'Balu-gongyang': Korean monastic temple-meals

Buddhists have always regarded eating as a highly important religious act, nourishing the body properly so that development of the mind might continue to progress smoothly. What one eats and how one eats it are very significant, and ought to be approached with
a conscious seriousness and sincerity. Further, our daily meals are recurring opportunities for expanding and deepening our awareness, as a type of meditation in themselves

``Balu-gongyang’’ is our name for the traditional and formal communal meal practice unique to Korean Buddhist temples, using four bowls of different sizes and not wasting even a speck of food. Monks themselves do not eat this way at every meal, as some are taken more informally, but generally practice it in ceremonial situations and during seasonal intensive meditation sessions. This way-of-eating has, over the many centuries, become an integral feature of the Seon practices of the Jogye Order, and these days it is an important component of the templestay programs operated at many of the great monasteries across this nation.

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