2008 Woodie Awards
Students Immerse Themselves in Zen and Japan
Amber Johnson
Issue date: 2/10/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
While their fellow students were on the familiar Hendrix campus during the first week of classes, Sam Henry, Ryan Norman, and Nick Pippins were in Kyoto, Japan, studying Zen and Japanese culture as a part of their Odyssey project. During their ten-day trip, the three students stayed with a Zen priest and his family at a temple as they meditated with monks, visited Zen temples, and immersed themselves in the surrounding culture.
"The fact that we were navigating the city on our own and seeing what we wanted to see instead of being dragged around in a big group made the whole trip a bigger learning and growing experience for all of us," Henry, a freshman from Conway, said. Being the first student-run Odyssey trip that has been abroad meant few boundaries. "The whole experience was absolutely amazing," Henry continued.
Each morning began with an hour of meditation, which involved zazen (sitting meditation), a walking meditation, and a chanting of the heart sutra. They spent the rest of the time attending lectures from Zen scholars and Zen priests, visiting temples and gardens, and exploring the city. The three students used bicycles and the subway for transportation, and were warmly received by the Japanese.
"On a number of occasions we would walk into a restaurant or bar and get free drinks or food, for no apparent reason," Norman said. "There was lots of sporadic kindness from strangers."
All three group members share a deep interest in Japan and Zen. Henry's interest in Japan and its culture goes back to her middle school days. Norman, a sophomore English major from Fayetteville, founded a Zen club on campus a year ago.
"Practicing meditation has shown me that knowledge should not exist alone, as a kind of flat knowledge, but can and should be used to enhance an experience," Norman said.
This trio enhanced their experience by doing hours of research concerning Japanese culture and practicing useful phrases before they departed, according to a press release by Odyssey Office Manager, Janina Eggensperger.
Henry said that Zen is so flexible that it can be used in every day life and in many ways regardless of a person's background, a reason why she enjoys the practice so much.
"Zen is meant to be lived in the real world. It's not an abstract ideology or a distant goal that everyone will fall short of," Norman added. "Zen is a mechanism by which people can become less selfish, to stop worrying about bullshit that doesn't matter, and to maybe become a little kinder because of it."
"The fact that we were navigating the city on our own and seeing what we wanted to see instead of being dragged around in a big group made the whole trip a bigger learning and growing experience for all of us," Henry, a freshman from Conway, said. Being the first student-run Odyssey trip that has been abroad meant few boundaries. "The whole experience was absolutely amazing," Henry continued.
Each morning began with an hour of meditation, which involved zazen (sitting meditation), a walking meditation, and a chanting of the heart sutra. They spent the rest of the time attending lectures from Zen scholars and Zen priests, visiting temples and gardens, and exploring the city. The three students used bicycles and the subway for transportation, and were warmly received by the Japanese.
"On a number of occasions we would walk into a restaurant or bar and get free drinks or food, for no apparent reason," Norman said. "There was lots of sporadic kindness from strangers."
All three group members share a deep interest in Japan and Zen. Henry's interest in Japan and its culture goes back to her middle school days. Norman, a sophomore English major from Fayetteville, founded a Zen club on campus a year ago.
"Practicing meditation has shown me that knowledge should not exist alone, as a kind of flat knowledge, but can and should be used to enhance an experience," Norman said.
This trio enhanced their experience by doing hours of research concerning Japanese culture and practicing useful phrases before they departed, according to a press release by Odyssey Office Manager, Janina Eggensperger.
Henry said that Zen is so flexible that it can be used in every day life and in many ways regardless of a person's background, a reason why she enjoys the practice so much.
"Zen is meant to be lived in the real world. It's not an abstract ideology or a distant goal that everyone will fall short of," Norman added. "Zen is a mechanism by which people can become less selfish, to stop worrying about bullshit that doesn't matter, and to maybe become a little kinder because of it."