ON CAMPUS
Learning in the Now By Melina Downs ’06
”Everything in the monastic life is a contemplative process.”
Kimmie Barkley ´14
– Zakaria Kronemer
When Zakaria Kronemer strolls down Campus Walk, the UMW junior isn’t thinking about his upcoming exam or the conversation he just had. Instead, he focuses on his feet as each step pounds the brick walkway. He feels the air touching his hand as the wind blows and concentrates on his muscles as they work to move his legs. Kronemer practices living in the moment. It’s a lesson that he learned last summer as one of 40 students from around the world studying the Buddhist practices of meditation and tai chi in the mountains of eastern China at the Shengshou Temple. Back at UMW this fall, he found that his outlook on life had changed. Most significantly, the philosophy major has adjusted his view of everyday tasks. “Everything in the monastic life is a
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contemplative process,” said Kronemer, who traveled to China after receiving a scholarship from the Woodenfish Project, which educates emerging scholars on Chinese Buddhism. “That’s something that I’ve been trying to incorporate into my life – taking a step into the moment and appreciating the value and significance and experiencing beauty in everyday life.” Still his life on campus differs starkly from his six weeks at the monastery. There, he slept on a wooden bunk with only a bamboo mat for comfort. He ate steamed rice and vegetables for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He boiled water from a stream to drink. In the hot, humid Chinese summer, Kronemer woke each morning at 4:45. He and a queue of fellow students walked together down the mountain to a reflecting pool. There, they
U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y W A S H I N G T O N M A G A Z I N E • FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 1 3
practiced tai chi – an ancient Chinese discipline of controlled, slow movements designed to improve physical and mental well-being – and meditated for more than an hour before eating breakfast. Kronemer was introduced to meditation and the principles associated with mindfulness through a contemplative practice course that he took last spring. “During Zakaria’s trip to China, he experienced firsthand and really lived according to Buddhist concepts, principles, and practices,” said Angela Pitts, associate professor of classics, who co-teaches contemplative practice. “He also had the opportunity to understand more deeply other spiritual traditions in the world and to learn and grow from them. Such understanding, derived from personal experience, is the best foundation I know of for the