In 2000, I visited Korea for a few weeks to see my relatives and tool around the country. At one point, I visited Haein-sa, a famous Korean Seon (Zen) temple on Mount Gaya, about 90 minutes from Daegu by bus. I spent three days and two nights there, took some photos, talked with three monks, and came away thinking I'd like to try this wacky thing called seated meditation. Once I got back to the States, I found a Korean temple in Germantown, Maryland and tried some ch'am-seon. I also wrote an article about the Haein-sa experience that was picked up (and, unfortunately, mangled) by the then-budding Mok Tak Magazine. I have no idea whether the mag still exists; while I was miffed at how my article was butchered (seriously butchered, as in chunks of text cut off in mid-sentence), I appreciate the magazine's having published my thoughts.
Later this evening, I'll slap up the original article, along with some shame-faced notes about things I got wrong. While you wait, please be sure to read Charles's latest piece at Liminality, which deals with Amy Chua and spends a lot of time on how journalists get things wrong-- deliberately.
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Looking forward to reading that (non-mangled) article! Being edited is always a painful process, but when they screw things up so badly... well, I guess that's why we should avoid attachment, right?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the shout out, too. Not what you were expecting, I know, but I got a little carried away there.
(Couldn't resist this word verification gem...
terders (n., pl.) nomadic peoples who make their living by herding turds)