A website, nycmeditation.wordpress.com, by Tucker Klutey and Colin Keane
Introductory letter:
Hello all,
My name is Colin, and along with my friend and partner for this project, Tucker, we have presented you a catalog of our journey with the practice of meditation in the greater New York City area. In an effort to avoid taking a cumulative final exam on the history of all of Tibetan Civilizations, that is a group of people that expand over 10 centuries of intricate and complex history, we created an alternative — what you see before you. Currently juniors at Columbia University, the two of us have a scattered scope of interests in our studies here, ranging from Economics and Computer Science to Religion. As part of our “Global Core” education, we are required to take at least two courses outside of the Western Canon. As such, we decided an introduction to the civilization of Tibet might be of interest, and we were not disappointed.
What we may have initially sought as an attempt to forgo more work in the exam period was largely misguided. This project took us across through various nooks and crannies of Manhattan and on every lettered subway. Nonetheless, despite the fact the project resulted in a fair bit of work, it was largely much more rewarding than any written final exam. Often, as the saying goes, the things that require a little more time and effort end up being the most worthwhile. As one of the few academic opportunities to expand our scope of knowledge beyond the classroom, we experienced one of the oldest forms of Tibetan Buddhist practice firsthand. In our little bubble at Columbia, we often forget that an entirely different reality exists out in the “beyond”, that we often do not get the opportunity to experience.
As you read our experiences, they will likely slightly differ between the two of us, as does any subjective experience. Meditation is, after all, an opportunity to stabilize the entropy that occupy our minds. What lies inside the mind of Tucker, is surely different from my own, but we are still undoubtedly both human. Though we can’t say we are yogic sage’s after a select few experiences, we may be well on our way to better understanding that which occurs in our minds in order to foster a better relationship with ourselves and the world that exists around us.
Enjoy!