Together Without Words: Being With Others in Hapjang
Hapjang (합장) is Goyosa, an online temple in your browser, and no speech bubbles appear on the temple grounds inside its walls. Instead you greet people with a half bow when you meet, sense others breathing with you through "N people breathing together," and stay close through traces everyone can see, such as incense, candles, cairns and the leaf-covered courtyard. Not having to choose your words is part of the rest here.
- Temple grounds (inside the walls)
- No speech bubbles — greetings and breath only
- Outside the temple gate
- Short messages up to 140 characters, only to people within 22 m, not recorded
- Who is there
- Up to 5,000 people. Those nearby appear as characters, those far away as anonymous silhouettes
- What everyone sees
- Incense, candles, Indeung lamps, shared lanterns, cairns, the swept courtyard of leaves
Why can't you talk on the temple grounds?
In online spaces, words easily turn into comparison, judgment and arguments. Hapjang is a place to rest, so it removes from the temple grounds the words you would have to answer or worry about. It also mirrors the etiquette of moving quietly in a real mountain temple.
Conversation isn't completely blocked. Outside the temple gate you can send short messages of up to 140 characters to people within 22 m, and those messages are not recorded anywhere.
How do you greet someone without words?
When someone comes near, try a half bow or palms together from [Greet]. The other person sees that gesture just as you make it. The monks return your greeting too, and sometimes offer a half bow first. How to do it is in Palms together, half bows and full bows.
How do you feel that other people are with you?
- Breathing together: when you start breathing, the number of people breathing with you right now appears as "N people breathing together."
- Incense smoke: incense burns for 30 seconds and is visible to everyone.
- Candles and Indeung lamps: a candle and an Indeung lamp are visible to everyone, the candle for 10 minutes and the lamp for 30.
- Lanterns: a wish lantern is private to you by default; choose a "shared lantern" and everyone can see it.
- Cairns and shared work: the stones of a cairn and the courtyard swept in shared work look the same to everyone.
- Temple bell: when someone rings the bell for a wish, people nearby can "Join palms together."
- Prayer beads: others can see you turning your beads, and how many beads you have counted.
Where do you go when you want to speak?
Outside the temple gate, you can exchange short messages. If there's something you want to shout out on your own, you can shout it anonymously in the Whispering Bamboo Grove, like the old Korean tale "The king has donkey ears." The echo lasts about 70 seconds, it stays on the note board for 1 hour before disappearing, and you can take down your own.
Doesn't the screen get crowded with many people?
Only people nearby appear as detailed characters (up to 48 on a PC, 32 on a phone); everyone else appears as a faint, nameless silhouette. Even with many people, it is designed to feel like being quietly with the few beside you.
Try it in Hapjang
Sit on a cushion in the Main Buddha Hall and start breathing to see how many people are breathing with you. Doing shared work in the courtyard means sweeping its 24 patches of leaves together with others, and when you offer incense at a burner, passers-by see the smoke too.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hapjang have chat?
There is no chat or speech bubbles on the temple grounds (inside the walls). In Hapjang (합장), only outside the temple gate can you exchange short messages of up to 140 characters with people within 22 m, and those messages are not recorded.
How do you stay together without words?
You greet with half bows and palms together, see how many people are breathing with you, and feel each other's presence through traces everyone can see, such as incense, candles, cairns and the swept courtyard.
Can other people see my wish in Hapjang?
Wish lanterns are private to you by default. They are visible to others only when you choose a "shared lantern," and viewers can hide them if they wish.
Related pages
- Korean Temple Etiquette: What to Know Before You VisitAt a Korean temple, keep quiet, use the main hall's side doors and greet monks with palms together and a half bow. Temple etiquette, also seen in Hapjang.
- How to Bow at a Korean Temple: Hapjang, Half & Full BowHow to join palms (hapjang), do a half bow and a full prostration at a Korean Buddhist temple, when to use each, and how to try them online.
- Simple Breathing Meditation: Inhale 4, Exhale 6The easiest meditation: sit and watch your breath. How to start with a 4-second inhale and 6-second exhale, and breathe with others online in Hapjang.
- Bamboo Grove Shout: Say It Like "The King Has Donkey Ears"A place to tell the bamboo what you couldn't tell anyone, as in the Korean folktale. How to shout anonymously and hear the echo in Hapjang's bamboo grove.
- Ullyeok: Shared Temple Work, Sweeping Leaves TogetherUllyeok is the shared work of a Korean temple community. What it means, how to sweep mindfully, and sweeping 24 patches of leaves together at Hapjang.
- Whispering Bamboo Grove: Shout Your Secret AnonymouslyIn Hapjang's Whispering Bamboo Grove, shout what you can't tell anyone, anonymously. It echoes for about 70 seconds and stays on a board for 1 hour.
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