Jogye Order Temples

 

 

The Jogye Order has about 3,000 temples around South Korea.

Each belongs to one of 25 administrative districts throughout the country , and each district has a head temple.

 

With such a long history, Korean Buddhism is filled with innumerable stories about the origin of these temples, some of which are almost mystical.

 

Representative of these are three temples for Avalokitesvara devotional practices and five temples that enshrine relics of Sakyamuni Buddha in place of an image.

The three temples dedicated to Avalokitesvara, who saves sentient beings from the sea of suffering, are invariably located near the ocean in Mahayana countries.

 

In India, along the southern coast is Mt. Potalaka where Avalokitesvara resides; in China, it is on Pota Island off the east coast of China; and in landlocked Tibet, it is Lhasa, which is located along the Kichu river which flows to the ocean.

 

In Korea, the three holy sites dedicated to Avalokitesvara are Hongnyeonam Hermitage at Naksansa Temple on the East Coast; Bomunsa Temple on Mt. Nakgasan on the West Coast island of Ganghwado; and Boriam Hermitage on Mt. Geumsan along the South Coast.

Of the five relic temples, four are located in Gangwon Province – Sangwonsa Temple on Mt. Odaesan; Bongjongam Hermitage at Mt. Sorak; Beopheungsa Temple on Mt. Sajasan; and Jeongamsa Temple on Mt. Daebaeksan.

 

The fifth relic temple is Tongdosa Temple, the first of three Jewel temples in Korean Buddhism, representing the Buddha.

For centuries, Korea has had three Jewel Temples: Tongdosa Temple represents the Buddha; Haeinsa Temple represents the Dharma or Teachings; and Songgwangsa Temple represents the Sangha or community.

Representative of the “Palace of the Jewel of Nirvana” temples is Tongdosa Temple, located in Yangsan outside of Busan.

 

The Silla Precepts Master Jajang traveled to China and returned with the first relics of the Buddha, and enshrined them in a stupa at Tongdosa. Haeinsa Temple represents the Dharma with its repository of the more than 81,258 Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks, designated as a World Cultural Heritage Site by Unesco.

 

And third, Songgwangsa Temple was designated the Sangha Jewel Temple for its outstanding history of monastic practice, which includes the fostering of 16 National Monks during the Goryeo Dynasty.

Full monastic training temples are those which include three major facilities: a meditation center, a traditional sutra center, and a vinaya or precepts center.

 

The Jogye Order has five such full monastic training centers: Haein at Haeinsa Temple; Jogye at Songgwangsa Temple; Yeongchuk at Tongdosa Temple; Deoksung at Sudeoksa Temple; and Gobul at Baekyangsa Temple.