Zen Monk Kūshu invited students and faculty to a zazen (sitting) meditation session in the Chapel House on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The meditation was divided into three separate sessions, each containing a sitting and walking portion. After the meditation, Kūshu encouraged students to join “Chili with Lily,” a weekly dinner that serves house-made chili.
At the Chapel House, a place of retreat nestled in the woods of Colgate University, students and faculty can wind down and focus on their inner self. The sitting meditation took place inside the Chapel, where Kūshu advised guests to sit wherever they please and make themselves comfortable. Before beginning, Monk Kūshu commented on the importance of focusing one’s mind and paying close attention to the things you do. He described how sitting together helps inspire this practice.
“It is an easygoing space. If you are having a rough day, [the meditation] can be a quiet part of your day,” Kūshu said. “You can make out of it what you want. It is important for people to know there is a place of refuge.”
Following the sitting meditation, Kūshu led the walking session, in which attendees circled the room and were free to leave whenever deemed necessary.
Kūshu, a monk from Syracuse University’s Zen Center, initially got into mediation through joining sessions at the Syracuse Zen center. Curiosity about Zen and how it impacts life and art inspired Kūshu.
“I had participated in various activities where they talked about Zen — the Zen of this or the zen of that. And I said, ‘Well, why don’t I just go to the source?’” Kūshu said. “That was the initial question: how can Zen affect the things I do? And then it became just meditation for meditation’s sake.”
Through his involvement at the Syracuse Zen Center, Kūshu has worked alongside other monks, including former leader Shinge Roshi. Through Roshi’s several trips to Hamilton College, he met Jeff McArn, Colgate’s current program coordinator for the Chapel House and former college chaplain at Hamilton College for 27 years. Kūshu and McArn work together to facilitate these mediation sessions every Wednesday at Colgate.
McArn described how during his time at Hamilton, he witnessed many students develop a deep relationship with the Syracuse Zen Center, revealing to him just how impactful these resources can be on a college campus.
“These practitioners inspired me,” McArn said. “It’s a practice. I think that’s such an important word. It’s not like you can become an expert meditator. It’s just the structure of deciding to take it on.”
He added that having a consistent community, both at Hamilton and now at Colgate, has been essential.
“To have this structure of people that want to share this practice together, that’s encouraging,” McArn said.
Kūshu emphasized the importance of awareness and introspection that zen provides.
“It can have a great effect. The basic idea is introspection — looking inside and being aware of what’s going on,” Kūshu said.
Kūshu and McArn described the often hectic nature of a college campus — given both the academic and social settings — and how mediation can be used as a means to counter this chaos.
“You’ve got to have a place where you can slow down and assess,” Kūshu said. “People are going to ask things of you all the time. In this space, we don’t ask anything of you. No one’s gonna say anything to you. How often do you get to sit for a half hour and no one bothers you?”
Sophomore Nell Droege works at Chapel House, assisting many of the daily morning meditations. She describes her involvement and the significance of the work Chapel House does.
“I love Chapel House because I think it is important to offer meditative spaces and events that are available every day for anyone on campus to be able to unwind,” Droege said. “I think [the meditations] are symbolic of chapel house’s mission of accessibility and spreading the zen spirit into campus life.”
Last semester, Shinge Roshi dedicated the meditation garden to Colgate’s Chapel House. In the spring, students can hopefully enjoy the garden in its entirety. McArn highlighted the unique nature of the Chapel House.
“I don’t know any other college that actually has a retreat center that’s built and endowed to truly have meditation life flourish,” McArn said. “It’s such an amazing thing … It doesn’t feel like a job. It’s a blessing to have it here, and to have these resources that make it come alive.”
