In Search Of Funding For Zen Monastic Life?
June 10, 2017 4:31 PM Subscribe
Hello,
I'm a 31 year old male from Colorado, and I've decided to undertake Zen Buddhist Monastic life, or the closest thing to this that I can find, for my future. I have found a couple of potential places to practice in the US, however they do charge you, at least for an initial period, until you are able to integrate fully. I have some money saved up for this, but I can only pay up to a point, so I'm wondering if anyone knows of any kind of Scholarship or Grant that I may be able to attain in order to have more funding for this kind of life.
Thank you for reading, and for your time.
Back when I practiced at a Zen temple, they had an arrangement where you could live at the temple, work at an outside job during the day, meditate with the head priest and anyone else who showed up for an hour each morning and an hour each evening, and participate in weekend-long or week-long retreats or other activities that the temple hosted. I believe they required you to spend some time on chores around the temple, and charged you an amount for room and board that was similar to what the student housing co-ops in the area charged — at least back in the early '00s, it was definitely cheap enough that you could make the arrangement work without having a super-fancy day job, as long as you didn't have other big financial commitments.
I have a cousin who worked for a while as staff at a rural Zen retreat center. If I remember right, the way it worked is that she'd alternate between periods when she was on-call to take care of paying attendees and periods when she was free to participate herself in the retreats (or to go elsewhere and do other stuff, if she wanted). They paid her — not a ton, but enough to manage without an additional job.
As far as I know, neither of these arrangements was widely advertised. Both of them were just opportunities you found out about by word of mouth if you participated in the local temple community.
(Apologies if this is old news to you or not what you're looking for — it sounded from your question like you might not be involved with a sangha that offered this sort of thing. If you already are and are looking for something more intensive, then disregard this…)
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:43 PM on June 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
I have a cousin who worked for a while as staff at a rural Zen retreat center. If I remember right, the way it worked is that she'd alternate between periods when she was on-call to take care of paying attendees and periods when she was free to participate herself in the retreats (or to go elsewhere and do other stuff, if she wanted). They paid her — not a ton, but enough to manage without an additional job.
As far as I know, neither of these arrangements was widely advertised. Both of them were just opportunities you found out about by word of mouth if you participated in the local temple community.
(Apologies if this is old news to you or not what you're looking for — it sounded from your question like you might not be involved with a sangha that offered this sort of thing. If you already are and are looking for something more intensive, then disregard this…)
posted by nebulawindphone at 5:43 PM on June 10, 2017 [5 favorites]
I don't know about grants/scholarships, but on CoolWorks I sometimes see postings where you can work at a Buddhist retreat place or monastery in exchange for housing, meals, and a small salary. For example, the Odiyan Retreat Center in California is currently in the market for a gardener.
posted by magstheaxe at 6:03 PM on June 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by magstheaxe at 6:03 PM on June 10, 2017 [2 favorites]
(I remembered wrong about my cousin's job: it was at The Insight Meditation Society's retreat center in Barre, MA, which is Theravada, not Zen. They have a job page here.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:07 PM on June 10, 2017
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:07 PM on June 10, 2017
I would just say, participate in a community for a nice long while prior to going full in. There is theory, then there is practice. I've been studying Buddhism for coming up on ten years now. Easy does it.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:11 PM on June 10, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:11 PM on June 10, 2017 [9 favorites]
A quick Google search found this article by Brad Warner, a guy who became a Buddhist monk. I also found a very cute illustrated Wikihow.
Seems like the first step is to join a sangha, then find a mentor, then join a monastery. A monastery will support one's basic needs, nothing else.
One common thread is that you will need to let go of material things; basically you should not have money and you should live as a mendicant.
This article posits that:
The Vinaya, as laid down by the Buddha, in its many practical rules defines the status of a monk as being that of a mendicant. Having no personal means of support is a very practical means of understanding the instinct to seek security; furthermore, the need to seek alms gives a monk a source of contemplation on what things are really necessary.
So it would appear that this is something you don't need to concern yourself with. One who wishes to follow Buddhism in a monklike lifestyle purposely gives away all of their possessions and will not need grants or scholarships, as the community will support you (minimally).
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:41 AM on June 11, 2017
Seems like the first step is to join a sangha, then find a mentor, then join a monastery. A monastery will support one's basic needs, nothing else.
One common thread is that you will need to let go of material things; basically you should not have money and you should live as a mendicant.
This article posits that:
The Vinaya, as laid down by the Buddha, in its many practical rules defines the status of a monk as being that of a mendicant. Having no personal means of support is a very practical means of understanding the instinct to seek security; furthermore, the need to seek alms gives a monk a source of contemplation on what things are really necessary.
