Sleeping in an Academic Building

Have you ever woken up in an Academic Building? Sure, to the sound of "Mr. Jumago! Let me ask again, why did Nixon attack Cambodia?" Many a sleep-deprived student has fallen asleep at their desk or table while a professor lectures, only to be awakened violently by the Ivory Tower Inquisition. This weekend however, I woke up in an Academic Building under very different circumstances...

Part of my Experiential Psychology class involves participating in a weekend long meditation retreat. Now, frequent readers will know that I have reservations about Buddhism, however I went in to the retreat with eyes open, ready to be enlightened. It was to be 48 hours of no talking. 48 hours in the social sciences hall, with all the windows and clocks covered (like Vegas). It was to be 48 hours without Sex, Drugs, or Rock and Roll (unlike Vegas). Scary shit. I freaked out after the first five hours and had to leave, but I came back the next day (again, strangely like Vegas).

There's something powerful about sitting still with your eyes shut, just thinking (or not thinking- I'm not entirely clear on this) for hours on end. For one, you start to realize how inflexible and poorly conditioned your body is. You also start to realize how judgemental and irritable you are. That might just be me, though. You also start to asses your ordinary creature comforts differently. I didn't find myself missing videogames and beer and Taco Truck- I found myself missing my bed. And being clean. That's another part of it, no showering. Filth helps you focus. Actually, I don't know if that's the case, but I'm guessing.

Certainly I learned a lot from the experience, but it's not something I want to go back and do right away. This counldn't be an every-weekend kind of thing. I gotta have fun, too. Although after going through it I definitely wonder what life would be like if we all meditated constantly. As we wandered through the Academic Building, shut off from reality, things took on a surreal tone. People would float from room to room, clutching a pillow or mug of tea with a quiet wisdom in their eye. Or maybe a quiet crazy. I wasn't in a good place to judge sanity. But the point is, we created a beautiful little world there without really communicating at all. That's pretty sweet. Try meditating sometime, friends. Just because Buddhism is a questionable religion doesn't mean one can't appreciate some of the mechanisms. It's like "Screw Christianity, I'm just here for the wine and crackers!"