Gyeonguksa Temple경국사(서울)

About

Gyeonguksa Temple was founded in 1325 by Vinaya Master Jajeong. It is said to have first been called Cheongamsa because it stood beneath Cheongbong Peak of Samgaksan Mountain. Its founder was not only well versed in the monastic precepts but also deeply learned in the Lotus and Consciousness-Only teachings, and the temple upheld the precepts and devotion to Avalokiteshvara based on the Lotus Sutra. In 1349, National Preceptor Taego Bou went to China, received the Dharma transmission from Master Shiwu Qinggong, and after returning, was granted a gold brocade robe and a monk's staff by King Gongmin at Gyeonguksa at the king's request and became National Preceptor. In 1545, during the reign of King Myeongjong, the king's mother, Queen Munjeong, sponsored Buddhist works and renamed the temple Gyeonguksa, expressing a wish that the nation's blessings would never cease. In 1698, the monk Yeonhwa Seungseong renovated the temple and built Cheontaeseongjeon, a hall enshrining the Solitary Sage; the 'Cheontaeseongjeon Ridge Beam Record' written at that time still survives. It is also said that former President Syngman Rhee, moved by the character of the monk Bogyeong who resided at Gyeonguksa, visited the temple to pay respects together with then Vice President Nixon. From 1977 to 1985, Great Master Jigwan (former head of the Administration Office of the Jogye Order), who succeeded the master painter-monk Bogyeong as abbot, transformed Gyeonguksa into what it is today. In 2005, the Gyejuwonmyeong Sarira Stupa of Great Vinaya Master Jaun, who devoted himself to reviving monastic discipline in Korean Buddhism, was also erected here.