[BTN뉴스] 호남불교 대표 명상센터 무안 봉불사 ‘전남도 올해 우수 건축’

📌Go to BTN News, delivering all the latest news from the Buddhist community at home and abroad, to make a regular donation. https://btn.co.kr/btnnews/cms.html [Anchor] The Muan Bongbulsa Rest Meditation Center, the only meditation and psychological counseling facility in the Honam region, has been selected as the Jeollanam-do Excellent Building of the Year. It is gaining attention as a testament to the powerful healing power of meditation in a modern, sophisticated space. Reporter Yong-soo Cho, the Honam Governor, reports. --------------------------------- Nim Jio, the head monk of Muan Bongbulsa Temple, is widely known as a master of meditation and psychological counseling. The Rest Meditation Center, a landmark of Bongbulsa Temple where the monk resides, recently won the '2025 Jeollanam-do Excellent Building Award.' Completed last fall, the Rest Meditation Center embodies the philosophy of Nim Jio, who has contemplated how Buddhism can reach modern people. The monk's constant belief was that a beautiful yet modern space was needed. Jiosunim / Director of the Rest Meditation Psychological Counseling Center (It's beautifully built with a modern sensibility, and with the central Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in a circle symbolizing a mandala, and the separate lecture and meditation rooms, it has a very modern and sophisticated feel...) The young architect Jang Jin-young, who brought Jiosunim's philosophy to life architecturally, is the master. (CG) Architect Jang Jin-young says his goal wasn't simply to build a temple, but to create a space where modern people can rest and provide healing to the community—a small home for the mind. Viewed from above, the building is circular, with a statue of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva resembling a pensive Bodhisattva at its center. The circular structure, symbolizing acceptance and healing, is the fundamental element of this building, with its dual structure surrounding the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in a circular manner. The inner space serves as the Gwaneumjeon Hall, where one can focus their minds on the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, while the outer space is a meditation space where the mind naturally turns inward. The first-floor Book Cafe, Sati, offers tea and meetings, and the second floor houses separate classrooms and meditation practice rooms. Over 800 people visited this center this year. The number of visitors has steadily increased thanks to programs such as healing programs for families experiencing bereavement, which everyone experiences but is difficult to manage alone, teacher training, a youth meditation camp, and an eight-week meditation program on the path to true peace. Every time I see the peaceful expressions on the faces of young people leaving the temple after healing their dark emotions, the monk emphasizes the need for the Buddhist order and the wider Buddhist community to expand meditation as a religious project. The Shim Meditation Center vividly demonstrates how valuable meditative psychological healing, informed by the wisdom of the Buddha, is for modern people. This is BTN News, Yongsup Cho.