Heavenly Creatures
CHAPTER 18: Days Twenty-Two to Forty-Nine

The next day, mother had us go to the Buddhist temple on top of the hill near our apartment.

“This is a change,” I said, huffing and puffing as I walked up the wooden steps leading to the temple.

At the top, we were met by rows and rows of lanterns above our heads.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Sun fell into step beside me. “Korean Buddhists always put up lanterns to commemorate the Buddha’s birthday,” he explained. “Some people even put their wishes on there.” He reached up and read from several. “Long life, success in exams. Ooh, this is an interesting one. Cleanse karma.”

“Cleanse karma?” I asked.

“Buddhists believe in reincarnation. They believe the life they lead now is caused by the imprint of past lives. So if they cleanse their karma, they can overcome causation and become masters of their own destiny.”

“Or reach enlightenment,” my sister said.

“Yes, but people usually just want to live a nice life, not reach enlightenment,” Sun said. “It’s hard to renounce your desires.”

“You put too little faith in people,” my sister said.

“And you too much,” Sun retorted.

I looked between them, then at mother. She was older now, almost a teenager, and she stood there frowning.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“Let’s visit the altar,” she said.

The three of us followed her to the larger temple, where several women were polishing giant candle holders. Mother pointed at the matchbox.

“Can we light some incense?” she asked. They nodded at her.

“You can also register for prayer service,” a woman said, indicating a sign-up sheet beside her. Mother went up to the sheet, and we went up with her.

The sheet was entirely in Korean. I turned to Sun, and he seemed to know my meaning without me having to explain.

“This is a prayer for twenty-one days,” he said. “Seven days for heaven, seven days for earth, and seven days for all the creatures on earth. This one is a prayer for forty-nine days, which is common for those who have passed on. One hundred days. And one thousand days.”

“One thousand days?” I gasped.

“Yep,” Sun said. “That’s almost three years.”

Mother indicated the slot for a hundred days. “How much?” she asked the woman. The woman replied, but I couldn’t understand what she said, so I shrugged, turning away.

“Does this mean we’re going to come here every day now for a hundred days?” I asked mother when she had finished.

“They will pray for us,” mother said. “We can bring fruit and flowers as offerings. And we can light incense and pray too. But we don’t need to be here every day to do it.”

“Well,” Sun hemmed. “Technically, you should come here every day, but missing a day now and again is okay.”

“Goody,” I said drily.

Mother went up to the altar and bowed, then lit some incense and stuck it in a small pot of sand. Then she bowed again.

At her insistence, all of us repeated her actions. As we left the temple, I asked mother, “What was the point of that?”

“For your ancestors and for me,” she said. “To cleanse karma.”

“Ah,” I said. There it was. “Is this for enlightenment or for a good life?”

Mother looked at me. “That is up to you,” she said.

* * *

The next day, mother had us buy some pears and flowers for the temple, which I insisted Sun and my sister carry up. The women at the altar accepted the fruit graciously, and we helped them wash and cut the pears to offer up before eating. We then offered the flowers in a vase, which we had some trouble replaceing. And, finally, we offered incense and prayers.

The next few days happened in a similar pattern. Every morning, we would eat breakfast, buy some fruit and flowers, and trek up to the temple. Some days, we would stay for the monk’s sermon, which Sun translated for me. It was peaceful, if a little dull. And I still hadn’t tired of the beauty of spring in Seoul.

On the forty ninth day, Sun raised a small objection as we were walking down the stairs.

“I’m bored,” he said. “Let’s go on vacation.”

“We are in prayer,” mother said. “This is no time for a vacation.”

“Okay,” Sun said. He seemed to be thinking. “Aha! I know. What if we went on a pilgrimage?”

“To where?” mother asked.

“The Vatican,” Sun said, turning to me and grinning. “And the Pantheon. Did you know that the Pantheon is the only building to continuously be used for religious purposes since ancient Rome?” He whispered to me out of the corner of his mouth. “And the cafes surrounding it have amazing coffee. I’ll show you.” I smiled.

Mother was silent until we got home. She turned to Sun as he keyed in the numbers on our front door. “Okay, Sun. You win. Let’s go to Rome.”

“Yes!” Sun jumped up and down. “Sun is an amazing tour guide.”

We all laughed.

“Are you referring to yourself in the third person now?” I asked.

“Only when I’m feeling especially happy,” Sun said.

“Noted,” I said. Feeling brave, I tousled his hair, and Sun caught my hand in his.

“Ick,” my sister said. “Not in front of us please.”