Buddhists Hip to the Technology

In their traditional grey monk suits with shaved heads and wearing iPods, they've walked Park Avenue, listened to the concerts in Lincoln Park and played football in Lyndhurst—a part of their introduction in the Western world. The monks are a group of three Korean monks and four nuns from Donguk University in South Korea, and are staying at Felician College in Rutherford while studying English as a Second Language and learning about Buddhism in the Western world.They live under a rule of 250 precepts. And on a typical day, they're up at 4 a.m. for meditation, have breakfast at 6 a.m., and have university studies, chant three times a day and do agricultural work until sundown. While staying mentally and spiritually active, they also stay physically active and technologically savvy.

"I like football and soccer," says Sung Cheol Lee a.k.a. "Great Wisdom." Their trip to the fields in Lyndhurst was also their introduction to the American game of football.

"And I use Twitter for journals and chants. I have iPhone apps for chanting, 'I Need Coffee,' painting and a dictionary," says Heyjun Changeon Kim, a.k.a. "Blue River."

Lee, 19, and Blue River, 42, noted that it is customary in Korea not to use your birth name when you become a monk. At times, they spoke through a translator. Blue River has been a monk for 12 years. Lee is two years into the five-year journey.