no.00
A story told by Mother of temle food - A monk, Seonjae
‘Good food keep body and mind healthy.’
A monk, Seonjae
She became a bonze when she was 25.
She became a bonze when she was 25.
She is a mother and a leader of temple food and also lecturing in Dongguk University,
Korean Bhiksuni Association, and Temple Beopryong.
She wrote a book, <Seonjae monk’s temple food>
Korean food and Buddhist temple food are becoming more and more popular because they are mainly cooked with vegetables through a fermentation process. This is also because people do not consider a meal as a simple meal any more, but put a lot more meanings on how and what they eat. Here a monk, Seonjae, calls food in Buddhist temple as medicines. He says that all we eat through our mouths can work like a medicine and improve our physical and mental health that we pursue all the time.
“As Buddhists think that food can change people’s characteristics
and these can train inner mind, food take a very important role in
Buddhism.”
and these can train inner mind, food take a very important role in
Buddhism.”
I used to go to Catholic schools and Protestant church. One day I had a chance to go on a temple retreat when I was in high school. I listened to a lecture about being good to parents and the lecture touched me deep inside.
‘There are three ways of being good to parents. The least behavior is to offer parents delicious food and clothes. The middle behavior is to comfort them. And the best behavior is to tell them Buddhism to help them get rid of greed.’
I decided to become a bonze to conduct the best behavior. My parent was opposed to my decision so badly, saying that getting married and living well is the best behavior. It took very quite long time, but I finally could join the Buddhist priesthood.
My teacher monk was a master of food. So he helped me realize a lot of things about food. He said that all things in temple are not abandoned recklessly because ‘life’, ‘the nature’ and ‘I’ are all the same. He did not waste radish tops, the green part of a radish and even roots of bean sprouts. Instead of throwing them away, he invented other dishes with them. At first I could not understand why he did not just abandon them. However, he taught me to leave good things for others and to take the rest of them. He said I would not need to throw anything away if I do so. Later, I could learn about medical evidence that the rest has more of good materials. Though I did not know this, caring others might come to me as a medicine.
Food in Korean Buddhist temple has been improved along tradition of Buddhism and Korean dishes. A base of Korean food is fermentation. Fermented foods help digesting, keep a chill away and get rid of poison in food. All food is toxic even grass that we step on all the time is. You may see the difference between mowing grass with a sickle and doing the same with a machine. It is more poisonous to mow the grass with a machine. Rice, Korean main dish is unfermented food, so side dish is mostly fermented food such as hot pepper paste, soybean paste, tofu, Kimchi, and so on. When they are not used for main dish, they should always be on the table in other ways. Shall I give you an example? Think about having boiled rice, Juk Gruel. Boiled rice is easily digested, but even so, it is not served alone. It is normally served with Dongchimi watery radish Kimchi and other fermented foods like Kimchi to help digestion. Temple food is also based on fermentation.
Anyone who comes to temples cooks a meal. Cooking peoples own food is the beginning to adjust your taste to temple dishes in a temple by cooking their own food. Trains can not be conducted without changing habits for food because Buddhists believe that food change person’s characteristics which are relevant to one’s inner mind. Therefore, food should be clean and healthy in order to have clear mind. Water and air are also very important to produce healthy food. Respect for life in Buddhism can be explained by food. There is a normal concept that a pyramid for the food chain exists and the food chain is consisted of several groups such as the subjugated class like plants, insects and the governing class like animals and human beings. However, human, Buddha, air, animals and plants are all placed in one circle in Buddhism. There is no food chain or distinctive class. As all life is important, we have to respect all of them. When we all respect things around us, we would not harm anything at all. Dirtying the ground and spraying agricultural pesticide for cooking is all forbidden because water, air and the ground are all life like us. Just like bees that get honey without hurting flowers, we have to take what we need from them harmlessly.
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Woodenware built by heart
Interview with Kim,Eul-Saeng who was designated as intangible cultural asset
Interview with Kim,Eul-Saeng who was designated as intangible cultural asset
Wooden crafts hearts making
Kim Eul-Saeng
He is the highest seniority in Mt. Jiri. He has lived in Mt. Jiri for 77 years. He was designated as intangible cultural asset in 1965. He often opens a schoolhouse for kids during vacations. He seems to be Mt. Jiri itself when he smiles, telling that he often talks to the mountain.
