Monday Night Meditation
Although far from the bustling Seoul metropolis, life in Gwangju can still be hectic and stressful. To help people remain calm and balanced amidst work, family and social life pressures, the Gwangju International Center is offering meditation sessions every Monday night at 7 p.m.
Maria Lisak, a professor in Chosun University’s Public Administration and Social Welfare department, leads the weekly English-language sitting and walking meditation.
“Monday night is a good night to start your week and get your perspective.” Lisak said. “Empty out on Monday nights.”
Lisak believes that people’s lives are out of balance and that meditation can “give energy, more balanced energy, to whatever is out of whack. I find that people are too caught up in modern life. We say we’re so busy, but we’re really not that busy. Meditation makes us stop and just ‘be’ instead of ‘do’.”
According to Lisak, meditation practice for Gwangju’s international community started around 2006, when former Gwangju resident and English teacher Jennie Lee Ulrich offered local sessions and organized temple stays at Musang Temple’s International Zen Center at Gyeryong Mountain near Daejeon. In 2010, former Gwangju National University of Education professor Ross Chambers began facilitating night sessions at the GIC, and Lisak joined them as co-facilitator in 2013.
Beyond these efforts, Lisak has seen a wide range of meditation services around the city, “everything from churches offering meditation to non-religious organizations, culture centers, temples and people who do art and meditation. Those are just things I have noticed. I am looking with eyes that are noticing meditation.”
She hopes that meditation practice will spread all over Gwangju, including as a service for workers in the various factories. Over time, Lisak has seen many different people attend the sessions. “People come, people go. We have a lot of people who come and try it. They don’t have the time to commit. Maybe the only people I haven’t seen are factory workers. It doesn’t work with the time. Over the years, there have been kids at different events.”
Lisak says that sitting on a mat is not the only way to practice meditation. “Prayer, sports, having a great game of tennis. Those people are pure in being in attendance. People should look at whatever gives them balance and peace, that is meditation.”
While meditation can be practiced alone or in different forms, Lisak emphasizes the usefulness of group sessions. “Getting together helps us improve our meditation. It helps us stay more present and more awake, for the space it’s in and the community at large.”
Besides the GIC Monday night meditation, Mugak Temple in the Sangmu residential district’s 5.18 Memorial Park currently offers English-language introductory courses in Buddhism on Saturdays 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., and Korean-language sittings 2 – 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
GWANGJU MUGAKSA CLASS ON BUDDHISM
Mugak Temple, Seo-gu, Gwangju
Buddhism Introductory Course:
English: Every Saturday 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Korean: Every Saturday and Sunday 2 – 4 p.m.
010-4996-5302 (Gyeongbon Seunim, English)
062-383-0108 (Korean)
Bus no. 45 and 50, and get off at Sangmu Hospital. Or bus no. 16, 19, 69, 160 or 500 and get off at Uncheon (Honam University) Station
Uncheon (Honam University) Exit 3
www.mugaksa.com
MONDAY NIGHT MEDITATION
Gwangju International Center Office 1st Floor
Every Monday evening from 7:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.
(From September 1 – December 29)
Free
Bus no. 06, 07, 57, 58, 61, 87, 98, 151, 419, or 518, and get off at Art Street Entrance. Or bus no. 09, 36, 39, 49, 51, 57, 61, 95, 184, 518, 1000, or 1187 and get off at Geumnam-ro 4-ga Station
Geumnam-ro 4-ga Exit 4
Facebook: Gwangju Meditation Group
gwangjumaria@yahoo.com