Study and live for free within a Zen Buddhist temples: Nagaokotenji

As many Japanese students look for housing in Osaka or Kyoto, few know that there is an ancient tradition of living in a zen Buddhist temple  while studying at the university. This is perfect for a study abroad or anyone studying for one year in Kyoto, as an exchange student. Basically, you will listen to a weekly lecture, clean the temple grounds and meditate for 30 minutes in the morning and evening before going and returning from the University. The temple is called nagaokotenji and is situated above a lovely lake for walking meditation with a village and the metro station on the other side of the lake and forested hill.

The temple is located 50 minutes from Sanjo on the Hankyu line, which would put you in most universities within an hour plus or 40 minutes into Umeda in Osaka. The housing is absolutely free with the obligation to cook once a week for the monks. You live with up to 10 students of both sexes, which live on different wings of the temple. There is free internet, a public room with a table and kotatzu, heated table for the winter, and a big library. They have western toilets and Japanese squatting ones, as well as baths and showers. The entire building has tatame, while the walls are glass and wood or traditional styled Japanese temples, so you will be cold in the winter, yet cool in the summer. They have heating, yet this is used only in certain rooms for short times.

You will live like a monk with a traditional zen garden out your window, monk clothes, and a lifestyle to keep you along the path to enlightenment. This includes waking up at 5am to shower, clean the garden and meditate and eat breakfast all before 8am, when you go to class. In the evening dinner is eaten and you meditate before going to bed. You will have plenty of time during the day, yet will sleep early like in the classical times. Still, one can go out for the weekend all night and return to shower, clean and meditate and sleep during the day, yet this is only possible during the weekend without much studies or during semester holidays. On the weekend, there will be a lecture on zen Buddhism and there are countless monks sitting and eating with you, if you need advise or to talk about the path or life.

My friend, Marco, is giving English, French and German lessons through myskype English, which is a great way to teach English to Japanese. He is better than the others, as he is fluent in Japanese after one year of studying intensively within the society, so beginners can have grammar explanations and ask questions in Japanese. He is a bit too fun and happy to be very serious, yet enjoys helping you improve your speaking and communication skills. Plus you can have a peak into life in the temple. http://www.myskypenglish.com/teachers/list/page~3

Here are some pictures of the garden and the blooming trees on the temple grounds or your castle of meditation and tranquility. This is a view of the garden with the rooms behind being for the female guests.

 This is the wake up call and call to meditation, when they do not ring the normal gong bell. It is well used. This is the meditation room behind the garden and living quarters.

This is the kitchen with a classical set up with plenty of space. The sunny dinning on tatame tables on the ground allows for real classical Japanese living.

 The view from the guest house room, which is very sunny. The walkways are great for walking meditation.

 This is the entrance to your new home, which resembles a mansion with space, garden and peaceful seclusion from the busy city life. You must yell a greeting when leaving and coming, so that others know, if you are home or left.

 The plum or cherry blooms or budding already in early March. These trees dot the walkway to the train station around the lake.

Here is the website, so you can write the monks and reserve your room for next year. They currently only have about half the rooms filled, so you can get a room last minute, if you are willing to give up some freedom over your day. So contact the monks and reserve your room in the zen Buddhist temple to really emerge from university enlightened or just have a study abroad within in traditional zen Japanese culture. If you use google chrome, you can translate the webpage into most languages and write an email to reserve the room or call to ask. They probably do not speak many languages, yet will be happy to have new guests soon.

Also they updated their website with an English section, so this will help you understand the application process and apply knowing requirements and expectations. Just copy the link, as clicking often delivers an error message.
http://nagaokazenjuku.or.jp/english/index.html

As there have been so many comments requesting the email of my friend, I wanted to add it. mbettoli-at-hotmail.com He has skype with m.bettoli as well. The -at- is replaced with @. Do not swamp him with requests, as he helped open a temple in Portugal, instead try to use your Japanese to contact the temple directly listed above.


Have you ever wanted to study abroad and live in a zen temple? My friend spent years studying zen and now lives in the temple, while learning Japanese. His experience has allowed him to learn Japanese much quicker (1 year), while also learning the traditions that the Japanese themselves are forgetting.

Why not live for free to learn about zen and study at the Uni, as opposed to paying huge amounts for cheap housing for a study abroad without really learning much about Japanese traditions or living like a monk in a temple? They are really friendly and funded by a Japanese company, so you can live well, while studying in Kyoto or Osaka, which are both within 50 minutes travel in the other direction. This is a great opportunity that Japanese and foreigners alike are passing up on, as it is not easy to live simply without the stress of modern life.