On April 22, Dartmouth welcomed 11 senior monastic dharma teachers to conduct a week-long series of mindfulness programs in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, and the broader Hanover community. Their visit will be co-sponsored by the Student Wellness Center, the William Jewett Tucker Center and the Geisel School of Medicine.
According to Plum Village, monks who practice in the Plum Village Buddhist tradition (a sect of Buddhism named after France’s Plum Village Monastery) are from Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California, and Batesville, Mississippi. He resides at Magnolia Grove Abbey. Monastery website.
This is the second year the Plum Village monks have visited Dartmouth, the last time they were on campus in 2023. The program included four morning meditation sessions in Rollins Chapel, three mindful lunches in the 1953 Commons class, three evening mindful walks, and two weekend sessions. Retreat.
Geisel Professor Diane Gilbert Diamond said she discussed the idea of creating a mindful physiology course with Brother Phap Lu, 97, of Deer Park Abbey, who came up with the idea of visiting the university. Gilbert Diamond, who teaches the Mindful Physiology course, said he was inspired by a religious group he attended at a monastery in California two years ago.
“[During the retreat], I felt so free to be myself, my authentic self – that touched me,” Gilbert Diamond said. “It makes me so happy to see people living happily and wanting true happiness for others.”
Gilbert Diamond said he continued to practice mindfulness even after the retreat ended. Gilbert-Diamond added that she and Phap Lu are currently conducting research on mindfulness and health together. She explained that by putting mindfulness at the center of her life, she became happier and more productive at work.
“One of the most important lessons from practicing mindfulness is that you can become aware that you are even stressed, and understand what is contributing to your stress. That’s true,” Gilbert-Diamond said. “Through that awareness and understanding, we can sometimes learn how to let go of some of the stress.”
Sydney Fortner ’24 said she first learned about the monastery last spring through a friend who was enrolled in Gilbert Diamond’s course BIOL 3, “Mindful Physiology.” She started her meditation through the influence of her friends, she said, and she now belongs to the Zen club on campus. Fortner said he and Zen Club are sponsoring a mindfulness retreat this weekend that will include deep relaxation, meditation, mindful eating and mindful walking.
“A lot of the mindfulness that’s been promoted in Western culture is productivity-based mindfulness, and that’s how I got into it,” Fortner said. “As I continued to practice, I realized that it was important to live in the moment and be okay with the stress that I was experiencing, and I think this was definitely a real life changer. ”
The monks also interacted with students by visiting classes, speaking with them and answering their questions. Nitya Agarwala ’25 visits her ENGS 15.09 “Design Ethics” class where the monks teach her how to design her life to reduce her anger and maximize her compassion. He said he explained.
Joanna Zhou ’26 said the monks also visited her class, REL 19.39 “Automotive/Biography Beyond Buddhist Tradition,” and that she was excited about the experience after attending a mindfulness orientation talk at Rollins Chapel the day before. He described it as “incredible”.
“Just hearing about their lives and how they came about was really uplifting and nourishing,” she said.
Caitlin Barthelmess, director of the Student Wellness Center, said mindfulness is a big part of the services SWC provides to students. She explained that the monks’ visit provides a new and useful way for the Dartmouth community to learn about mindfulness.
“This monastery visit is a very unique opportunity to learn from people who are deeply connected to the roots of their spiritual tradition and incorporate its practices into their way of life, and to learn, witness and develop very useful skills.” Dartmouth As well as for all of us, our students, staff and faculty,” Barthelmes said.
Gilbert-Diamond added that practicing mindfulness does not require a “time commitment” and is highly “adaptive.” She suggested her students focus on “grounding themselves” by paying attention to the present moment.
“Most of the mindfulness that I practice is not when I’m sitting on a cushion. It’s when I’m talking to someone. I’m conscious of what I’m saying and that I’m here.” Gilbert Diamond said. “My mind is not wandering elsewhere.”
