Wielkanoc w Świątyni Buddyjskiej – nieco niekomfortowe zderzenie ze spokojem duchowym.

"Wyjdź ze swojej strefy komfortu. Możesz wzrastać tylko, jeśli jesteś gotów czuć się dziwnie i niekomfortowo próbując czegoś zupełnie dla Ciebie nowego."
- Brian Tracy

Korea to kraj w około 30% chrześcijański (nie mylić z katolicyzmem) niestety, za każdym razem, kiedy chciałam wejść do kościoła okazywało się, że jest zamknięty na cztery spusty. Naturalną koleją rzeczy skierowałam się więc w stronę świątyń buddyjskich. W końcu, Bóg jest jeden, a do tego te świątynie, otwarte są od wschodu do zachodu słońca. Tym właśnie sposobem tegoroczne Święta Wielkanocne spędziłam w Guryongsa Temple w Parku Narodowym u podnóża góry Chiaksan.

Nigdy nie wykazywałam większego zainteresowania Buddyzmem, posiadana przeze mnie wiedza jest raczej o zabarwieniu historycznym niż duchowym postanowiłam więc skorzystać z programu stworzonego przez Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism oraz Koreańską Izbę Turystyczną pod wiele mówiącą nazwą „Templestay”. Pomyślałam, ze to dobry pomysł żeby się trochę wyciszyć i zrelaksować. Weekend w SPA to jednak lepszy pomysł na relaks i teraz wiem to na pewno! Gdyby jednak ktoś pragnął odnowy bardziej duchowej niż cielesnej, również i w Polsce są miejsca, w które można zajrzeć: Pustelnia Złotego Lasu w Rytwianach, benedyktyński Tyniec czy Stoczek Klasztorny to tylko niektóre z klasztorów proponujących nieco inną formę relaksu dla strudzonych korporacyjnym wyścigiem szczurków.

Program „Templestay” podobnie jak te, proponowane przez polskich zakonników polega na udziale w życiu świątynnym wraz z mnichami. Koreański Buddyzm ma 1700 letnia tradycję. Mówi się, że świątynie przesiąknięte są historią oraz mądrością mnichów. Osobiście nie mogę ustosunkować się co do ‘duchowości’ tych miejsc, przyznaję jednak, iż panuje w nich niczym niezmącony spokój, który bardzo kojąco wpływa na samopoczucie i nastrój a już samo przebywanie na terenie kompleksu świątynnego jest formą swoistego rodzaju mimowolnego relaksu.

Dzień w świątyni buddyjskiej zaczyna się o 3 rano. Jeden z mnichów obchodzi teren świątynny bijąc w drewniany gong, co ma na celu duchowe oczyszczenie świątyni oraz obudzenie jej mieszkańców do życia. Ja dostałam na szczęście taryfę ulgową i nie musiałam wstawać o 3.00, słyszałam jednak całą ceremonię z mojej sypialni. O spaniu jednak mowy nie było, ponieważ już o 4.00 rano odbywają się pierwsze modły, a ściślej mówiąc śpiewanie mantry, której dźwięk rozchodzi się po całym kompleksie świątynnym a obecność gór potęguje tylko jej moc. 

Wstałam około 6.00 rano, w samą porę na śniadanie. Jedzenie świątynne jest dość monotonne i składa się zazwyczaj z ryżu, glonów, owoców, grzybów i orzechów, czyli wszystkiego tego, co udostępniane jest przez naturę w okolicy świątyni.  

Po śniadaniu, mnisi mają chwilę dla siebie. Można z nimi porozmawiać, medytować, ćwiczyć jogę, sztuki walki, zrobić kwiaty lotosu z papieru czy po prostu pójść na spacer. Bariera językowa jest tu zupełnie nieistotna. Od 9.00 do 11.00 kolejne modły i składanie ofiar z ryżu i owoców na głównym ołtarzu.  W południe serwowany jest lunch, który notabene niewiele różni się od śniadania.

