> [W]hen exposed to the internet and sensory stuff again [I] found my ability to recall texts had gone.

The overstimulation could be part of it as well, couldn’t it? There isn’t a lot of other information-rich inputs in a monastery.

Holding a summer school in a forest or on an isolated resort seems like exploiting a similar idea, and it does work quite well (for a month or so, before isolation sets in).