Students had a well deserved half-day retreat hosted by the Buddhist Meditation Association on Saturday, Oct. 23 at the Inn Complete on South Campus. It was a great time to get together with other meditation practitioners for fellowship and shared experience.
Matt Murray, SUNY-ESF ’22, says, “It was a refreshing day with interesting people! Really great to have everyone together.” Sixteen participants enjoyed some social time over breakfast, followed by silent meditation. A talk by Ekhart Tolle about quieting the mind then gave way to a lively discussion about our own meditation experiences.
BMA President Rosalie Turner, SUNY-ESF ’23, says, “I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation centered around Silencing the Voice inside. I felt like it was extremely relatable.”
The last hour was spent in a deep dive of “sound bathing”—a meditation practice where one is immersed in the vibration of sounds produced from singing bowls and gongs. Kara Hayslip and her Nepali husband, Sujendra Dhoj Karki, facilitated. After that deep experience, students had time to try out the wide collection of gongs. The most frequent response to the experience? Simply, “Wow!”