Buddhist nun speaks on acceptance

NIC hosted the Sravasti Abbey’s Venerable Thubten Chodron on Tuesday as part of the common theme of cultural identity. The event was titled “Being Human: Not Seeing the World as Us and Them.” Chodron gave a speech on what makes everyone the same and offered audience members advice on overcoming prejudice.

After a video was shown introducing the Sravasti Abbey, Chodron asked the audience to clear their minds and sit in silence for a few moments.

“If you get distracted by a sound or a feeling or something, simply acknowledge that,” Chodron said. “Don’t make a story of it.”

Ven. Chodron addressed common “me first” attitudes that lead to communication conflicts. She asked the audience what was more important: personal happiness or the happiness of everyone. Students, faculty and community members listened as she touched on the current political climate and the true lack of differences between each individual.

“I actually came as a Buddhist,” said Tanner Mendenhall, general studies major. “This is actually the first event where I’ve been around other Buddhists, so for me, it was kind of an experience thing.”

Mendenhall added that spreading the idea of being there for each other is what makes events like this important at NIC.

“Some of her ideas I didn’t fully believe in or agree with, but there were some things she said that could be seen in any capacity, just as a human being,” Alexandra Nordin, general studies major, said.

The Sravasti Abbey is the first American monastery for Western nuns and monks to practice Buddhist teachings. Chodron, born in Chicago, IL. in 1950, was fully ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1986. She founded the Sravasti Abbey in Newport, WA. in 2003. She has authored 18 books and regularly visits NIC to give talks on requested topics.

A video recording of the event will be made available on the Sravasti Abbey’s YouTube channel.