Quiet Light Grotto: A Stone Cave Shrine at Goyosa
The Quiet Light Grotto (Jeokgwanggul, 寂光窟) is a stone cave shrine at Goyosa, the temple inside the online temple Hapjang (합장). You enter through an antechamber, pass along a narrow passage, and arrive in a round main chamber. There you can offer incense at the burner and rest for a while in a cave even quieter than the grounds outside.
- Where
- On Goyosa's grounds, below the upper path to the Smiling Cliff Buddha
- Layout
- Antechamber → passage → round main chamber
- What you can do
- Offer incense, bow, stay quietly
- Incense
- One of Goyosa's 4 incense burners; visible to everyone
What is a cave shrine?
A cave shrine is a Buddhist hall made like a cave, either hollowed out of rock or built up from stone. Along the routes by which Buddhism spread, many rock-cut cave temples survive in India, Central Asia, and China, while in Korea there is a well-known example of a cave built from dressed stone. A round space set apart from the outside world has long been seen as a place to gather the mind in one spot.
The name "Jeokgwang"
Jeokgwang (寂光) is a Buddhist term written with the characters for "stillness" and "light." It refers to the calm in which troubling thoughts have settled together with the light of wisdom that shines within it. Goyosa's Jeokgwanggul is called the Quiet Light Grotto in English.
Inside Goyosa's Quiet Light Grotto
The Quiet Light Grotto begins with an antechamber, continues through a narrow passage, and opens into a round main chamber. It is not a measured copy or restoration of a real cave; it is an original space newly built with many Korean mountain temples as reference. There is an incense burner in the main chamber, and incense offered here is visible to everyone present.
- In the passage, slow down and go in one step at a time.
- In the main chamber, make a half bow or three bows from [Greet] at the bottom of the screen, then stand for a moment and breathe.
- With earphones in, you can feel the quiet inside the cave more closely.
After the grotto
Climb about 49 m up the path from the Quiet Light Grotto and you will find the Smiling Cliff Buddha carved into the cliff. You can also go back along the Slow Forest Trail and rest on a forest bench.
Try it in Hapjang
Go near the incense burner in the grotto's main chamber and an incense button appears (on a PC, the E or F key works too). Incense you offer is visible to everyone there, and offering it adds the stamp 香 (incense) to your notebook. Choose a bow from [Greet] at the bottom of the screen. Walk with the WASD keys or by dragging on a PC, or with the movement pad or by tapping the screen on a phone.
Frequently asked questions
What does Jeokgwanggul mean?
Jeokgwang (寂光) is a Buddhist term for stillness together with the light of wisdom within it. It is the name of the stone cave shrine at Hapjang's Goyosa, called the Quiet Light Grotto in English.
Is Hapjang's Quiet Light Grotto a copy of a real cave?
No. It is an original space newly built with many Korean mountain temples as reference, and it does not restore or recreate any specific cave.
What can I do in the Quiet Light Grotto?
Walk through the antechamber and passage into the round main chamber, then offer incense at the burner there or bow using [Greet].
Related pages
- 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.
- Smiling Cliff Buddha: A Buddha Carved into RockA maaebul is a Buddha carved into a rock face. At Goyosa in Hapjang, offer incense and bow before a Smiling Cliff Buddha on an 85 m cliff.
- Slow Forest Trail — Walking Meditation and a Stupa FieldA slow forest walk at Goyosa in Hapjang, an online Korean temple. Try slow walking (pohaeng), loving-kindness on a forest bench, and pass the stupa field.
- 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.
Last updated