Product Description

At the age of thirty, Kaoru Nonomura left his family, his girlfriend and his job as a designer to undertake a year of ascetic training at Eiheiji, one of the most rigorous Zen training temples in Japan. This book is Nonomura's account of his experiences. He skilfully describes every aspect of training, including how to meditate, how to eat, how to wash, and even how to use the toilet, in a way that is easy to understand even for readers with no knowledge of 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. Beautifully written, and a fascinating insight into a lifestyle of hardships that few people could endure, this is a book that will appeal to all those with an interest in Zen Buddhism and to anyone with an interest in the quest for spiritual growth. This is the true story of an ordinary man's search for meaning to life at Japan's strictest Zen Temple. It presents a detailed portrayal of everyday life at Eiheiji, Japan's main training temple for Soto Zen. It is beautifully written portrayal of every aspect of Buddhist ritual: how to eat, sleep, sit, bathe, dress, pray, making this book appealing to those with an interest in Buddhism. As well as the Buddhist perspective, Nonomura brings his own personal perspective to bear: sometimes sad, sometimes scared, sometimes amused, in the end enlightened, making this a story of redemption that will also appeal to general readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129985 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 328 pages

About the Author
Born in 1959, Kaoru Nonomura travelled widely in China and Tibet as a young man. He worked as a designer before his year at Eiheiji. After his year there, he returned to his design job, and it was on the daily crowded train commute to work that he began to scribble his recollections of his Eiheiji experience, and these scribblings eventually became Eat Sleep Sit, the author's only book.

Customer Reviews

Interesting account of life in a Japanese Zen temple
There are several autobiographies of westerners who have stayed in Japanese temples but 'Eat Sleep Sit' is the first I have found which was written by a Japanese person. This gives us more of an insider's point of view from someone who understands the culture within which they have been immersed.

The regime at Eiheiji is extremely tough - the monks are woken at 3:30 AM, except for initiates who have to get up at 1:30 AM to get through their additional daily chores. All the monks are required to work hard in addition to hours of meditation - which is hardly any easier, since sitting in the painful full lotus position is compulsory. One initiate who is physically unable to sit in full lotus due to a breaking his leg a few years earlier, is told to tie his legs into place. In addition, any initiates who are slow to remember the monasterys' many complicated rules, or who merely look a senior in the eye, are subjected to beatings.

While it offers much insight into the running of a tradition Japanese Soto Zen temple, this book doesn't say much about the intricacies of zen teachings. But I suspect that's partly the point - zen is a practical 'philosophy of action', a system of meditation & a state of mind & being to keep with you when you go about your daily chores, rather than lofty ideas to be read about & debated. This also makes 'Eat Sleep Sit' an interesting insight into traditional Japanese culture rather than an in-depth book on Buddhist teachings, giving it wider appeal.

The accounts of the rituals involved are surprisingly fascinating. The monastery follows the strict & incredibly detailed rules laid down by Dogen in his famous Shobogenzo, which cover everything from eating to how to go to the toilet. How a monk lays their chopsticks on their bowl, for example, signifies the difference between saying you are full & asking for a second helping - and the lack of food meant getting it wrong would result in going very hungry. Nonomura explains that these are not merely empty traditions - concentrating on so many strict rules makes a person very mindful of every action they perform. Also, how strictly someone observes the rules while on the toilet, when nobody else is watching, says a lot about their character.

I suspect that anyone with romantic notions about life in a traditional Japanese temple who reads 'Eat Sleep Sit' will finish this book feeling rather jaded. The author certainly conveys a sense of constantly being on edge due to the incredible strictness, rather than relaxedly floating off to higher planes of existence (wherever they are).

'Eat Sleep Sit' is a fascinating account of a very different way of life. Like the author, I was very humbled by the thought of countless monks having endured such hardships over the last few hundred years out of dedication - and Eiheiji certainly requires plenty of dedication! However, I felt compelled to only give it 4 stars because while the author details how the strictness of the regime afected his life once he left Eiheiji, I felt he gave little insight into whether it affected him on a deeper, emotional level.