Woljeongsa Korea Retreat

As natural disasters intensify around the world, the familiar callings of populism grow louder in previously democratic governments, and social media erodes the fabric of our lives, young adults are being asked to deeply confront the question of how to engage and build a meaningful life. In this context, Dharma Gates, ZenSeoul, and Woljeongsa Monastery Moonsoo Youth Association are are collaborating to offer a space for young adults from different countries - Japan, Korea, the United States, and others who apply - to come together, learn from each others’ wisdom, and explore the lessons that contemplative traditions have to offer us in the face of this crisis.

The intentions for this event are that it forms a foundation for cross-pollination across cultures and fosters a community of young adults who are passionate about creating the conditions for global change while deeply rooted in wisdom, compassion, and a sense of ethical responsibility for all of life.

Over 12 days, participants will be led through guided reflections, discussions, and Dharma teachings on the retreat’s core themes: how to live a meaningful, true, and ethical life in the face of systemic crises (environmental, mental health, political, and social). Participants will gain instruction and experience in a variety of contemplative modalities, including periods of silent retreat, guided meditation, relational practice, reflection, and community building exercises.

Days 1-5 will be focused on collaborative discussion and workshops held within the container of a daily mindfulness practice. Participants will attend morning and evening meditations and participate in a variety practices - including relational mindfulness, nature-practices, and facilitated discussions - exploring the retreats’ core theme: how to live a meaningful, true, and ethical life in the face of systemic crises, environmental, mental health, political, and social.

Days 6-12 will offer a deeper dive into the practice of silent meditation. Drawing teachings from the Korean Zen Buddhist tradition, those who stay will have the opportunity to experience a 5-day silent retreat exploring the role of deep inner cultivation in responding to outer uncertainty. This will be followed by a hiking pilgrimage to a nearby mountain temple on the final day.

Participants will be accepted to the program by application.

Sample Daily Schedule

note: this sample schedule is for non-retreat days. During week 2, the silent retreat schedule will be different.

6:30 am: Breakfast

7:00 am: Mindfulness Practice

7:45 am: Guided Qi Gong / Body Practice

9:15 am: Temple Tasks & Personal Time

10:00 am: Group Session #1

11:30 am: Lunch

1:15 pm: Temple Tasks & Personal Time

2:30 pm: Group Session #2

5:00 pm: Dinner

7:00 pm: Mindfulness Practice

8:30 pm: Personal Time / Lights out

Dates

Thursday, May 29th - Tuesday, June 10th, 2025
Please make travel arrangements to arrive in Woljeongsa by Thursday, May 29th

Cost & Expenses

The retreat is offered at no cost (by donation) due to generous donations by all of the organizations and especially thanks to Woljeongsa Monastery Moonsoo Youth Association.
Accepted participants will independently make travel arrangements and will be expected to contribute to the cost of travel.
Need-based travel scholarships up to $1,000 per person are available by request to reimburse airfare.

More Information

The temple diet will be Korean vegetarian, but we may need info on any dietary restrictions or allergies, etc.
Participants will be given a robe to wear during the program as part of the regulations.
No alcohol, drugs or smoking are allowed in the temple premises.
There will be male and female dormitories. If you are transgender, queer or non-binary and are uncomfortable with either option, please let us know and we will see what we can do to help you feel comfortable.

Application Process

Ensure you fulfill the administrative requirements:

Must be between 18 and 35 years of age
Valid US passport or ability to obtain one by date of program
Physical ability to participate — the travel will require walking, carrying your suitcase, and other light exercise. There may be a few group hikes that we do as well.

Fill out the Google Forms application (link below)
Send in a letters of recommendation, preferably from a spiritual mentor
If your application seems like a good fit, we will reach out to arrange a 30-minute interview to confirm your place. Proof of travel insurance will also be required to confirm your place at the retreat.

Key Dates

Application Deadline: March 20, 2025
Notification of Awards: April 1, 2025
Required Documentation Submission: April 15, 2025
Pre-Trip Orientation: May 1, 2025

Program Commitments & Obligations

Commitment to participate in pre-trip preparation Zoom
Participate in the full program
Comply with all monastery rules and requirements
Submit all required documentation by deadlines
Participants will write a short reflection regarding your experience following the retreat. This may be shared with Dharma Gates’ donors with participant consent.
Report any changes in circumstances that may affect participation

Travel Reimbursement Policy

Maximum reimbursement: Up to $1000 of flight per participant
Reimbursements will cover documented airfare and transportation expenses only
Participants are responsible for all other travel-related expenses
All reimbursements are subject to available funding and number of qualified applicants

Apply here!