Po lunchu, mnisi znów mają odrobinę wolnego czasu. Część z nich medytuje, część bawi się z psem, część czyta gazetę albo przegląda strony internetowe. Znajomy mnich (którego co tydzień uczę mowy Shakespeare’a) miał ochotę pograć w Monopol, z tą tylko różnicą, że zamiast domków były świątynie z pagodami a zamiast pionków postacie Buddy ;-) Po wygranej partyjce Seung-won pokazał mi tradycyjny, koreański sposób parzenia herbaty. Miałam wrażenie, że pragnął kontaktu ze światem zewnętrznym (czyli w tym wypadku ze mną) nie mniej niż ja, kontaktu z jego, zamkniętym za murami świątynnymi, trochę mistycznym miejscem, które zgodnie z legendą zamieszkane było przez dziewięć smoków, zanim powstała tam świątynia. Pomyśleć tylko, że nasza Polska posiadała w historii tylko jednego smoka i to podstępnie zamordowanego przy użyciu jagnięciny. Pewnie w dzisiejszych czasach Dratewka oskarżony by został o związki z islamskim terroryzmem poprzez luźne powiązanie z jagnięciną…. ;dzisiejszy świat jest jednym wielkim, globalnym konfliktem. Dla mnichów z Guryoungsa Temple nie ma natomiast zupełnie znaczenia wyznanie osób odwiedzających świątynię, ateizm tez jest szeroko akceptowany i żadnego mnicha nie dziwi, ze można wierzyć tylko w swoje możliwości a nie nadrzędna siłę sprawczą, to ożywcze doświadczenie poprzebywać w takiej bezwarunkowo akceptującej rzeczywistość atmosferze.

Wieczór w górskich świątyniach przychodzi wcześniej niż w reszcie świata. Kolacja podawana jest o 17.00, później już tylko modlitwa w głównej świątyni. Dzień kończy się o 21.00, kiedy to wszyscy kładą się spać.  

W moim przypadku pobyt w świątyni Gurryongsa nie doprowadził do przemiany duchowej, zresztą nie takie było moje założenie, kiedy przekraczałam progi świątynne. Pobyt w tym miejscu dał mi szansę odskoczni, skupienia się na sobie i nakreślenia planu działania na najbliższy rok. Chyba niezłe (a przynajmniej satysfakcjonujące) osiągniecie jak na pobyt w miejscu, które zupełnie do mnie nie pasuje i w którym nie raz nadwyrężona została strefa mojego komfortu psychicznego ;-)

I Love Art - Wonju exhibition

Lads, if you are any close to Wonju-si tomorrow (32.04.'14) check up the “I Love Art” exhibition in Chiack Art Centre (closes bus stop LOTTE CINEMA, bus no 41/51-57/2/8/9 from Dongbu bus terminal). It’s organized by the Korean Art Association and contains of pieces done by professionals as well as an amateurs. Nice idea for a bit of relax between meetings.

Wielu Koreańczyków, których poznałam posiada hobby, co nie jest niczym dziwnym, Polacy tez maja hobby i nikt z tego nie robi wielkiej hecy. Tutaj jednak, jeśli masz hobby to uprawiasz je na wysokim poziomie. Jeśli lubisz śpiewać, chodzisz na lekcje śpiewu, jeśli lubisz rękodzieło, chodzisz na zajęcia np. z Hanji paper, jeśli lubisz malować, to masz swojego prywatnego nauczyciela, który Ci w tym pomaga. Moja koleżanka, pracująca dwa biurka ode mnie w naszym lokalnym Wonj-ańskim jaebolu maluje. Co więcej, jeden z jej obrazów został wystawiony na dziesiątej, jubileuszowej wystawie „I Love Art”, która zorganizowana została w Chiack Art Centre w Wonju. 

