Skip to Main Content (Press Enter)
Eat Sleep Sit by Kaoru Nonomura
Add Eat Sleep Sit to bookshelf
Add to Bookshelf

Eat Sleep Sit

My Year at Japan's Most Rigorous Zen Temple

My Year at Japan's Most Rigorous Zen Temple

By Kaoru Nonomura
Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

By Kaoru Nonomura
Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

By Kaoru Nonomura
Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

By Kaoru Nonomura
Translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter

Best Seller
Paperback $16.95

Sep 01, 2015 | ISBN 9781568365657

Ebook $10.99

Aug 05, 2010 | ISBN 9784770050076

All Formats
+
    Eat Sleep Sit by Kaoru Nonomura
    Paperback $16.95
    Sep 01, 2015 | ISBN 9781568365657

    Buy from Other Retailers:

    See All Formats (1) +
    • $16.95

      Sep 01, 2015 | ISBN 9781568365657

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Aug 05, 2010 | ISBN 9784770050076

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About Eat Sleep Sit

    At the age of thirty, Kaoru Nonomura left his family, his girlfriend, and his job as a designer in Tokyo to undertake a year of ascetic training at Eiheiji, one of the most rigorous Zen training temples in Japan. This book is Nonomura’s recollection of his experiences. He skillfully describes every aspect of training, including how to meditate, how to eat, how to wash, even how to use the toilet, in a way that is easy to understand no matter how familiar a reader is with 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, selling more than 100,000 copies since its first printing in 1996. Beautifully written, and offering fascinating insight into a culture of hardships that few people could endure, this is a deeply personal story that will appeal to all those with an interest in Zen Buddhism, as well as to anyone seeking spiritual growth.

    About Eat Sleep Sit

    At the age of thirty, Kaoru Nonomura left his family, his girlfriend, and his job as a designer in Tokyo to undertake a year of ascetic training at Eiheiji, one of the most rigorous Zen training temples in Japan. This book is Nonomura’s recollection of his experiences. He skillfully describes every aspect of training, including how to meditate, how to eat, how to wash, even how to use the toilet, in a way that is easy to understand no matter how familiar a reader is with 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, selling more than 100,000 copies since its first printing in 1996. Beautifully written, and offering fascinating insight into a culture of hardships that few people could endure, this is a deeply personal story that will appeal to all those with an interest in Zen Buddhism, as well as to anyone seeking spiritual growth.

    Product Details

    Category: Religion | Biography & Memoir | Philosophy

    Paperback | $16.95
    Published by Kodansha USA
    Sep 01, 2015 | 328 Pages | 5-1/4 x 7-1/2 | ISBN 9781568365657

    Category: Religion | Biography & Memoir | Philosophy

    Ebook | $10.99
    Published by Kodansha International
    Aug 05, 2010 | 328 Pages | ISBN 9784770050076

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    Praise

    “Here is an unusually fine translation of a most unusual best-seller. . . We sometimes have the odd idea that Zen means simply sitting around until satori happens. . . . It is much more, as novice Nonomura discovered when he joined the beginners at Eijeiji, one of the most rigorous temples in Japan. . . . a boot camp of a place that would make even brave marines quail. . . .Nonumura stood the strain. He stayed a year. . . . This painful route, then, is the true Zen path. . . . Almost as painful must have been the translation of this book with its extraordinary width of styles – from the arcane Zen tracts of Dogen and others, to the diary-like grumbles of the clueless young Nonomura. Here, translator Juliet Carpenter not only stays the course, she defines it….here is a particularly felicitous translation, especially in the handling of the colloquial within the religious context.” –DONALD RICHIE, in The Japan Times



    “It is difficult to adequately praise this book. To begin with, Kaoru Nonomura is a great writer. The description of his experiences Is precise, detailed and unsparingly honest, yet giving sudden glimpses of the heart and soul of a poet and mystic. The translation is superb. The story is riveting. . . . a treasure for anyone on any spiritual path.” – Light of Consciousness

    Table Of Contents

    CONTENTS

    PART ONE    The End and the Beginning

        Resolve   11
        Jizo Cloister   17
        Dragon Gate   25
        Main Gate   29
        Temporary Quarters   34
        Lavatory   38
        Facing the Wall   46
        Buddha Bowl   47
        Evening Service   53
        Evening Meal   56
        Night Sitting   61

    PART TWO    Etiquette is Zen

        JMorning Service   69
        JMorning Meal   74
        JCleaning the Corridors   81
        JDignified Dress   84
        JWashing the Face   89
        JVerses   96
        JNoon  97
        JStick   101

    PART THREE    Alone in the Freezing Dark

        JEntering the Hall   111
        JMonks’ Hall   115
        JCommon Quarters   120
        JWake-up Bell   129
        JBell Tower   133
        JSelf-reflection   143
        JFood Server   150
        JMonks’ Food   153
        JShaving the Head   159
        JDaikan   164
        JHunger  169

    PART FOUR    The Passage of Time
        JEscape   177
        JRegistration Ceremony   180
        JFirst Bath   185
        JBeginning Intensive Training   189
        JManual Labor   195
        JPenance   201
        JMain Lecture   207
        JTransfer   211


    PART FIVE    The Source of the Warmth of Life
        JNew Job   219
        JSales   223
        JDistribution of Goods   229
        JGuest Pavilion   233
        JInspection   238
        JWashrags   242
        JEnding Intensive Training &  247

    PART SIX    The Colors of the Peak, the Echo in the Valley
        JAttendant to the Director   253
        JConference Room &  256
        JIn Attendance   259
        JMorning Session   263
        JIncense Bearer &  267
        JPreparations for Winter   271
        JIntensive Sitting   275
        JYear-end Cleaning   280
        JNew Year’s Day   283
        JNew Arrivals   286
        JJust Sit   290
        JDeparture Survey   294
        J Leaving   300

    Afterword to the Japanese First Edition   311
    Afterword to the Japanese Paperback Edition   315
    Notes   323

    Looking for More Great Reads?
    21 Books You’ve Been Meaning to Read

    Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network

    Raise kids who love to read

    Brightly

    Raise kids who love to read

    Today's Top Books

    Today's Top Books

    Want to know what people are actually reading right now?

         An online magazine for today’s home cook

    TASTE

    An online magazine for today’s home cook