The Places of Enlightenment and Caring

[Narration]
The stream in Dosolcheon changes color every years.

Can you see the pine tree with several branches pointing toward the sky? The branches start splitting about three to four meters from the bottom of the trunk, and they split even more at the top. When looking up from the bottom of the tree, the pine tree named “Jangsasong” looks like a blue umbrella.

The tree has been there for the past 600 years. Over the centuries, people came up with a number of myths about the tree. One of them is the transformation of a woman into a pine tree. She was the wife of a soldier who was sent to a battlefield, and she died waiting for her husband. And the tree grew from her body.

There is a cave right next to the pine tree. A story has it that in the 6th century, the King left his throne to meditate in this cave and attain enlightenment.

It’s a natural cave, about 4 meters high and 10 meters long. There is a small Buddha statue and burning candles in the cave, because some people still come to this place to pray. The candles are always lit for this reason. It’s been more than a millennium since the first person came to this quiet cave to be immersed in a deep meditation to attain enlightenment, and yet people still continue their spiritual journey.