Contemplation on OHill + EPIC Bonus Environmental Talk

OVERVIEW

Life at UVA moves pretty damn fast. We just got back from Spring Break and class registration is right around the corner, even graduation is close on the horizon. Let’s take some time together. to slow
down
think and
question:

What does it mean to talk to a rock? How are contemplation and our relationship with the environment linked? What can we learn about other traditions to inform and expand our understanding of the natural world? Can we communicate with non-human-others?

This trip is a two-part trip. First, we will venture into Ohill woods to try a contemplative exercise that is an assignment for my Buddhism and the Environment class. Second, we will attend a talk on “The Ethics of Belonging of Indigenous Contemplative Traditions” held by the Contemplative Sciences Center at UVA.

To bring:
a journal
a gift – “Be prepared to offer a gift—a poem, tears of grief, an expression of yearning or joy, a song, a dance, a lock of hair, tobacco, cornmeal, water, a handful of your breath” (Wild Mind)
water
layers
snacks?

Sched
1:45pm- meet at corner of echols dorm
2:00pm – arrive at ohill and contemplate using an excerpt from Wild Mind as a guide
2:45pm – walk back to grounds and go to Yuria Celidwen’s talk
3-5pm – listen to talk (Bavaro 116 )
5:00pm- trip is over 🙁

post-trip:
5:45pm (continue ODC fun with bike to Close to Home art show)

Contemplative Exercise: Excerpt from Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human
Psyche, by Bill Plotkin, p 70-72

Link to the talk information: https://csc.virginia.edu/event/yuria-celidwen-ethics-belonging-indigenous-contemplative-traditions