Tucked in a small, dark room in the basement of Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University junior Noah Steinberg prepared to lead his weekly meditation session. It was March 2018 and midterms were approaching, so he expected a decent turn out.

What Steinberg did not expect was SU basketball center Paschal Chukwu to attend. Standing at 7-foot-2, Chukwu towered over everyone in the room as he introduced himself. He told Steinberg he needed help preparing for his upcoming game against Duke University in the March Madness Tournament.

SU was the underdog, but they had beaten Duke University in the Dome the previous year, so stakes were high. Steinberg, attempting to hide his excitement, helped Chukwu get started and continued with the session.

Hendricks Chapel hosts up to three, one hour-long meditation sessions each day. Sessions are led by practicing student leaders, the Buddhist Co-Chaplains and community volunteers. But the gatherings offer more than a quiet space to relax — they create opportunities for students to learn about themselves.

“I always saw the benefits of it, short term and long term,” Steinberg said.

Since Steinberg’s father is Buddhist, he knew he would get involved with Hendricks after learning about the Chaplaincies. From there, he explored meditation as a daily practice and started spending more time with the students and staff involved.

“I guess my primary inspiration back then was, throughout high school, I found it more difficult to maintain meditation,” he said.

When he was younger, Steinberg said meditation wasn’t cool — he almost felt weird being involved. But today, he is serving as president of SU’s Student Buddhist Association (SBA), working alongside Buddhist Co-Chaplains Joann Cooke and Jikyo Bonnie Shoultz.

Cooke, who started at SU earlier this semester, is training to take over the Chaplaincy after Shoultz retires. But Cooke is no stranger to campus — she attended SU for her undergraduate degree back in 1977.

“I think the one thing that has stayed the same with Hendricks is People’s Place,” Cooke said, laughing.

Raised a devout Catholic, Cooke said she arrived on campus open-minded toward other religions. After exploring the different chaplaincies at Hendricks, Cooke said she took to Buddhism for its holistic approach to life and religion. To her surprise and relief, Cooke’s father wasn’t upset at her abandoning the church.

“He was spiritually broader than the Catholic Church even though he was totally there with it, because when I left it he was not upset at all,” she said.

While the meditation sessions at Hendricks aren’t directly run under the Buddhist Co-Chaplains, many of those involved do practice the faith.

“It is not just related to Buddhism. By allowing meditation to happen in Hendricks, it can secure that practice regardless of what people identify themselves with,” said Junjie Ren, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Ren didn’t initially enjoy the meditation sessions because they had a restrictive “structure.” But after developing closer bonds with the staff and students involved, he embraced the gatherings. Today, everyone in Hendricks knows Ren as the “meditation guy.”

Syeisha Byrd, director of Hendricks Chapel’s Office of Engagement Programs, immediately thought of Ren when asked about involved students. To Byrd, Ren’s journey resonates with why she loves working at Hendricks.

“We help build that whole person — we help students that are seeking find their way, their path,” Byrd said. “I love to watch the growth as a shy, first-year student enters my office and watching them walk across that stage into that job or grad school program.”

Through opportunities like meditation gatherings, students like Steinberg and Ren are able to explore their spirituality as well as connect with the community. Both of the students are making an effort to expand their audiences through more engaging activities.

Today, Steinberg is working with the SBA to bring regular session-goers out of the small room in Hendricks. He said he is currently collaborating with the Buddhist Co-Chaplains to organize sit-down events where students can talk about “unfiltered” things.

Though Cooke only arrived on campus a few weeks ago, Steinberg said she has taken off with her responsibilities. By fostering collaborations between different student organizations and individuals as well as taking on new projects, Steinberg said she’s a great new addition to the chapel.

But it’s going to be tough to replace Shoultz — among other high praises, Steinberg said she is “such an incredible human being.”

For students looking to attend meditation sessions, there are new opportunities this semester. Steinberg is organizing a few off-campus retreats where students can meditate for an entire weekend — his parents offered up their family vacation home in the Adirondack Mountains for an upcoming retreat, he said.

The sessions are located in the lower level of Hendricks in the Small Chapel. Meditation sessions run Mondays starting at noon, 2:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Tuesdays at noon and 4 p.m.; Wednesdays starting at 5:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 9:30 a.m.; and Fridays at 11 a.m. Sessions typically run an hour long; however, the last 15 minutes are generally dedicated to mingling, according to Cooke.

Published on October 9, 2018 at 9:51 pm

Contact Lydia: lnilesst@syr.edu