I found the following article in the KAAN newsletter about Korean Buddhism. Personally, I find Buddhism fascinating and I find it sad that it might be driven out by Christianity. I really believe that there are places in the world for all religions.

Link: Can Tourism Save Korean Buddhism?

I don’t anyone who is Buddhist. Religion in generally is fascinating to me and I tend to tag along behind people to learn a little more about different religions and different kinds of Christian beliefs – Catholic, Baptist, Lutheran… I would love to visit a Buddhist temple, but I’m afraid that I will make a grievous mistake if I bumble in on my own.

Since the 1970s, there have been temple burnings and other symbols of the religion have been vandalized. Mountain areas where temples exist are being opened up to the public for hiking and other leisure activities. Culture and heritage tours of Seoul for youth include churches on the itinerary but not temples.

It’s so sad when lack of tolerance causes the loss of history. You can’t replace something that was built two thousand years ago with something new and not loose something in the translation.

However, tourism may hold the key to a revival of Buddhism in this country and ensure its 1,700 year legacy continues. Temples are becoming increasingly open to the public and the Korean Tourism Board, as a way to bolster tourism during the 2002 World Cup soccer tournament developed the successful Temple Stay program. Members of the public and tourists can experience monastic life for as short as a day and as long as three months. The money (usually asked as a "donation") from this venture flows back into restoring the temples. It began modestly, with just 14 temples involved, and has since tripled, now including 50 temples; in 2005, there were more than 50,000 participants.

I’m not sure that experiencing monastic life is for me. However, the opportunity to visit one of these temples would be life changing.

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