From Seon Meditation to Youth and Sharing: Temple Stay Expands with a Focus on Healing

Korea Buddhist Culture Business Group Expands Healing-Oriented Cultural Tourism
20 Temples to Specialize in Seon Meditation
Temple Cuisine to Go Global

The Korea Buddhist Culture Business Group, under the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, will significantly expand its healing-oriented traditional cultural tourism content this year, including operating "Seon Meditation Temple Stay" programs at approximately 20 temples nationwide. The organization is also accelerating efforts to internationalize temple cuisine and strengthen programs for foreigners.

Suncheon Songgwangsa Temple Stay scene. Photo by Korea Buddhist Culture Business Group

On January 28, the Korea Buddhist Culture Business Group announced its major business directions for 2026, highlighting the expansion of Temple Stay and temple cuisine projects centered on "healing" as key initiatives.

The Seon Meditation Temple Stay is a program that combines Buddhist practice of Ganhwaseon with modern meditation, focusing on alleviating stress and anxiety among modern people. The organization will designate around 20 temples nationwide as specialized Seon Meditation temples, providing them with related supplies and operational support, and plans to run the program officially throughout the year.

The "Sharing Temple Stay" program, aimed at socially disadvantaged and culturally marginalized groups, will also be expanded. The number of participants in this program, which involves more than 50 temples nationwide, will increase from the previous 6,500 to about 10,000 this year. It will be offered from April to September to a diverse range of groups, including low-income families, people with disabilities, single-parent families, migrant workers, multicultural families, and care workers.

The "Youth Temple Stay," targeting young adults, will be intensively operated during the summer. Approximately 5,000 people in their 20s and 30s, who experience psychological stress due to employment difficulties, academic pressure, and burnout, will be offered meditation, relaxation, and self-reflection programs in July and August.

To enhance the professionalism of Temple Stay operations, the organization will also pursue registration of a "Temple Stay Private Certification." In addition, it will implement a project to standardize spatial data for dedicated facilities to introduce AI-based services, which will be used for customized recommendation and reservation systems in the future.

Temple cuisine designated as a national intangible cultural heritage. Photo of temple cuisine at Jingwansa Temple in Seoul. Photo by Korean Buddhist Culture Business Group

The foundation for attracting foreign tourists will also be strengthened. The organization will improve its multilingual reservation and payment system, promote entry into global online travel platforms (OTAs), and operate foreigner-exclusive Temple Stay programs at 31 temples specializing in services for international visitors. A special Temple Stay week for foreigners will also be held within the year, targeting about 3,000 participants.

Efforts to globalize temple cuisine will be further accelerated. An international academic symposium on temple cuisine will be held in July and August to expand exchanges with overseas culinary research institutions, and experiential and promotional activities will be conducted in conjunction with the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in Busan in July. The 15 temples nationwide specializing in temple cuisine will be reorganized, and a mutually beneficial model will be established by linking local agricultural products and regional festivals.

Venerable Ilhwa, head of the Korea Buddhist Culture Business Group, stated, "This year will be focused on expanding Seon Meditation programs that people can experience in their daily lives, with 'healing' as the core value. We will ensure that Temple Stay and temple cuisine are firmly established as representative traditional cultural content of Korea through improved accessibility and proactive promotion."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.