So it would appear that this is something you don't need to concern yourself with. One who wishes to follow Buddhism in a monklike lifestyle purposely gives away all of their possessions and will not need grants or scholarships, as the community will support you (minimally).
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 4:41 AM on June 11, 2017
One who wishes to follow Buddhism in a monklike lifestyle purposely gives away all of their possessions and will not need grants or scholarships, as the community will support you (minimally).
I mean, yes? Sort of? In some places and communities this does still happen this way, it's true.
But in a lot of monastic communities (Buddhist, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, whatever…) novice monks spend a while experiencing the monastic life before they actually take vows, give away all their stuff, etc. It's supposed to be a slow, deliberate, careful process — if nothing else, because it's bad for the community to have people around who took their vows on a whim and now have regrets. During that pre-vows period, it's not unreasonable for them to expect people to pay for their own room and board.
It's very unlikely that any monastic community would just take in a random stranger who showed up and said "I just gave away all my possessions! Now you'll support me indefinitely, right?"
(I emphasize this not because I think yes I said yes I will Yes doesn't know it, but for the sake of the OP or anyone else reading who might be looking to make a Major Drastic Life Change. Like, I've been in that position, and there have been times when I probably would have just turned up at a monastery with no stuff or money if someone had suggested it — so for anyone out there who's as eager for Drastic Change as 19-year-old me was, please remember that's not how this works.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:33 AM on June 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
I mean, yes? Sort of? In some places and communities this does still happen this way, it's true.
But in a lot of monastic communities (Buddhist, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, whatever…) novice monks spend a while experiencing the monastic life before they actually take vows, give away all their stuff, etc. It's supposed to be a slow, deliberate, careful process — if nothing else, because it's bad for the community to have people around who took their vows on a whim and now have regrets. During that pre-vows period, it's not unreasonable for them to expect people to pay for their own room and board.
It's very unlikely that any monastic community would just take in a random stranger who showed up and said "I just gave away all my possessions! Now you'll support me indefinitely, right?"
(I emphasize this not because I think yes I said yes I will Yes doesn't know it, but for the sake of the OP or anyone else reading who might be looking to make a Major Drastic Life Change. Like, I've been in that position, and there have been times when I probably would have just turned up at a monastery with no stuff or money if someone had suggested it — so for anyone out there who's as eager for Drastic Change as 19-year-old me was, please remember that's not how this works.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:33 AM on June 11, 2017 [5 favorites]
I'm familiar with specifically Rinzai Zen (so there are really not so many monasteries in the US, and they follow similar structures) but in between the periods of long study (which they ask for money for), there are work-study periods.
Agreed with the other posters that this isn't something you can just sign up to do, at least on this continent, without being involved in a community first.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 4:45 PM on June 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
Agreed with the other posters that this isn't something you can just sign up to do, at least on this continent, without being involved in a community first.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 4:45 PM on June 11, 2017 [1 favorite]
The San Francisco Zen Center offers a Work Practice Apprenticeship program that is pretty much exactly what you're looking for.
posted by feral_goldfish at 9:32 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by feral_goldfish at 9:32 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm kind of late to the party. But yikes. Seconding everybody else saying that in the States we don't have a religious community that supports people from outside the community rolling up and becoming a monastic.
Also my dude, your question is making my eyebrows creep into my hairline where you are saying you want to "undertake Zen Buddhist monastic life" but are not talking about a teacher, looking for a teacher, relationship with a teacher etc.
By all means go on retreats and experience life in community! And if the monastic life calls to you I am sure you will bald up and get your robe on. But this question makes me have questions about your question.
(I am a Soto Zen lay person attached to a particular temple.)
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 1:18 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Also my dude, your question is making my eyebrows creep into my hairline where you are saying you want to "undertake Zen Buddhist monastic life" but are not talking about a teacher, looking for a teacher, relationship with a teacher etc.
By all means go on retreats and experience life in community! And if the monastic life calls to you I am sure you will bald up and get your robe on. But this question makes me have questions about your question.
(I am a Soto Zen lay person attached to a particular temple.)
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 1:18 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: What other questions, or suggestions do you have? It sounds like you have some skepticism. I would absolutely love to find a teacher, but at this point it doesn't seem to be a necessity for my practice. I feel that in order to get closer to a teacher, the best thing to do is to join a sangha and be around one, correct?
posted by hideous.rin at 7:10 PM on June 15, 2017
posted by hideous.rin at 7:10 PM on June 15, 2017
Suggestion: check out some practice periods at different places and go on from there. Figure that you may not land permanently at the first place you check out. Be ready to move a lot, and be ready for this process to take way more time than you feel like it should. Your goal is admirable and I hope you attain it! And hit me up if you end up in the Portland metro.
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 12:25 PM on June 16, 2017
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 12:25 PM on June 16, 2017
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