Gyeongguksa Temple (Seoul)

Gyeongguksa Temple was founded in 1325 by the Vinaya Master Jajeong, and it is said to have been originally called 'Cheongamsa' because it was located under Cheongbong Peak of Mt. Samgaksan. The founder, Vinaya Master Jajeong, was not only well-versed in monastic precepts but also deeply learned in the Lotus Sutra and Yogacara, and the temple revered precepts, the Lotus Sutra, and Avalokiteshvara faith. In 1349, National Master Taego Bowu went to China, received the Dharma from Seon Master Seokok Cheonggong, and upon returning to Korea, he was invited by King Gongmin to Gyeongguksa Temple, where he was bestowed a gold-embroidered kasa and a staff, becoming a national master. In 1545, during the reign of King Myeongjong, Queen Dowager Munjeong, the king's mother, performed a Buddhist ritual and renamed the temple 'Gyeongguksa' with the wish that the nation's auspiciousness would never cease. Later, in 1698, the monk Yeonhwaseungseong repaired the temple and built the Cheontaeseongjeon Hall. Cheontaeseongjeon is a hall enshrining the solitary saint, and the record from that time, the 'Cheontaeseongjeon Sangnyangmun,' still exists today. There is also a story that former President Syngman Rhee, moved by the character of Monk Bogyeong who resided at Gyeongguksa, visited the temple with then-Vice President Richard Nixon. From 1977 to 1985, the great monk Bogyeong Geumeo was succeeded by the Venerable Jigwan (former head of the Jogye Order's General Affairs Office), who transformed Gyeongguksa into its current form. In 2005, the Gyewonjumyeongsaritap (Stupa of the Perfect Precept Pearl) of the Great Vinaya Master Jaun, who devoted himself to revitalizing the Vinaya tradition of Korean Buddhism, was also erected here.