Chcąc wesprzeć koleżankę w dążeniu do perfekcji  w uchwycaniu światła na płótnie w piątkowy poranek wszyscy poszliśmy na wystawę  zachwycać się dziełami. Muszę przyznać, że niektóre obrazy bardzo mi się podobały (szczególnie akwarela Buddy), koleżankowy landszaft mniej, ale jakoś wybrnęłam, kiedy zapytano mnie, co myślę o tym ‘dziele’ ….. Dzieło to, wraz z koleżanką zostało uwiecznione w obiektywie aparatu, wiec oceńcie sami ;-)

Miso as a beautiful smile, not tasty soup.This time.-Korean Tourist Organization

“Miso” is probably the best known Korean performance in the world. In 14 years of its history it has been watched in 65 countries by around 650.000 people. I have proudly joined that crowd just last week. I heard about Miso long before coming to Korea and it was the one performance I was dying to see as I thought it will be a quintessence of Korea, and I wasn't mistaken.

One of the strategy goals of Jeongdong theatre, a home for the Miso, is to ‘ turn traditional art into performance tourist attractions’ so it could serve as an ambassador for Korean Culture. I have to admit that Mr. Jeong Hyeon-wook the Director of Jeongdong Theatre,  obtained that goal without the shadow of a doubt.  

Many people think that there is only one Miso performance, but that’s not the case. Miso (which in Korean means “beautiful smile”, not soup!) is a common name for  adaptations of folk tales, stories and lampoons of the great Joseon Dynasty.

Previous Miso performance “Love Songs from Chunhyang” was a turbulent love story with the happy ending. Miso “ Baebijang-jeon” currently played on the other hand is an adaptation of an humorous novel, a story of fateful encounter of secretary Bae and a beautiful Are-rang on Jeju island. 

The play

We meet Secretary Bae Geol-dek-swe when he is appointed the government position in charge of culture and art on Jeju Island. His wife in a beautiful song monologue warns him to be careful and stay faithful. She is afraid that he may be seduced by one of the beautiful Jeju girls.

He goes to his new post in Jeju Island with the new district magistrate. The choir, traditional music and ballet picture the rough sail to Jeju. Then the storm comes and the sea gets rough and choppy. It is one of the and most beautifully executed  ballet scenes in entire performance, in my opinion. Finally Bae safely reaches the shore.

In Jeju Island, Secretary Bae doesn’t mingle with the people at the welcoming party of the new magistrate. Instead, he goes around scolding the other secretaries for socializing with gisaengs (courtesans).

The magistrate wants to test Secretary Bae who vows never to be seduced by any kind of temptation, so the magistrate declares that he’ll handsomely reward anyone who can seduce Secretary Bae. Ae-rang, one of Jeju Island’s most beautiful women, comes forward, saying she’ll seduce him. The manservant who works for Secretary Bae, agrees to help her.

Secretary Bae, who would talk big about the honor of the gentry, sees Ae-rang taking a bath at the waterfall, and immediately falls in love with her. And no wonder he does. Ae-Rang’s moves while taking the bath and the accompany of the traditional music creates almost a sensual  atmosphere of a French boudoir.

Bae is sick of love and presents it beautifully through an expressive dance (even though you can't see it from this photo)

Finally with the help of his man servant, Secretary Bae heads over to Ae-rang’s house. Very proud and clever Ae-rang furtherly seduces and plays with Bae’s feelings. Finally Ae-rang manages to lock Bae in a cabinet telling him that her husband is coming back home.

Secretary Bae is then transferred to the magistrate court where he thinks he will be thrown to the ocean for his unfaithfulness. But the magistrate has no such intention. Everyone at the court are  laughing at Bae,  having a good time, so as the audience.

I am very glad that I had a chance to see this version of Miso as I prefer lampoons over love stories.  I didn’t need to worry about the language barrier as there were none.  Few performed songs are translated in to Chinese and English immediately on the screens on the sides of the stage.  The atmosphere of the theatre is profound which adds to the experience. While most of the theatres in Seoul are squashed on floors or basements of the skyscrapers Jeongdong is a comfortable building surrounded by the trees on the side of the Deoksugung palace. It is a lovely scenery for talking a walk before or after the performance.

If you have only one day in Seoul. Skip shopping (you can have it at the airport), skip the dinner (it’s Asian ;-) and go to see Miso. It is not so orthodox as Kabuki but it is also not as modern as most of the shows on Korean market. It’s the golden mean for performances. A true MUST SEE one! 

