More on Temple Stay Budget Cut

After their recent heated brawls in the National Assembly, Korean lawmakers may need to find some inner peace and calm.

One way to do that in South Korea is to take part in the “Temple Stay” program, which lets locals and tourists stay over at Buddhist temples and join in such practices as meditation and tea ceremonies.

It’s open to everyone. Or at least it was before the nation’s biggest Buddhist group on Thursday banned ruling Grand National Party lawmakers from visiting their temples around the country.

The Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism issued the order after the GNP cut the state budget for the Temple Stay program.

The budget, which was originally around 11 billion won but was then raised to 18.5 billion won due to strong complaints from the Buddhist group, was subsequently cut to 12.2 billion won.

Read the rest at the Wall Street Journal