A Buddhist temple is a place where men or women choose to live and practice the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha intensively. In Korea, men and women live in separate temples and they pursue an identical way of life.
Anyone who wishes to be ordained should have completed high school and be normally healthy, in order to endure the gigots of the training, usually a man or a woman takes ordination in order to attain enlightenment and to help living beings. Communal living, meditation, religious exercises, text studies and listening to the words of great monks and nuns all form part of the life.
At first, the candidate becomes an aspirant. On entering the monastery, he/she cuts off relations with the outside world for a time, symbolized by shaving hair and beard and wearing gray of brown clothes. (Women do not shave their heads at first; this being a trial period, they would have difficulty returning home, if they so chose) Traditionally, shaving the hair is a renunciation of rank, as well as a way to reduce vanity and to be more hygienic. During this period, the aspirant studies basic sutras and chants, does chores about the monastery and cares for the senior monks.
The aspirant is given ordination and takes the first set of basic training rules: the ten precepts. He/she trains himself/herself not to kill anything, not to take anything that is not given, to be celibate, not to lie, not to take intoxicants, not to adorn himself/herself, nor delight in singing, dancing or shows, and not to seek comfort of wealth.
After three to five years, of the teacher sees fit, the novice is sent for the second ordination and becomes a bhikku (bhikkuni for women) or a full member of the monastic community.
Morning
The day begins at 3 A.M. One monk rises a little earlier, washes, and puts on his ceremonial robes. Slowly, he walks to each part of the monastery informing everyone that it is time to rise. The clear sound of the moktak (a hollowed, wooden, bell-shaped percussion instrument) breaks the stillness of the pre-dawn hours and is accompanied by chanting.
¡°Pray that the whole universe will hear this sound and may all hellish environments be brightened. May the hells, ghosts and animals be relieved of suffering, and may all problems so that all living beings may properly awake.¡±
This wake-up ceremony is carried out every day of every year regardless of weather. On hearing the moktak, the monks get up, fold and put away their bedding, and wash (they sleep in their clothes). After a short time, the drum followed by the large bell, gong and wooden fish, are sounded and all the monks go to the main hall for chanting.
The drum, large bell, gong and wooden fish each represent a section of the world of living beings. The large bell calls those who have become decadent. The drum, made of an animal skin, calls the animals; and the cloud-shaped gong calls the beings of the air. The log cared into the shape of fish calls all that live in the water. All are called to listen to the chanting of the words of liberation taught by the Buddha and the follow that wisdom, of they so desire.
After communal chanting, each monk returns to one¡¯s room. The students go to the study hall; the meditating monks go to the meditation hall; and the working monks go to their place of duty.
At about 6 A.M. Breakfast takes place. Traditionally it consists of rice porridge and pickles eaten in a formal style from a set of individual bowls. After serving breakfast is the most important part of the day because the air and minds of the monks are clear. Activities continue after breakfast with the studying monks often receiving their main instruction at this time.
Midday
Chanting and offering rice, thus remembering the Buddha¡¯s custom of eating once a day, take place at 10:30 A.M. After the ceremony, the monks have lunch. They chant before and during the meal and remind themselves to take food to sustain the body, not from greed of from the desire to beatify the body. ¡°Let us reflect upon the human efforts that have made this meal possible, and ask ourselves whether we deserve this offering. Let us rid ourselves of greed and regard this meal as medicine to help us to invoke the truth, to reach the great wisdom beyond. "
Lunch is the main meal of the day, for the Buddha did not eat in the evening. In China, mainly due to the colder climate, this was changed. However, of the monks do eat, the food is taken in the spirit of medicine. (Traditionally, as monks did not eat in the evening, they merely rubbed their grumbling bellies with a stone. Thus evening food is referred to as ¡®medicine rock¡¯, in Korean)
Afternoon and Evening
After lunch and a short free period, all return to their respective activities until suppertime at about 5 P.M. (depending on the season-it is earlier in the sinter than in the summer). An hour or so later, the sound of the big temple bell announces chanting. ¡°May all living things who hear this be relived from suffering, develop wisdom and attain enlightenment. May we all be relieved of torment¡¦¡± Quiet study or meditation follows. Bedtime is usually about 10 P.M.
Meditation is very much stressed in Korean Buddhism. It is considered the main Means for attaining enlightenment. The winter retreat begins on the 15th of the 10th lunar month and continues until the 15th of the 1st lunar month (November to February). The summer retreat begins on the 15th of the 4th lunar month and ends on the 15th of the 7th lunar month (May to August).
About two weeks before the retreat stars, monks and nuns start to look for a meditation hall where they can spend the season. Once the retreat begins, they are not permitted to leave the monastery until it is over. To eliminate distractions, there is neither chanting, nor reading and even talking about the Buddha is discouraged. All potential obstructions to concentration are eliminated to permit the mediator to make the breakthrough to enlightenment. Many monks observe silence and other may give up reclining for a certain period of time.
There are four meditation sessions a day-pre-dawn, morning, afternoon and evening. Silent meals are taken with the rest of the residential community. Before a session starts, a hollowed out, bamboo rod (¡®chuk-bi¡¯ in Korean) is struck three times. Fifty minutes later, the ¡®chuk-bi¡¯ is sounded once only before the ten minute waling meditation period. Then all sit down again to continue the sitting meditation. At the end of the session, the ¡®chuk-bi¡¯ is again struck three times.
Once an year, in many temples-twice in the bigger ones-there is an intensive, one-week meditation retreat. At that time, the mediators practice up to twenty hours a day and do not recline. After this, many continue this practice and occasionally even extend it to years!
Traditionally, meditating monks have few possessions except for a pack back in which they carry their owls for eating and robes. In his research for enlightenment, the meditating monk in unattached as a cloud in the sky, or as a flowing mountain stream. Some remain in the same temple for three of five years; others move about, some only meditate for a short while, others for their whole lives.
Once enlightenment is attained, the monk has a duty to teach others.
Each year is naturally divided into four seasons. Temple life, ever as close to nature as possible, follows the season. The summer and winter are reserved for meditation and retreat, and the spring and autumn for wandering, seeking instruction and doing service. At different times during the year, there are changes in schedule. When more manpower is required for agricultural activities, all join in. In the early spring there is a special week for lay Buddhist. During that week, the monks look after the lay people engaged in special religious practices, and do some extra practices themselves. Bowing, reading texts, and reciting sacred words are all part of the way that people practice Buddhism, improving their lives and themselves. 
Once training is completed, monks choose from different ways of life. Some monks go to university; some are called upon (especially as they get older) to do administrative jobs. Sometimes a group will decide to do a three-year long meditation retreat; sometimes monks will go abroad to teach. However, monks change their practice from time to time as well. A teaching monk, for example, may return to meditation for a time. Whatever the activity, each one continues to do one¡¯s best to attain enlightenment throughout one¡¯s life. Living a simple life, being vegetarian, abstaining from cigarettes and alcohol, being celibate, and dedicating one¡¯s actions to the welfare of all beings are ways in which Buddhist monks try to improve the world. - Korean Jogyo Order- TempleStay Program:http://www.templestaykorea.com