I remember the day that I did this interview. It was late August 2014 and I had just gotten back to Korea from Malaysia, where I had completed my first Vipassana meditation course. I joined my friend for a KOTESOL gathering at Mokpo National University. We did a quiet meditation on the beach in Mokpo City and over a chicken lunch on the hill, I asked her about meditation in Gwangju. These days, there has not been much active group meditation in the Gwangju international community, but it’s never too late to start again. Since then, I have also completed my second Vipassana meditation course, after which life became extremely busy. Someday I will get to that place where I can be in balance again.
Originally published in the October 2014 Gwangju News magazine: http://gwangjunewsgic.com/community/gwangju-plays/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 pm.
Maria Lisak, professor at 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, 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 Musangsa 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 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’ve noticed. I’m looking with eyes that are noticing meditation.”
She hopes that meditation practice could be spread all over the Gwangju, including bringing it as a service for the 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 you balance and peace, that’s 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, Mugaksa temple in Sangmu residential district’s 5.18 Memorial Park currently offers English-language intro to Buddhism courses Sundays 10-11:30am and Korean-language sittings 2-4pm Saturdays and Sundays.
Love Letters to the Present 