Metal Heart, Rodfest - Korean Tourist Organization.

Last weekend I had a pleasure to attend the Rodfest. A concert, which is an overview of what’s happening on Korean metal stage. A stage, being still (after a few decades) a reminiscent of metal’s first years in the English-speaking world. This music still has to fight for legitimacy in Korea and while it is lucrative business in western world, situation is slightly different here.

When Korean War ceased in 1953, formally North and South are formally at war with each other and  two years military service is obligatory for all men (which does not make it any easier for the bands to survive). Country’s economy was comparable to those of the 3^rd world countries. In the course of the next few decades Korea had the largest economic turnaround in world's history. There was no time for hobbies like music. People were too busy building the common wealth. In addition, Rock (not to even mention Metal music) was recognized as a rebellion against the government and as such was abandoned by radio and TV stations, it was only in early 80’s when it started to become popular and slowly gained its footprint and started coexisting with other music trends on Korean market.  While K-pop enjoys support and subsidy of Korean government, mainly because it’s well marketable and easy to digest, Metal music, even though it’s true and real is alienated and fans are often ostracised.

Even though the environment for Metal is not as cosy here as in less Confucian countries, more and more internationally known groups are playing gigs in Korea, usually on their way to Japan. The difference is that a lot of them used to play for 60-80.000 fans on stadiums, here are performing in clubs for an audience of 150-200 people. The number of Korean’s own, domestic groups is growing and it seems that in such commercialized city as Seoul where K-pop stars are adored by crowds, there are young,open-minded people (like those once from the Noeasy group)  forming bands and writing lyrics about suicides (Korea has one of the highest rates of suicide among students), abuse and poverty which still exist in this country.

Rodfest concert consisted of seven bands. Their artistic level varied so as the age of the performers. The audience had an opportunity to familiarize with newcomers as Satellights as well as with the veterans as Silent Eye.  

TransFixion (트랜스 픽션), probably the best known Korean band for foreigners leaving in the country performed at early stages of the concert.  They gave a great show. It’s always nice to listen to pure, good old rock. Boys did not let the audience down and performed the most recognized songs as Tonight or Radio. I am also sure that Hae Rang managed to steal couple hearts being charming as he is. I only wish they skip they last song, which was a Chumbawamba’s cover of I get knocked down. I would rather have  listened to one more of their original songs.    

After TransFixion the music got better and better. 

I took my camera with me and had plans to shoot some stills. And I did, but only a few at the beginning; once Silent Eye started to play,  I put my camera away and enjoyed the music. Apologies to all who thought that there will be photos of each and every band that performed that night. The bands simply rocked the stage and I had enjoyed it so much, that my metal fan side took over my blogger side. After all the first CD album I got from my then husband-to-be  was the Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos and that was years ago, while the blog is only two months old. It’s easy to spot where my heart lays.

NATN gave a great trash/ heavy metal performance. Enjoyable visually (boys wearing suits!) and technically (top class voices and tunes).

Black Syndrome, one of the few Korean export bands was next and gave a truly world class performance. They can easily compete with the rest of the world’s heavy metal stage. No wonder that they albums are successfully sold in Japan, the level of artistic performance is of the best standard.

The most well-known Korean band internationally is probably Diablo (디아블로). They songs talk about the gap between the rich and poor, discrimination, school violence, bullying and other social problems of reality in Korea. Since  formation in ’93, the band played as a support for such big names as Pantera and Judas Priest, slowly making their name.

This was the first time when I had an opportunity to get to live metal gig here and I have to admit that Sorrow and Nameless caused creeps on my skin. 

If you are planning to visit Seoul in coming months and will have some spare time on your hands I encourage you to visit one of the Hongdae clubs where you may find good, heavy metal and rock bands playing for small groups.Clubs offer different ambience and atmosphere than football stadiums. It is an amazing opportunity to listen to good music and not be surrounded by huge crowd and security.

