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10 EASTERN HORIZON | LEAD ARTICLE

Korean monks (left) and nuns (right) Woljeongsa Temple in Pyeongchang, Korea

villages; and the Traditional Cultural receive ordination and immerse and the five pungent vegetables
Content Development Institute, themselves in Buddhist practice prohibited by Buddhism.
which propagates Korean traditional and propagation. Furthermore, the
culture. Jogye Order actively reaches out to What do you regard as the most
Koreans through meditation and important success factors for
Is secularization a major concern Templestay programs to promote Buddhism to regain its respect
in Korea today affecting the Buddhist values. and once dominant position in
number of new monastics? Korean society again?
Today, health and inner peace
Secularization is an irreversible are top trending issues in Korea. The Buddha taught the
trend in our society. Korean Exposed to extreme competition impermanence of all things.
Buddhism is also affected by a since childhood, Koreans tend to be With changes occurring moment
reduced number of Buddhist under severe stress. According the by moment, nothing remains
followers, a decline in faith and statistics, an average of 37.5 people constant. To remain in harmony
Buddhist practices, and a decrease commit suicide each day, giving with society’s constant state of flux,
in new monastic ordinations. Korea the dubious honor of having Korean Buddhism should adapt
According to the 2005 Jogye Order’s the highest number of suicides itself continually. Entering this era
th
statistics, monastics who received among the 36 OECD member of the 4 Industrial Revolution and
full precepts numbered 467 (254 countries. To counter this, Korean Artificial Intelligence, the Korean
males and 213 females). However, in Buddhist orders have developed Buddhist community is aware that
2008, the number of fully ordained various forms of meditation to help it too must change in order to not
monastics dropped to around 200, heal the hearts of contemporary fall behind.
and the decline continued: 276 in Koreans. Teachers from the Korean
2010, 212 in 2015, 189 in 2018, and Meditation Teachers Association are According to the “Survey for the
169 in 2019. also aiding to spread the practice Jogye Order’s Future Planning,”
of meditation and to train new which was given to 10,000
This prompted the Jogye Order to teachers. monastics by the Buddhist Society
initiate diverse efforts to attract Institute of the One Hundred
more novice monastic trainees, Spearheaded by Woljeongsa Temple Year Compendium Headquarters
such as opening an online site in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, of the Jogye Order, the Order’s
to attract prospective monastics “meditation villages” are also most urgent task is to improve its
and appointing counselors to being established by many temples unequal structure (38.2 %). The
advise them. The Jogye Order also to provide diverse meditation remaining tasks in descending
established a new monastic system programs. In line with the “era of order are: to prepare for increasing
tailored for retirees in an effort to well-being,” the Jogye Order also numbers of elderly monastics (37.1
enlist specialists with a lifetime of promotes temple food to the laity, %) and to strengthen the Order’s
diverse and expert experiences to a diet that prohibits eating meat organizational structure (9.2 %). As