Smiling Cliff Buddha: A Buddha Carved into Rock
A maaebul (磨崖佛) is a Buddha image carved directly into natural rock or a cliff face, and many survive in Korea's mountains. At Goyosa, the temple inside the online temple Hapjang (합장), a Smiling Cliff Buddha about 35 m tall is carved into an 85 m cliff, and you can offer incense and bow before it.
- Where
- About 49 m up the path above the Quiet Light Grotto
- Size
- A relief about 35 m tall on an 85 m cliff
- What you can do
- Offer incense, bow
- Incense
- One of Goyosa's 4 incense burners; visible to everyone
What is a maaebul?
Maae (磨崖) means to grind and shape a cliff. Instead of carving a separate stone and moving it, the Buddha's form is carved into the mountain's rock as it stands, so you usually meet these images not inside a hall but beside a mountain trail or on a valley rock. Korea has rock-carved Buddhas from many periods, and some are well known for their gentle smiles.
They are carved in different ways: in relief, where the figure stands out from the rock face, or as incised line carving, among others. The treatment of faces and robe folds also differs by period and region.
Goyosa's Smiling Cliff Buddha
Goyosa's Smiling Cliff Buddha is a relief about 35 m tall carved into an 85 m cliff. It is not modeled on any real rock-carved Buddha; it was newly made for Goyosa. True to its name, the face wears a smile, and standing at the foot of the cliff you find yourself naturally lifting your head to look up.
Before the Cliff Buddha
- Offer incense: incense you offer at the burner before the Cliff Buddha is visible to everyone there. → How to offer incense
- Bow: from [Greet] at the bottom of the screen, choose palms together, half bow, full bow, or three bows. → Palms together, half bow, full bow
- Look up: it is a large relief, so rather than standing right against it, step back a little and take in the whole figure.
Getting there and on
The Smiling Cliff Buddha is about 49 m up the path above the Quiet Light Grotto. Leave the stillness of the cave, climb outside, and you will be standing beneath the cliff. Next, you can visit the Koi Pond, where the fish swim.
Try it in Hapjang
Walk up the path from the Quiet Light Grotto and go close to the incense burner before the Cliff Buddha, and an incense button appears (on a PC, the E or F key works too). Offering incense adds the stamp 香 (incense) to your notebook. Choose a bow from [Greet] at the bottom of the screen. If you want to bow continuously, as in 108 bows, use three bows and 108 bows on a meditation cushion in the Main Buddha Hall.
Frequently asked questions
What does maaebul mean?
Maae (磨崖) means to grind and shape a cliff, and a maaebul is a Buddha image carved directly into natural rock or a cliff face.
How big is the Smiling Cliff Buddha in Hapjang?
It is a relief about 35 m tall carved into an 85 m cliff, located about 49 m up the path above the Quiet Light Grotto.
Is the Smiling Cliff Buddha a real statue?
No. Hapjang's Goyosa is an original temple ground newly built with many Korean mountain temples as reference, and the Smiling Cliff Buddha does not recreate any real statue.
Related pages
- Quiet Light Grotto: A Stone Cave Shrine at GoyosaThe Quiet Light Grotto is a stone cave shrine at Goyosa in Hapjang. Walk through the passage into the round chamber, offer incense, and stay quietly.
- How to Offer Incense at a Buddhist Temple: Steps & EtiquetteHow to offer incense at a Buddhist temple: light it, wave out the flame, place it with both hands. Its meaning, etiquette, and offering it online.
- 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.
- Koi Pond — Relax Watching Koi at an Online TempleA square pond garden at Goyosa in Hapjang, an online Korean temple. Watch 104 koi from the hexagonal pavilion and wooden bridge, and rub Budai's belly.
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