Opinion | Buddhist temple opens to all, is overwhelmed with applicants

Ci'en Temple in Zhejiang province has received over 500 applicants to a special programme that welcomes outsiders interested in Buddhism

Reading Time:2 minutes

Monks meditating in Ci'en Temple. Photo: Screenshot via Sina Weibo

Published: 5:01pm, 5 Jul 2013Updated: 5:35pm, 5 Jul 2013

A quiet Buddhist temple decided to offer admission to civilians who wanted to experience a monk’s life, only to be overwhelmed when more than 500 applicants jumped at the chance.

Ci’en Temple in Tiantai mountain, Zhejiang province, posted an online announcement on June 28, giving any who were interested in Buddhism the chance to temporarily live at the temple free of charge. Underestimating the number of people who would sign up, temple staff immediately found themselves facing hundreds of applications – many from young people.

“It is absolutely beyond our expectations,” Zhidu, the temple abbot, said to the Global Times. “We had thought there would only be around 20 people willing to sign up… But now, we have received as many as 500 applications… Over 60 per cent [of our applicants] were born after 1980, suggesting young people are the major participants.”

Zhidu also explained that while the temple welcomed the applicants, realistic concerns about space were now a major problem.

“We have only eight monks in the temple,” he said. “Even though we can separate [the applicants] into batches, we still have too many to handle. Many of them might have to sleep on the floor.”

Experiencing the lifestyle of a monk is becoming increasingly popular amongst China’s current generation, Director Yang Jianhua of the Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences explained in an interview with China News Service.