Rodfest 2014 took place in the MUV HALL. Very easy access from subway, line 2 & 6, Hapjeong station.  If you have a Metal Heart, put Rodfest 2015 on your calendar. It’s worth to check what’s new on Korean stage!

Luncheon on the Grass it was not - Korean Tourist Organization.

I haven't conducted any research before coming to watch this show. I usually don’t go unprepared, but this time I just thought that artists will paint a few pictures, I’ll listen to some nice, relaxing music ( for some reason when I thought about this show I had Manet and his “ Luncheon on the Grass” or " Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" as it is known in original,  in my mind) and I’ll have a pleasant evening.

Boy was I surprised! What the hell was I thinking !? The show was nothing as I expected it to be….

140 seats theatre was three-quarters full. Doesn't look good,I thought to myself . I would expect a full audience on Saturday night. Then, when I looked around I thought  that judging from the amount of old, dried out oil paint on the floor it will be messy. The picture of Monet and nice, relaxing music vanished at that stage all together.

The performance has started. Theatre went completely dark. Very loud, rhythmic music is pounding at my breastbone,strobe lights are flashing. Looks a bit too psychedelic to me.

Entire show is based on creating  eight paintings using eight different techniques.

Painting 1 – Light drawing.  

Theatre is dark. The artist is using a putty knife. To draw a lion on a piece of a glass covered with black paint. The glass is lightened from the back, so that we can see the whole process of creation well. Quite impressive I have to say, especially that it’s done in just 2-3 minutes!

Painting 2 –  Finger drawing         
                                                                                        
Four aliens were having a conversation... That’s the only way I can explain what was going on stage.All of them interact with the audience and together they create a T-shirt souvenir which will be given to one of the spectators. Finger drawing is inspired by Jackson’s Pollock work. I did not like this part too much, maybe because I'm not too keen on UFO, but it gave me some idea. Task for this week: trash my old boots using Pollock’s Number 1A as an inspiration ;-) I’ll have some fun!

Painting 3- Flower drawing

Couple flowers which were offered to audience later on,  were drawn by performers and two people who paid for their tickets, rather than spending money on soju and beer. Go figure.

Painting 4 – Drawing with a flash-light  

Artists were creating “Beauty and the Beast” portraits on some sort of thermal paper using the flash-light. Truly amazing.  One of my friends is an artist photographer. I remember her, working on one of her projects when she was painting dresses on models using light. Extremely difficult to achieve and requires a lot of skills. 

Painting 5- Japanese Landscape.
       
This oriental landscape is finished in just 3 minutes. I did time it!

Painting 6-  Marbling.  

One of the most surprising techniques I have seen during the show was marbling. The paint has been spread over the water and shaped with toothpicks. Once finished, the painting was transferred to a canvas. The painting itself was a bit to tacky for me, but the technique on the other hand was interesting.

Painting 7 – Shadow painting

Suddenly,  lights in the theatre went off again and some sort of dramatic music screamed through loudspeakers. It’s time for shadow drawing. The whole painting of N.Y.'s Twin Towers under attack was drawn on a glass sheet and transferred onto the wall using light. Quite moving, especially for someone who was a few blocks from Ground Zero at  that time.

Painting 8 – Napoleon crossing the Alps                                                                                          

The last painting in the show was inspired by Jacques Louis David and his vision of Napoleon. Decently executed, large scale picture drawn using charcoal.

During the show, as in most of theatres in Seoul, no photos can be taken (photos in this review are used in courtesy of The Drawing Show team). Unexpectedly photos were allowed at the end of the performance, it was a nice touch to finish it off.

If you are an artsy person. covered with paint from head to toe,  this show if definitely for you. I didn't feel any “wow” factor myself, though. It was too futuristic for me. Somehow it was a strange mixture of Lynch’s Dune, Warhol’s Studio 54 and tacky interpretation of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. Even though I think it’s worth to see as it is different from all other shows in Seoul. After all, you may look at the show from different perspective and background than me; ergo you may even enjoy it much more ;-)

Performance Times:

Monday-Sunday: 17:00, 20:00

Directions:

Jongno 3-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 1 & 3 & 5), Exit 14.