Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Yaya]

I'm wondering if there are English-language meditation groups in Korea, whether in Seoul, Busan, Daegu or another city.

[chronicpride]

Sorry, totally missed this before.

There are daily Osho meditation sessions in Yangjae.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=29654

[AJRimmer]

[bits]

There is one at Lotus Lantern every Sunday at 6pm, some chanting (in korean but it is romanized) and then a sitting meditation. There are usually a few foreigners and the rest Koreans. I also heard there is something at a Temple up at Haehwa, I guess a really good Dharma speaker talks there often. I don't know the last Temple is located, but if you really want to know I can get the email address for you.

The Lotus Lantern is in Anguk.

[chronicpride]

We go to a 2-3 day retreat once a month, usually, at a temple near Wonju.

Osho discourses and meditation are far from anything cult-like. It's more closer to a variation of yoga, than anything. It's a physically active form of meditation that cleanses the day-to-day rigors of the mind. Osho discourses are very reflective, philosophically, psychologically, and even scientifically, to enable you to meditate and relax the mind better. On a parallel note, if you are into the behaviorial psychology aspects of Dale Carnegie's literature, then you will very easily identify with Osho's take on things. There is no 'cult following' and is more of an individual pursuit of mental relaxation.

Osho books and audio discourses act in a fashion that is no different than my yoga instructor. Gives you some guidance on how to get your mind and body into a more relaxed state, amid the resistance of the mental clutter of our daily lives.

There is an oft-debated political history surrounding him in the early 80's when Osho took a meditative vow of silence for over 2 years, and his personal secretary and spokeswoman, Ma Anand Sheela and some of her supporters, were given carte blanche to run the commune and eventually started going authoritarian with it. That's when the poisoning happened, which was done to affect voter turnout in the county election that would seal the fate of the future of their commune. Osho re-assumed control shortly after this, and he contacted the FBI about Sheela and her followers. She was eventually charged with arson, mass poisoning, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder(against Osho's personal physician), and immigration fraud. She was given 4.5 years in jail. Osho was questioned and eventually deported due to immigration fraud.

The whole early 80's episode, which was all about the political factions of popular religion, plus Ma Anand Sheela's splinter vision of establishing a radical ideology, cast a negative light on the meditative practice and shrouded it with scepticism as a result. Which is unfortunate, as in its purest sense, is pretty harmless. It was the political-religious group crap that causes a lot of stir, when something offbeat comes along. Same thing happened with Judaism, Buddhism, and a mix of others. And the stupid thing is that it's not even a religion, not anything really more than specialized yoga would be, anyways.

Because of the bad press in the 80s, is why the Australian article is waxed so negatively, despite it not really offering any conclusion, other than they were inviting youth to come to a meditation camp. There was not much reference of what meditation is and the purpose of the camps. Because we are so wrapped up in our day-to-day crap of our conscious minds, it literally takes about 2 days of meditation to break our normal mold of thinking, to achieve a deep state of relaxation and meditation. By the 3rd day you start sinking into it and feel a lot more mentally and physically relaxed. That's the basic reasoning for the 3 days, in a nut-shell.

At the heart of it, there are many notable personalities that support him, like:

[AJRimmer]

[chronicpride]

[Yaya]