Woljong-sa Temple in winter

  Shilla Master Chajang (?-?) founded this temple, Calm Moon, on Odae-san, a famous mountain in Korea. It was destined to become a famous place for spreading Buddhism. The story of the origin of the temple goes something like this... Master Chajang went to China in about 636 because he had a great wish to see Manjusri Bodhisattva on Wutai-shan, the name of a mountain which, when pronounced in Korean, becomes Odae-san. Following the Chinese system there are five plateaux on Odae-san Mountain, part of the T'aebaek Mountain Range on which the principle Bodhisattvas live. Each abode is marked with a hermitage. In the middle there is Saja-am, to the east is Kwanum-am, to the west is Sujong-am, to the south is Chijang-am, and to the north is Miruk-am. There is a story that the two sons of King Chongshin, Poch'on and Hyomyong, each met 50,000 Bodhisattvas on the five peaks. Therefore this place is considered very special. It is said that on this mountain, Master Chajang chanted before a stone statue of the Bodhisattva beside a pond, hoping to fulfill his long-cherished wish. On the seventh night of his religious practice he had a dream in which the Buddha gave him a poem of four lines. After waking up, he couldn't understand the words because they were in Sanskrit. Next day, a monk came and gave him a robe of the Buddha's, one of the Buddha's bowls and one piece of the Buddha's skull. The monk then remarked that the master looked pale and troubled. Master Chajang explained that he had received a verse he could not understand. The monk explained the verse thus, "Thoroughly to understand all teachings of the Buddha; Selfhood possesses nothing;
Understand the teachings in this way;
Then you can see Rochana Buddha." The mysterious monk then told the master to go to Odae-san in Shilla and that there he would find 10,000 Manjusris. After seven more days of chanting, a dragon appeared who told him that the old monk had been Manjusri and that now he must go and build a temple to the Bodhisattva. So he set off for Shilla. In 643, Chajang reached Odae-san but the mountain was so veiled in fog that he couldn't see anything. During the three days that he waited he stayed in a thatched hut -- this hut became Woljong-sa much later. The master left and went to Wonyung-sa where he finally met Manjusri and recognized the Bodhisattva. Various masters stayed here for different lengths of time until finally a temple was built. Burnt down and rebuilt a number of times, the last disaster was during the Korean War when about ten buildings were burnt down by the Korean army -- many temples had become refuges for the rebel forces and so they were destroyed. The Main Hall, according to its name, should enshrine a Vairocana Buddha. Instead there is a statue of Sakyamuni but the more important statue is of an unusual Bodhisattva, 1.8 meters high, probably a Medicine Bodhisattva, National Treasure No. 139. Said to have been found in the Diamond Pond to the south of the temple, the statue is offering something. The story of this Bodhisattva originates from the Lotus Sutra. The head is covered with a hat, the face is long and the ears are slightly hidden by long hair. Around the neck there are three lines which are so beautifully carved that they look like necklaces. The elbow is resting on the head of a young boy. Because of its unusual style, the statue is thought to have been carved in the 11th century by craftsmen belonging to a special sect; it is therefore important to the history of carving. The octagonal nine-storey pagoda is National Treasure No. 48. It stands 15.2 meters high and because of its harmony and the skill of the carving, it is representative of many-angled, many-storied stupas of the Koryo Period. One of the more recent masters, Han-am (1876-1951), lived here. When he was a 22, while on a journey to the Diamond Mountains (traditionally very important to Buddhists, now in North Korea), he suddenly got the strong impression that he should become a monk. So he ordained immediately and lived most of his life at Woljong-sa. During the Korean war, when the Korean army was sent, he saved part of the temple. As the soldiers came to execute their orders to destroy the temple, the master put on his ceremonial monk's robes and went into one of the halls. The solders ordered him to come out but he replied, "You are soldiers, you have to follow orders, it is your duty. I am a monk, so my duty is to keep this hall, so please burn it and go." The soldiers couldn't bring themselves to destroy it, so they only burnt one door. The master then returned to the hermitage where he stayed. On his way there he stuck his stick in the ground and it has since grown into a fine tree, a maple.