Buddhist monk Bhante Sujatha of Sri Lanka made a trip to ASU Thursday to teach meditation to students and other participants at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation.
Bhante, who prefers to be referred to by his first name, has taught meditation around the world. Meditation is a relaxation technique focused on finding the natural healing power within.
Bhante grew up in Sri Lanka and decided at a young age his calling was to be a monk, he said. He was ordained at 11 years old and has practiced meditation for 30 years.
He spent the last several years traveling the world, teaching people how to achieve peace and happiness through self-awareness and breathing, Bhante explained.
Sharon Lee, the executive assistant to the dean at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, organized the event.
“You know how we always get caught up in our busy lives? He’s going to bring a sense of calm and peace and help us focus more internally on better dealing with the stress in our lives,” Lee said.
Bhante sat directly in front of about 19 participants, who were either on mats or blankets.
“Come a little closer so we can be like a family,” were his first words to the crowd.
Then he informed his audience of meditation’s benefits.
“Meditation will teach peace and happiness and also awareness in every day life of everything and everyone around us,” he said.
Meditation can mean different things to different people, but Bhante said the explanation is very simple.
“True meditation means cultivating the mind,” he said. “If you don’t do that, that’s not meditation at all. Meditation is about being in the moment. The past is gone and the future is unknown.”
He ended the guided meditation by saying, “May you be well, may you be happy and may you know peace.”
Senior nursing major Ashley Frank participated in the workshop because she is also a Barrett honors student studying stress levels in upper-division nursing students at ASU.
“I loved it,” she said. “It will help pull myself out of the craziness of everyday life.”
Bhante is staying with ASU alumna Ann Van Slyck and her husband while in Arizona.
“He’s taught me about meditation — what it is and what it isn’t,” Van Slyck said. “It’s peaceful and it’s not about rules. You just have to be still and breathe. It’s helped me become more peaceful, less judgmental and more aware.”
After the workshop she said Bhante’s lessons on meditation have become a part of her daily life.
“If you really want to know how much Bhante has affected us — my husband and I have two rescued kitties from the Humane Society. We named them Here and Now,” she said.
Reach the reporter at jasmine.barta@asu.edu
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