Zen for Nothing is a masterly immersion into life at a Japanese Zen monastery over three seasons. Swiss novice Sabine arrives at Antibi and, after a brief welcome, she begins to learn the monastery rules: how to bow, sit in the meditation hall, carry out movements with chopsticks, etc. There's more to life there than meditation, farming, and maintenance, however-there are picnics, music, and Wi-Fi. And after the last snow has melted away, the nuns and monks travel to Osaka, where they recite sutras in front of subway entrances as they solicit offerings in their traditional monk's robes. Quotes from renowned abbot Kodu Sawka are interjected throughout.