by Brien Cole

It had always been my dream to visit Korea – not a major dream like walking in the Himalaya, but a persistent in the back of my mind desire which I knew, one day, would manifest. I don't even know when the dream of Korea began, but I know why. I wanted to visit the temples.

Buddhism arrived on the Korean peninsula in 372 A.D. via China – a Zen Buddhism (to use the commonly understood Japanese word, the original Chinese being 'Chang', Korean 'Son'), a meditation-based Buddhist practice with a strong emphasis on cultivating the mind.

The temples were not a disappointment, beautiful stone and wooden structures some of which date from around 500 A.D. Often founded as mountain hermitages the Buddhist temples are found amongst pine and deciduous forests surrounded by grey granite peaks. Some are open to tourists for what are called 'temple stay', an opportunity to share the lives of the monks and nuns for a couple of days to a couple of months, complete with 4am meditations and sharing the simple food of the temple table. Naturally I joined a temple stay program, in my case at the Ganghwa Lotus Lantern International Meditation Centre. It was an true insight into Korean Son and Korean culture. However the greatest revelation for me was the temple food. I am a naturopath and a nutritionist – so it is not surprising that the food should interest me. I am particularly interested in the influence of what we eat on how we feel, a concept we in the West shy away from but is absolutely central to Korean temple life. This is a tradition with 1500 years of experience, and from that experience they have developed a very conscious practice of eating, which is both nourishing and supporting of calm reflection. This is food which avoids anything that might agitate the mind – it is the food of tranquility. I believe we can learn from this tradition.

So what exactly does the food of tranquility look like? It practices vegetarianism, keeping strictly to the Buddhist ethic of doing no harm to other sentient beings. The pungent herbs, garlic, onion, wild leaks and wild onions are avoided. Strong seasonings are also avoided, to preserve the original tastes of the main ingredients. Whenever possible the main ingredients are grown locally. They are always seasonal and always fresh. Simple, seasonal and fresh vegetables, fruits and grains, seaweed, pickled cabbage (kimchi) fermented soy, tofu or tempe, and mountain mushrooms make up the meals.

As in all Korean meals, the food is laid out on the table in small bowls, a bowl of pickled cabbage (Kimchi) a bowl of vegetables, another bowl of mushrooms, rice and seaweed. One selects food from the assortment of bowls and places it in a single bowl. Temple etiquette is that while you are allowed to return for more you are not allowed to leave food in the bowl. In fact traditionally you would wash your bowl after eating with water and drink that water, wasting nothing. The food is eaten in silence, even to the point of not scraping spoons noisily across the bowl.

There is a strong environmental message to this tradition, born of a time when food was scarce.

There is also a strong practicality to the food. Consider the four main pillars of temple food:

Five pungent herbs (garlic, green onions, wild leeks, wild onions, asafetida) are avoided

These have an energising effect on the human body, and this stimulation runs counter to the state of reflective calm Korean Buddhism encourages. In Buddhist practice, this sort of excitement adversely influences one's training in a significant way – so this is why these ingredients are avoided in temple food. Korean Buddhists believe temple food should control your mood, not depend on it. This is a strong acknowledgement of interdependence between what we eat and how we feel, which is so often absent from the Western understanding of nutrition.

Major ingredients are cultivated and wild vegetables, roots and husks of trees, different types of seaweeds and grains

This is food grown in the temple gardens or gathered in the surrounding area. It is therefore fresh, seasonal, and local. It is also in touch with and respectful of its origins. As such it is prepared in a manner which doesn't distract from its intrinsic flavours, clean, wholesome, and simple presentation.

Recipes are usually simple

Korean Buddhism is a simple practice – it seeks to clarify rather than confound, and its food reflects this. It allows a wild mushroom to be just that a wild mushroom – not one of many ingredients of extravagant sauces. Consistent with its aim to encourage a 'simple mind, beginner's mind' is a corresponding approach to food. Food remains central to the temple – in all things we approach life with simplicity, with clarity and with honesty. Food is not something else – it is integral to the meditation.

Seasonings are limited as much as possible to preserve the original taste and flavour of the main ingredients

In Korea temple food has been attracting a lot of attention as an indigenous variation on the 'slow food' movement, and as a style of food that delivers great taste and health benefits, both physically and mentally. For me Korean temple food is a wonderful example of a cuisine designed to effect mood. It is a cuisine of tranquility. When we want to instill within ourselves a sense of calm, a counterfoil to the state of agitation in the modern world, this is the type of food we should turn to – a cuisine that shuns stimulating seasonings and spices, eliminates meat, is seasonal, local and simple. While we may not wish to become Buddhist monks or nuns, there are times when we would like to live calmer, less frantic lives. Food can be our ally. Once we accept that what we eat affects how we feel, food can aid us in our search for calm.

I left the temple stay and rejoined our modern world of international terminals, security checks, and transit lounges but carried within myself a working example of what I have long contemplated, the food of tranquility. While I know I could not live entirely on the diet of the Korean monk – I would yearn for the energising spices of a Mediterranean cuisine – I sat in a state of exceptional calm until our Korean Air 747 touched down in Madrid International Airport.

Brien Cole is a naturopath and nutritionist who practices in Caulfield and Rosebud, Victoria, and specialising in the management of anxiety, pain, weight and healthy ageing. He has had a long interest in Korean Buddhism and the connection between what we eat and how we feel.

Phone 0427 957 605

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www.naturopathnutritionist.com.au