and Samantabhadra statues were all carved from a large ginkgo tree during the Choson Dynastly (1392-1910). There are many paintings in the hall, including Ich'adon with the milk spurting out of his neck, Wonhyo and isang. The paintings of the buddha's life, found behind the main statues, are highly detailed and rather unusual. Behind the main shrine, up a steep flight of granite stairs, are two long buildings which house the wood-blocks of the Tripitaka Koreana, the buddhist texts. Constructed in 1488, the buildings escaped the fires which burmt down the rest of the Temple in 1817. The Tripitaka Koreana was carved in the 13th cintury in a Temple on kanghwado island. It was believed that the possession of these wood-blocks would protect the country against invasion. The original set of printing blocks, carved in the 11th century, were bumt by the mongols and, in the 13th century, a new set was undertaken at the orders of king kojong. These were transported from kanghwado island on the heads of nuns to Haenisa for safekeeping. To prepare the white birch woodblocks, they were submerged in seawater for three years, boiled in seawater for three years and then dried in the shade for three years. It took about 12 years to carve the 81,258 blocks. The style and uniformity of the crving makes it appear that it was carved by one person, although it was the work of many. When printed, there are about 6,791 volumes. In 1995, the Haenisa Temple changgyong p'ango, the depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks were named to the world heritage list. At present, an average 220 monks and novices live within the Temple compound. Around Haenisa there are 15 hermitages where about 200 women live. There are also a few men's hermitages. The Temple is the largest in Korea in terms of residents and has the largest monk's university. |
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