are there buddhist monastaries/religious cloisters

my friend told me about a buddhist temple in California somewhere that allows people to come in and live the way they live for week, then are asked if they wish to stay longer, and so on and so forth....at first i thought that sounded insane but im seriously considering giving it a try..if anything for adventure and a lifelong interest in monks of all shapes and colors.

does anyone know anything about this? have you ever done it yourself? interesting experiences?

I would love to do this.

do it and report back. if i could, i probably would... if only to break up the monotony of my daily life.

http://www.dhamma.org/

some day i might like to do one of their 10 day retreats.

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:38 AM, chaosmachine said:

http://www.dhamma.org/

 

some day i might like to do one of their 10 day retreats.

same. I'm thinking sooner than later, as it's been on my mind for awhile, and is mostly feasible.

leonard cohen did it. i think at the one you're talking about in california. from his book it seems like he mostly meditated and drank really good scotch with the head monk dude. sounds like a fantastic time, really.

lol South Korea does plenty of temple stays....

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:34 AM, Z_B_Z said:

do it and report back. if i could, i probably would... if only to break up the monotony of my daily life.

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:57 AM, chenGOD said:

lol South Korea does plenty of temple stays....

the plane ticket is a major obstacle to enjoying such a region.

i had no idea so many people here were interested in stuff like this

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:53 AM, disparaissant said:

leonard cohen did it. i think at the one you're talking about in california. from his book it seems like he mostly meditated and drank really good scotch with the head monk dude. sounds like a fantastic time, really.

i read a great interview with him just after he came out; 'my buddhist name is silent cliff... but you can call me cliff'.

lol

depends

If they would pay off my student loans I'd join them permanently.

Since they won't, I'm considering getting myself life in prison somehow.

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:24 AM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

my friend told me about a buddhist temple in California somewhere that allows people to come in and live the way they live for week, then are asked if they wish to stay longer, and so on and so forth....at first i thought that sounded insane but im seriously considering giving it a try..if anything for adventure and a lifelong interest in monks of all shapes and colors.

 

 

does anyone know anything about this? have you ever done it yourself? interesting experiences?

oh you mean a hash trip

I like the idea. I think generally a lot of people would appreciate a week's meditation. It'd be like a holiday from yourself.

I'd like to think I could do it. I could last a week, but I imagine that the one thing I'd really learn from it is that technology is fucking awesome.

dad did some zen buddhist retreat type thing for a couple of weeks or something. Mum recently went one some meditation course, where they weren't allowed to talk for the duration, lolz.

I am somewhat fascinated by actually immersing myself in the full experience. Like a buddhist temple in the mountains of japan over the winter, something that would be an extreme shock to the system. Or turning up at an european monastery and just singing up. Preferably one with a brewery or distillery and with an aged dwindling membership so that i can inherent control of quite the little money spinner. With god and no taxes on my side to boot.

heh ;-]

Been wanting to do something like this for ages. Even tagged along with my girlfriend to a couple of Buddhist meetings but found them to be mostly full of morons.

i'd be down for this if the weather was good and there was booze.

sounds good in theory

  On 3/23/2011 at 2:23 PM, jim said:

Been wanting to do something like this for ages. Even tagged along with my girlfriend to a couple of Buddhist meetings but found them to be mostly full of morons.

Yeah, after looking at the Dhamma website I realised it would mostly be full of idiots.

I think you'd have to travel to Tibet or Korea and donate a decent amount of money to get a truly awesome experience out of it. Otherwise you'll just be sitting around a community centre in Swindon with three grown men wearing track-suit trousers, smelling their own farts, and wanking quietly at 3am in the corner of their room.

  On 3/23/2011 at 2:41 PM, Gary C said:

wanking quietly

fapfapfap

I'm going to do Vipassana (dhamma.org) this summer with my gf, looking forward to it, although I'm not sure I will make it until the end of the course, it's not looking easy:

The following timetable for the course has been designed to maintain the continuity of practice. For best results students are advised to follow it as closely as possible.

4:00 am Morning wake-up bell

4:30-6:30 am Meditate in the hall or in your room

6:30-8:00 am Breakfast break

8:00-9:00 am Group meditation in the hall

9:00-11:00 am Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions

11:00-12:00 noon Lunch break

12noon-1:00 pm Rest and interviews with the teacher

1:00-2:30 pm Meditate in the hall or in your room

2:30-3:30 pm Group meditation in the hall

3:30-5:00 pm Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions

5:00-6:00 pm Tea break

6:00-7:00 pm Group meditation in the hall

7:00-8:15 pm Teacher's Discourse in the hall

8:15-9:00 pm Group meditation in the hall

9:00-9:30 pm Question time in the hall

9:30 pm Retire to your own room--Lights out

think i'd be bored by 6am

I'd rather just walk somewhere remote and camp for a week, commune with nature and shit. But not get woken up at 4 to spend the whole day being instructed on how to sit still and do fuck all

  On 3/23/2011 at 4:13 PM, Coalbucket PI said:

I'd rather just walk somewhere remote and camp for a week, commune with nature and shit. But not get woken up at 4 to spend the whole day being instructed on how to sit still and do fuck all

thats a great way to look at it.'

I have been kayaking around here when I get the chance...but good hiking areas require an hour drive.