Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 1 p.m. in the Sykes Courtyard at St. Lawrence University
In this program from our World Spiritual Practices Project (WiSPP), we are partnering with St. Lawrence University to co-host a tour of the Japanes Zen Garden on the St. Lawrence University Campus. The tour will be led by professor Mark McWilliams and include an opportunity to create an Ema Prayer Tablet.
Participants should meet at the flagpole outside Sykes Courtyard on the SLU campus at 12:50 p.m. Registration is suggested, and can be completed here. A voluntary contribution of $5 is also suggested to pay for the votive tablet.
Read the full press release here:
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Canton serving the North Country community will co-host a
Japanese Zen Garden Tour on Thursday, October 10, 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. in the Sykes Courtyard at St.
Lawrence University. Registration suggested: https://forms.gle/KFS9f2S8nzSxc6SB9
The North Country Japanese Zen Garden was constructed in 2008 after a study-trip by students and faculty to Kyoto, Japan. The goal of the trip was to study famous Zen temple gardens, bring back design ideas, and create a garden inspired by Buddhist principles and reflect the spirit of the unique North Country environment.
There will be a tour of the history and elements of the garden, with an explanation of the different religious elements within the design, and how one might see the garden in the context of Buddhist practice. The second half of the tour is a hands-on activity where participants will make their own ema or votive tablet which they can leave in the garden to elicit good luck.
When asked about Buddhist practice in the UU faith, Rev James Galasinski said, “Unitarian Universalists
(UU’s) maintain a pluralistic faith grounded in love and activated within a “living tradition” of wisdom and
spirituality, and draw from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience.” “We
value and incorporate the world’s religions and spiritual practices as part of our spiritual and beloved
community.”
The garden tour will be led by Mark MacWilliams, St. Lawrence University Professor Religious Studies and Co-Director of the North Country Japanese Garden. MacWilliams studied Buddhism as an undergraduate student at Syracuse University and practiced sitting meditation under a variety of Zen teachers from Korea and Japan. He began his life-long interest in the bodhisattvas Kannon and Jizo, beings of mercy and compassion who are a major focus of devotion throughout East Asia. MacWilliams dedicated the North Country Japanese Garden to Manabi Jizo, a form of the bodhisattva who is dedicated to helping those who are studying and learning.
Garden tour participants will meet at 12:50 p.m. on the St. Lawrence University campus at the flagpole outside the Sykes Courtyard. The garden tour is free and open to all, a voluntary contribution of $5 is suggested to pay for your votive prayer tablets that can be left in the garden or taken home as a souvenir.
The Japanese Zen Garden tour is a chance to extend your understanding of Buddhism and is part of the year-long World Spiritual Practices Project (WiSPP) grant from the Unitarian Universalist Association funding program (UUFP). The grant supports experiences from a diversity of religious and spiritual perspectives that will be conveyed through workshops, worship, speakers, arts and cultural performances, and programming.
According to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) website, Unitarian Universalists (UU’s) maintain a pluralistic faith that is grounded in love and activated within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. Unitarian Universalist congregations honor the inherent worth and dignity of every person and are firmly grounded in environmental actions and social justice. UU congregations are committed to fostering lifelong faith formation and spiritual development and the transformation of the world through the liberation of love.