VOL. CX
Bears in Meditation
October 7, 2016
No. 2
Sam Bannett ’17 and Dr. Rhie on the Meditation Club By Maggie Zhu ’17, Roman Panibratyuk ’17
The Meditation Club has become one of the most popular clubs for Berkshire students and faculty within merely three weeks of school. “Meditation is for everybody,” Sam Bannett ’17, the student leader of the club says, “When I started, I immediately started to feel the benefits, and so I wanted to share it with others in the community.” “Meditation is becoming aware of your thoughts and emotional and physical feelings through sitting, and shifting your focus to physical sensations,” Bannett explains the process of meditation. “The first stage is to concentrate on one’s breathing,” says Dr. Bernie Rhie, the faculty advisor of the club, “Relax and calm the mind, and then observe its workings once the mind settles.” While meditating, one sees one’s thought patterns more clearly, but one also becomes less attached to, or less identified with them, according to Rhie. “Meditation helps one to take a step back from one’s own thoughts. Over time, and with practice, one gets less caught up in one’s own personal dramas and problems. The ultimate goal, though, isn’t just to free ourselves from our own personal suffering, but to help others. Meditating can make one more attuned to the suffering of others, and one naturally wants to make others feel better, in whatever way one can.” Berkshire’s new schedule creates opportunities for organizations such as the Meditation Club to meet during a regular school day. “Our daily lives are so busy that we don’t have time to check in with ourselves,” Bannett says, “and Meditation Club is just a time to get people together and calm the mind.”
See inside for October Horoscopes and Birthdays... Edited by Lydia McBride ’18, page 6.
Meet the New Coaches
Read interviews by Caroline Lakryc ’18, page 8.
Same Gendered Romeo and Juliet
By Sophia McCarthy ’18, page 5.
Fall Berkshire Theater will present classic Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet in November, casting both Romeo and Juliet with female students. Read interviews with Mr. Howard, theater director, and Ana Tolvo ’17, cast as Romeo.
“It’s cool that there’s a desire for something like this at Berkshire. I think it’s because people here are open minded and willing to try new things,” Rhie comments on his experience with the recent club meetings. “Attending the Meditation Club helps me relax my body and calm my thoughts. This exercise made me feel happy and rested,” says Emilio Aristegui ’18, a club member. “I was an anxious teenager and I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings. When I was 18, I moved to the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center in Northern California instead of attending college.” Rhie talks about his initial experiences with meditation, “I chose this over going to college because I was hungry for the kind of spiritual wisdom I thought I could learn at the temple. I studied meditation with a teacher there for three years and worked as the cook and kitchen manager in the temple, and in the end, I think being there helped me to grow up.” “I like teaching literature because it can help people make sense of their lives, just like meditation can,” says Rhie. The Meditation Club is looking to expand its meeting times to evening sessions in order for more people to gain the experience. A Pro Vita class combining meditation with Dr. Rhie and yoga with Mrs. Turner will be offered in March, 2017. “Mr. Gappa and I have also talked about a potential Pro Vita trip focused on meditation, which would involve visits to Buddhist temples. Who knows if we’ll ever get to do this, but wouldn’t it be cool?” says Rhie.