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My Year at Japan’s Most Rigorous Zen Temple: Eat Sleep Sit
14.00 JOD
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Description
At the age of thirty, Kaoru Nonomura left his family, his girlfriend, and his job as a designer in Tokyo to undertake a year of ascetic training at Eiheiji, one of the most rigorous Zen training temples in Japan. This book is Nonomura’s recollection of his experiences. He skillfully describes every aspect of training, including how to meditate, how to eat, how to wash, even how to use the toilet, in a way that is easy to understand no matter how familiar a reader is with Zen Buddhism. This first-person account also describes Nonomura’s struggles in the face of beatings, hunger, exhaustion, fear, and loneliness, the comfort he draws from his friendships with the other trainees, and his quiet determination to give his life spiritual meaning.After writing Eat Sleep Sit, Kaoru Nonomura returned to his normal life as a designer, but his book has maintained its popularity in Japan, selling more than 100,000 copies since its first printing in 1996. Beautifully written, and offering fascinating insight into a culture of hardships that few people could endure, this is a deeply personal story that will appeal to all those with an interest in Zen Buddhism, as well as to anyone seeking spiritual growth.
Additional information
| Weight | 0.35 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 2.16 × 13.31 × 19 cm |
| PubliCanadation City/Country | USA |
| by | |
| Format | Paperback |
| Language | |
| Pages | 328 |
| Publisher | |
| Year Published | 2015-9-1 |
| Imprint | |
| ISBN 10 | 1568365659 |
| About The Author | Born in 1959, Kaoru Nonomura traveled widely in Asia as a university student, and upon graduation began to work as a designer in Tokyo. At the age of thirty, he decided to put his career on hold to spend a year as a trainee monk at Eiheiji, a monastery famed for its rigid discipline. Twelve months later, he returned to his design job, and it was during his daily commute on a crowded train that he began to jot down his recollections of his Eiheiji experience. These notes eventually became Eat Sleep Sit, the author's only book. |
"Here is an unusually fine translation of a most unusual best-seller. . . We sometimes have the odd idea that Zen means simply sitting around until satori happens. . . . It is much more, as novice Nonomura discovered when he joined the beginners at Eijeiji, one of the most rigorous temples in Japan. . . . a boot camp of a place that would make even brave marines quail. . . .Nonumura stood the strain. He stayed a year. . . . This painful route, then, is the true Zen path. . . . Almost as painful must have been the translation of this book with its extraordinary width of styles – from the arcane Zen tracts of Dogen and others, to the diary-like grumbles of the clueless young Nonomura. Here, translator Juliet Carpenter not only stays the course, she defines it….here is a particularly felicitous translation, especially in the handling of the colloquial within the religious context." –DONALD RICHIE, in The Japan Times"It is difficult to adequately praise this book. To begin with, Kaoru Nonomura is a great writer. The description of his experiences Is precise, detailed and unsparingly honest, yet giving sudden glimpses of the heart and soul of a poet and mystic. The translation is superb. The story is riveting. . . . a treasure for anyone on any spiritual path." – Light of Consciousness |
|
| Table Of Content | CONTENTSPART ONE The End and the Beginning Resolve 11 Jizo Cloister 17 Dragon Gate 25 Main Gate 29 Temporary Quarters 34 Lavatory 38 Facing the Wall 46 Buddha Bowl 47 Evening Service 53 Evening Meal 56 Night Sitting 61PART TWO Etiquette is Zen JMorning Service 69 JMorning Meal 74 JCleaning the Corridors 81 JDignified Dress 84 JWashing the Face 89 JVerses 96 JNoon 97 JStick 101PART THREE Alone in the Freezing Dark JEntering the Hall 111 JMonks’ Hall 115 JCommon Quarters 120 JWake-up Bell 129 JBell Tower 133 JSelf-reflection 143 JFood Server 150 JMonks’ Food 153 JShaving the Head 159 JDaikan 164 JHunger 169PART FOUR The Passage of Time JEscape 177 JRegistration Ceremony 180 JFirst Bath 185 JBeginning Intensive Training 189 JManual Labor 195 JPenance 201 JMain Lecture 207 JTransfer 211PART FIVE The Source of the Warmth of Life JNew Job 219 JSales 223 JDistribution of Goods 229 JGuest Pavilion 233 JInspection 238 JWashrags 242 JEnding Intensive Training & 247PART SIX The Colors of the Peak, the Echo in the Valley JAttendant to the Director 253 JConference Room & 256 JIn Attendance 259 JMorning Session 263 JIncense Bearer & 267 JPreparations for Winter 271 JIntensive Sitting 275 JYear-end Cleaning 280 JNew Year’s Day 283 JNew Arrivals 286 JJust Sit 290 JDeparture Survey 294 J Leaving 300Afterword to the Japanese First Edition 311Afterword to the Japanese Paperback Edition 315Notes 323 |
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