Participants at past Dharma Gates retreats

Woljeongsa Monastery

Dharma Gates is honored and thrilled to be partnering with Woljeongsa Monastery to host this symoposium and retreat. For Americans, this is a tremendous opportunity to experience the beauty, richness and rituals of a traditional Korean monastery. Woljeongsa is the head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, located on the eastern slopes of Odaesan in Pyeongchang County, Gangwon Province, South Korea. Woljeongsa was founded in 643 by the Silla monk Jajang. Master Jajang met Manjusri in person at Taewha Lake in Odaesan Mountain in Sanseoseong while he was studying in China. Manjusri gave him the surplice and the sarira of the Buddha, and told him to go and find the mountain named Odae in Silla. After he came back to Silla, he reached Odaesan Mountain in Myung-joo (current Gangwon province) and built Woljeongsa Temple.Woljeongsa is considered The Origin of Devotion to Manjusri Bodhisattva in Korea.

This monastery has four National Treasures, including the Octagonal Nine Story Stone Pagoda, and five other designated treasures including a Seated Stone Bodhisattva. The bronze bell of Sangwonsa, a temple associated with Woljeongsa, is the oldest temple bell produced in Korea. Situated right next to the Temple is a 1,000 year old Fir tree forest!

Location: Woljeongsa Monastery, 74-8 Odaesan-ro, Jinbu-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea

Website: woljeongsa.org

Please scroll to the bottom of the page for more pictures of Woljeongsa!

Apply here!

Facilitators & Teachers

Kathy Park, JDPSN

Meditation Instructor

Kathy Park JDPSN began practicing Zen in the Kwan Um School of Zen in 1999 in Paris. Her experiences include training in both residential lay Zen communities and monastic temples in the U.S, Europe and Asia. She received inka (permission to teach) in 2016 in the Kwan Um tradition. Together with her husband Andrzej Stec JDPSN, they guide Zen groups in-person and online in Korea. Kathy Park JDPSN is also the abbot of Kwan Um Zen Online, the global online sangha for the Kwan Um School of Zen. She is passionate about building a global spiritual community through supporting one another with collective wisdom, diversity and creativity. She has co-translated and edited the Teachings of Man Gong and Zen master Kyong Ho’s Song of Zen from Korean into English, and focuses on making teachings from the Korean Zen Buddhist tradition available in English.

Andrzej Stec, JDPSN

Meditation Instructor

As a young university student of architecture, Andrzej Stec met the late Zen master Seung Sahn at a Dharma talk in his home town of Gdansk in Poland in 1981 and began practicing Zen. Her received inka(teaching authority) from Zen master Seung Sahn in 1998. He has extensive experience teaching in various cultures including Europe, United States and Asia, in both monastic communities and lay Zen centers leading kyol che (90-day intensive retreats).

Andrzej Stec JDPSN believes that people need not only a mind revolution but a lifestyle revolution in order to adapt, thrive and become their full potential. He developed Mantrawalk emphasizing meditation practice integrated with an active daily lifestyle, to access our innate wisdom and to maintain optimal health in mind and body in our constantly changing and technologically driven world. Together with his wife Kathy Park JDPSN, he is the guiding teacher of Zenseoul in South Korea, and also teaches Zen worldwide at Kwan Um Zen Online.

Aaron Stryker

***Dharma Gates* *Facilitator***

After a spiritual crisis at the age of 18, Aaron began practicing Mysore-style Ashtanga Yoga with Angela Jamison in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His interest in practice deepened when he encountered Zen on a trip to Dai Bosatsu Zendo with an emerging student meditation group at Wesleyan University. During his senior year, he worked with the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship to co-found Dharma Gates and wrote an honors thesis in philosophy on the relationship between traditions of embodied practices, trauma, and cultural transformation. Since graduating in 2019, he has spent four years living in various communities in all three vehicles of Buddhism, including spending a cumulative year in silent meditation retreat since 2019. He is currently living at Padmasambhava Buddhist Center and working on the preliminary practices in the Nyingma tradition.