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Gamno-do – The Sweet Dew Mural: 감로도
Introduction One of the more difficult Buddhist murals to find at a Korean temple is the Gamno-do, or “Sweet Dew Mural” in English. In fact, I’ve only ever seen this mural at a handful of temples and hermitages in all of my travels. So what is a Gamno-do? What does it look like? And what is it supposed to mean? The Buddhist Afterlife Before we can better understand the Gamno-do, we must first better understand the Buddhist afterlife, for the afterlife is central to better understanding the symbolism found in the Sweet Dew Mural. In Buddhism, death doesn’t mean the end; instead, death is but a part in the process…