Summer and Winter Retreats (안거)
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Writer Jogye Date17 Aug 2015 Read9,220 Comment0Content
Summer
and Winter Retreats
하안거, 동안거
In Korean Buddhism, one finds a legacy of Ganhwa Seon practice, a unique
method of Zen meditation rarely found in other Buddhist traditions.
In the Jogye Order, over 2,000 monks and nuns attend three-month-long
summer and winter retreats every year in Seon (Zen) monasteries and nunneries.
During a retreat, called "angeo" (lit. to reside in peace) or
“gyeolje,” (lit. binding rule), practitioners devote themselves to Seon
meditation and other practices without leaving the temple. Their daily routine
starts at 3 a.m. and in some cases at 2 a.m.
When the retreat ends, Seon practitioners leave to carry out a "traveling practice" called “manhaeng” (lit. ten thousand actions). The purpose of manhaeng is to apply in real life situations what they have learned while meditating during the retreat.
- excerpt from Buddhist English (Elementary 1) published in 2014 by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism
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