Over 1,000 hopefuls hit China's short-term monk hunt

Feeling too much pressure at work and hoping to gain spiritual enrichment, a large number of applicants - more than 1,100 - applied for a "short-term" monks programme, forcing a Buddhist temple in China to suspend the recruitment.

The secluded Ci'en Temple is situated in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, Xinhua reported.

Earlier this month, the mountain monastery started inviting religious and secular men and women to live as monks for periods of time ranging from three months to two years.

The programme is free but requires that participants follow the ascetic, vegetarian monk lifestyle.

Till date, the temple has received applications from more than 1,100 people.

Some applicants said they were feeling too much pressure at work and hoped to gain spiritual support and enrichment, said Zhidu, master of the Ci'en Temple.

"The number of applicants has far exceeded the temple's ability to accommodate. Safety is also a big issue," he said.

"Safety concerns and media pressure have made the programme deviate from our original intentions," said Zhidu.

"The programme aims to provide a halcyon period of time for participants, who can enrich and sort out their minds in the process of learning about Buddhism," says a post on the temple's website.