When Zakaria Kronemer strolls down Campus Walk, the UMW junior isn’t thinking about his upcoming exam or the conversation he just had. Instead, he focuses on his feet as each step pounds the brick walkway. He feels the air touching his hand as the wind blows and concentrates on his muscles as they work to move his legs. Kronemer practices living in the moment. It’s a lesson that he learned last summer as one of 40 students from around the world studying the Buddhist practices of meditation and tai chi in the mountains of eastern China at the Shengshou Temple. Back at UMW this fall, he found that his outlook on life had changed. Most significantly, the philosophy major has adjusted his view of everyday tasks. “Everything in the monastic life is a contemplative process,” said Kronemer, who traveled to China after receiving a scholarship from the Woodenfish Project, which educates emerging scholars on Chinese Buddhism. “That’s something that I’ve been trying to incorporate into … [Read more...]