Searching for Nirvana

By Sourav Bhowmick

7:45 p.m. March 4 2010

Photo by Katherine Tang/North by Northwestern.

Barefoot and seated on the floor in half-lotus position, members of the Northwestern University Zen Society are on a quest. Sure, they look for the meaning of life, but they find much more along the way through the Buddhist art of meditation.

In its sixth year, the Zen Society meets every Thursday under the dimmed lights of the Oratory Room in Alice Millar Chapel. At a typical meeting, about 25 members spend 45 minutes to an hour practicing meditation, followed by an informal discussion about questions from religion, philosophy, and morality.

3 ways to find peace on campus
Apparently Zen is not all about relaxation. “Sometimes, awareness lets you be sharper, clearer and more conscious of your actions,” Radtke says. “Relaxation is a part of awareness, and the awareness is a part of the relaxation.”

1. Don’t listen to your iPod when walking up Sheridan; take in your surroundings instead.
“If you’re listening to your iPod when walking, your vision isn’t spread out,” Radtke says. “You’re very concentrated in your head. I think that’s very important for the kind of energy you’re giving out.”

2. Look up at the faces of other people in public instead of always looking down.
“Just be aware of your interactions with other people,” Radtke says. “I think that leads to happiness – genuine interaction, and I think we miss out on that stuff.”

3. Be aware of your own actions and physical state.
“If your mind is a bit frazzled, it’s amazing what a few physical adjustments can do. Sit up straighter, take a deep breath and you’ll feel a lot better.” —S.B.

Many members of the Zen society meditate for reasons such as finding happiness, perfecting self-control, or becoming self-actualized. “Who am I? What is the purpose of my life?” asks Kristen Radtke, a Weinberg sophomore and president of the Zen Society. “I meditate to know myself better, and to treat other people better.”

Radtke suggests that by virtue of practicing Zen, many practical benefits are attained, such as strengthening the immune system and fueling the body with newfound energy. Physical discipline is also acquired as the meditation positions can be difficult for newcomers.

Weinberg junior Zach Warburg, however, uses meditation to better control his mind and find clarity within it. “It blocks off all the white noise in your brain and clears the mind of excess thought,” says Warburg. “You learn to focus on the present instead of dwelling on the past or looking into the future”

This method of focused-thinking is valuable for problem-solving and conflict resolution, according to Warburg. “Your mind is burdened with unnecessary considerations. When you focus your thinking, you think a lot faster and more efficiently.”

A real treasure for Northwestern students is the added bonus of stress relief and relaxation. Many members, however, challenge the notion that meditation is primarily for relaxation. The Zen Society’s most dedicated members keep returning because of the inner peace and mental acuity they achieve.

Though many perceive Zen to be an exclusively Buddhist practice, the Northwestern Zen Society welcomes members of all backgrounds to attend their weekly meetings. “It’s not a Buddhist thing – it’s a human thing. Everybody should try it once in their life,” says Radtke. But if you really want to find the meaning of life, you’ll probably want to take those shoes off more than just once.