Young people seeking an escape with a temple visit

Lin Yiran is a vocal artists with more than 100,000 fans on social media. She has successfully dubbed the voices in many popular games. But today she wears a navy blue cotton robe with her hair in a bun, sitting quietly in a temple hall and listening to a master explain the principles of Buddhism.

"I want to temporarily escape from my previous life," said Lin, 30. Prior to this, she had been going through an extremely difficult time due to work stress and negative emotional experiences.

Lin excels in her field but faces criticism too.

"The industry lacks a criterion for evaluating the quality of dubbing," Lin said. "Some people may dislike a game character because of its voice actor."

For Lin, this kind of failure comes as a crushing blow, which makes her almost lose basic reading ability. She once found her voice paused uncontrollably, being unable to read a conversation clearly and fluently, even a single line in a newspaper.

"I didn't think I was suffering from depression," Lin said, "but I was really tired and needed to find a place to press the pause button for myself." On the advice of a friend, she decided to embark on her first temple trip to Dizang Ancient Temple.

Lin is not an exception. In China, there is a famous saying that goes "Between school and work, I choose to burn incense," which vividly reveals the huge impact of "involution" – a viral phrase referring to the feeling of being in a rat race with little possibility to succeed – on Chinese youngsters in today's competitive society.

Shi Ziqi

According to the May Day Travel Trends Report released by online travel website Qunar Travel, the sales of temple scenic spots increased by 3.6 times year-on-year in 2023. Previously, Ctrip, another leading online travel service, also showed that nearly half of those who booked tickets for temples were born in the 1990s and 2000s.

Like Lin, a majority of Chinese young people are experiencing similar pains. They work hard day after day to complete their studies and life tasks, but increasingly feel lost and tired.

As described by Byung-Chul Han, a Korean German philosopher, in "The Burnout Society," Chinese youngsters constantly engage in various forms of "self-oppression," yearning to become their "best self" and gain energy from external recognition. However, most ultimately fail in the battle against themselves due to exhaustion.

"That's why their lives urgently need a 'halftime'," said a 50-year-old temple staff member who declined to be identified. And the temple, which symbolizes "the Peach Garden of the Soul," gradually becomes their preferred place for mental healing.

Chen Ting, 28, used to be a publicist for an e-commerce company in China. Earlier this year, she was diagnosed with both breast nodules and thyroid nodules. For the sake of her health, she resigned and began a six-day temple visit.

"The scenery on the mountain is beautiful and the air is so good," Chen said. "People who come to the temple always treat others with kindness." While she didn't believe in Buddhism before, she began to learn the Diamond Sutra from the monks. When she read "All phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble and a shadow, like dew and lightning," she felt as if she was waking up from a dream and gaining enlightenment.

According to data from consultation company iResearch, almost 60 percent of Chinese people say they go to temples to relieve anxiety and seek spiritual sustenance. Almost the same percentage agree that burning incense is a way to reduce stress and that emotions need an outlet.

"It's like returning to a very regular life in high school," Lin said. She had imagined that the trip would be very free and leisurely, like sitting on a small stool in a quiet place with warm sunshine, listening to a bell ringing in the distance and quietly watching the monks coming and going. However, on the contrary, the schedule was quite full, though she was mentally prepared in advance.

During her two-day temple visit, Lin had to get up for classes at 5:30am. After some vegetarian dishes at noon, she only had a half-hour break. In the afternoon, she needed to meditate and copy scriptures. It was not until 8:30pm that the temple turned off its lights, meaning the day's journey had come to an end.

She remembered that before each meditation the master would let them walk in circles in the hall, loudly reciting words like "Who are you?" "Who is chanting Buddha?" and constantly giving questions to the people present. Some responded bravely, while Lin remained silent from beginning to end.

"I was afraid of making mistakes," said Lin as she recalled the scene that impressed her the most. She thought the master wanted them to enter a state of consciousness through mantras and the mechanical behavior of "walking." She just dragged her fatigued body while walking at first, but slowly forgot about the unpleasant things in her life.

"It was like unloading a heavy burden with a feeling of emptiness in everything," said Lin, who was so excited that she wanted to cry at that moment.

"Young people can revive and grow again in the temple," said Xiao Ying, a monk who has lived in a temple for several years. "They are like plants illuminated by sunshine."

Qin Liuying

In fact, most young people, like Lin, come to the temple with questions to find answers. Some of them managed to pull themselves out of a mental tailspin, and they asked the master how to live a good life in the present during the visit.

"I didn't know what to say, so I just asked the master what desire is," Lin told reporters. There are good and bad desires in the world. However, she wanted to figure out that if the desire was to become a better person, should it be eradicated?

Unfortunately, Lin could only recall some of the words the master had said. She knew that only by truly comprehending Buddhism could she understand its meaning. However, Wang Yu, a white-collar worker who had participated in a temple trip before, believed that this kind of method does not make a lot of sense. Rather than saying that people are finding answers from the master, it is more accurate to say that they are just seeking comfort.

"Problems will never sink into the river," said Xiao. She sincerely acknowledged that a short trip helps people escape from ordeal for a while, but it can't always have a lasting impact on their future life.

Lin has also known this truth since she was a child. "Escaping is not the right solution," she said. Although coming to the temple indeed brought her some spiritual purification, when she returns to the track of normal life, she needs to draw upon all her courage like before. "Problems and pains still lie there," said Lin. "They won't disappear, unless you resolve them."

(Lin Yiran, Chen Ting, Xiao Ying and Wang Yu are pseudonyms)

Tian Jiaxi is a student from Department of Journalism and Communication, School of Event and Communication, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. Lei Lin is her advisor.