템플스테이의 諸問題

Abstract

The Templestay Program was first introduced in Korea to provide foreign visitors with the opportunity to experience traditional Buddhist culture in ancient temples during the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Japan and Korea. At present about 60 temples all over the country serve the new-cultural-adventure seekers, local or foreign, in weekends with various programs combining Korean culture and Buddhist practice. The program has proved to be a successful national tour project. The purpose of this study is to diagnose the current situation of Templestay focusing on its management and quality of programs and, on the basis of this result, to seek possible solutions for the any problems and available methods for the development of the program. To meet this purpose, this research refers to the cases of temple-stay programs in America as the benchmarking models. For the base of this discussion, especially on the current situation of Templestay, “The Study for the Revitalization of Templestay Program”, an analysis of questionnaires filled out by program participants, was used. According to the respondents, The “Talk with a Monk” program is the most favored program among domestic participants, followed by Buddhist culture experience programs such as tea ceremonies and Buddhist text copying. Hiking to nearby mountains is the least favored. The inconveniences that were mentioned are “Low regard for other participants”, “Monotonous and stereotyped programs”, and “Shortage of individual relaxation time”, along with complaints about the accommodation facilities, hygiene, toilets and food. As for foreigners, the “Meditation” program gained the highest credit and “Talk with a Monk” and Buddhist culture experience programs follow it. The inconveniences for them are; “Low regard for other participants”, “Shortage of individual relaxation time”, accommodation facilities, food and stores. The above answers show that the participants, in general, are not satisfied with the one-sided procedure and stereotyped programs. In comparison, the temple-stay programs in America (SFZC [both urban and rural programs], Deerpark Monastery, CIMC, IMS, etc) adopt participant-friendly policies; the kinds and contents of programs are reported on the Internet 6 months in advance, they hold the same events every month, plus they prepare special events, all programs and meditation sessions are provided according to the level of the participants, various on-going programs give a wider range of choice, a store at each center enables the people to get necessities, and participants can decide the length of participation. As a special point, they have a membership and volunteer system and provide the registered members and volunteers with benefits such as a discount on participant fees. Another feature of American temple-stay programs is that they do not change programs according to the length of the temple-stay programs, though exceptions can be made with input from the participating group. This study suggests that, for the development of Korean Templestay programs, more attention should be paid to active public relations, various differential programs, membership and volunteer systems, comfortable accommodations and facilities, more individual relaxation time, and communal work and food. Templestay characterized by the combination of traditional Korean and Buddhist culture is a good device to widen the road to Buddhist culture and teachings. To make the best of this opportunity, temples should create a variety of on-going programs and specialized events. Those programs that family members can join together will be instrumental, too. Especially, follow-up contacts with the participants and an active volunteer system will promise good results. Accompanied with all these efforts, Templestay will claim a higher place in the array of well-being programs for people in this modern society.