Travel for mindfulness through Zen retreat experience: A case study at Donghua Zen Temple

Abstract

This study seeks to contribute knowledge of the Zen retreat experience unique to Buddhist tourism. The research setting is the Zen retreats found at the Donghua Zen Temple in China. This study examined feedback obtained from 520 tourists who stayed at Zen retreats. Zen retreat organizer insights were obtained through online discussions. This study identified four motivations for, and three outcomes of, staying at Zen retreats. Within the Zen retreat experience, this study clarified four themes in knowledge growth ( mingxin ), three themes in spiritual growth ( jianxing ), and two mechanisms to foster knowledge and spiritual growth. This study further proposed a figure demonstrating Zen practitioners’ lifelong journey, and a figure categorizing tourists in Buddhist tourism into Zen tourism, Zen lifestyle, and Zen retreat by level of involvement.

A hotel stay for a respite from work? Examining recovery experience, rumination and well-being among hotel and bed-and-breakfast guests

“…Following Wang et al's (2021) study about traveling for mindfulness in tourism experiences, hoteliers and lodging managers can plan mindfulness-related activities for their guests. Such activities, as suggested by Wang et al (2021), would be Zen tea tasting, a 10-min guided meditation, Zen calligraphy or visits to nearby natural sites to deeply and quietly feel a personal connection with the universe. Examples include sunrise yoga sessions at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island and a walking meditation trail at The Resort at Longboat Key Club.…”

Post-pandemic and post-traumatic tourism behavior

“…With a heightened sense of vulnerability induced by the pandemic, retreat behavior of the “6 foot-tourism world,” or the disconnection between tourism spaces and reframing tourism activities on a local scale ( Lapointe, 2020, p. 636 ), manifests in behaviors such as maintaining social distancing from other travelers, avoiding overly popular tourism destinations, choosing less-known tourism destinations, and preferring regional travels. Solitary travel experiences such as camping in remote areas ( Bhalla et al, 2021 ) and travel centered on retreat experience ( Wang et al, 2021 ) are likely to continue to gain popularity after the pandemic. Solo travels that are unconstrained by interpersonal decision making and motivated by solitary experience are on the rise as well ( Shin et al, 2022 ).…”

Can you be Mindful? The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Driven Interventions in Enhancing the Digital Resilience to Fake News on COVID-19

“…The concept of mindfulness emerged from ancient Buddhism, where mindfulness is related to Buddhist concepts such as sati and vipassana in Pali (Wang et al, 2021 ). Sati refers to focusing on the present moment/object and vipassana refers to the deep observance of moment/object/behaviour (Hanh, 2014 ).…”