He is the highest seniority in Mt. Jiri. He has lived in Mt. Jiri for 77 years. He was designated as intangible cultural asset in 1965. He often opens a schoolhouse for kids during vacations. He seems to be Mt. Jiri itself when he smiles, telling that he often talks to the mountain.
There is a saying ‘Ilbalsamui’ in Buddhism. This means that monks live their whole life with one baru and three clothes. Likewise, baru is one of belongings that monks live with all the time.
He tried hard with a notion that people have a successful life when they try their best in their field. Let’s meet this master artisan, Kumho Kim Eul-Saeng who has spent all his life with baru ever since he was designed as intangible cultural asset, the best of artisan.
He tried hard with a notion that people have a successful life when they try their best in their field. Let’s meet this master artisan, Kumho Kim Eul-Saeng who has spent all his life with baru ever since he was designed as intangible cultural asset, the best of artisan.
“We just see the traditional craft to be learned is not to say.
We gotta get people to learn of the heart and soul.”
We gotta get people to learn of the heart and soul.”
When I was young, my parents kept telling me to take over the family business, so I did not hesitate to choose this way to support my parent. However, many people left manufacturing baru because of plastic dishes. I seriously considered whether I should quit it, but I decided to keep doing my vocation. Afterwards, I went around the country to sell baru. Now, I still have the cloth that I packed up the baru in order not to forget the rough time I had and so many good people I met.
Therefore, naturally my motto becomes Suyeonnakmyeong, meaning ‘Accept all happenings occur to you because they are all meant to.’
After keeping hard working, I received credit for my work by people and finally got designed as intangible cultural asset. I was so happy and motivated to try harder.
When a monk’s baru broken, he can not finish studying because of delusion. I kept thinking about this and trying hard to produce infrangible and leakless baru for good. I just want to help monks’ hard study.
Therefore, naturally my motto becomes Suyeonnakmyeong, meaning ‘Accept all happenings occur to you because they are all meant to.’
After keeping hard working, I received credit for my work by people and finally got designed as intangible cultural asset. I was so happy and motivated to try harder.
When a monk’s baru broken, he can not finish studying because of delusion. I kept thinking about this and trying hard to produce infrangible and leakless baru for good. I just want to help monks’ hard study.
A craftsman, Kim Eul-Saeng, looked very passionate when he was talking about Baru. It takes a year to produce one baru. Baru is an artistic outcome that time and efforts are all combined in. baru means a lot especially to monks. Manufacturing baru would be another way to deliver Buddhism, wouldn’t it?
When making wooden dishes, he should be pleasant that he can give others happiness. There is nothing worthier than sharing happiness. All matters should be upright, otherwise nothing can be accomplished.
When making wooden dishes, he should be pleasant that he can give others happiness. There is nothing worthier than sharing happiness. All matters should be upright, otherwise nothing can be accomplished.
Process to Manufacture baru
1. Cutting solid wood
Ginkgo trees, Eunsasai trees which are the raw materials of baru are lumbered in autumn to protect them from silverfish bugs. After being lumbered the wood is dried over to 6~7 months. Then the wood is cut into sizes for different uses.
2. Precutting
Assume the form of baru and approximately cut the wood from the first process. Then, dry for more than 10 months in a shade and dry place. It is very important to let the all moisture out completely from the wood.
3. Cutting exquisitely
Fix the precut and dried wood into the shape and turn the wood to find the proper part of the wood that should be cut. Run a cutting machine. Then, Sawdust comes out to be baru. Get the baru sanded exquisitely to make the perfect baru. This status of baru is called Baekgi.
4. Painting
The trees are refined into a various colors depending on how the sap of a poison oak is collected. The baekgi produced from the previous procedure has to go through the first painting and over 6 to 10 times of second paintings to keep its figure for a long time. The second painting is for dampproofing, waterproofing and the gloss. It is divided into two methods. The first method is varnishing the wood with lacquer which prevents worms and abrasion. The second method is painting it with cashew. The temperature and humidity should be perfectly controlled especially for the method of lacquer.
5. Drying in shade
This is the last procedure to get subdued gloss. Here, the wood should be painted properly with lacquer and cashew. After 10 days of drying in shade, choose the baru in high quality and release the selected baru.
