Hartanto Gunawan, a veteran meditation instructor who teaches at Bangkok’s ancient Wat Arun temple, recently led a series of talks and meditation sessions on campus to help students manage stress.  

The visit was arranged by UR political science professor Monti Datta, who met Gunawan in 2016 during a sabbatical in Thailand. Datta and Gunawan have worked together on previous occasions — in Thailand and America — to introduce students to meditation and mindfulness techniques.

This year, the pair worked with the Roadmap to Success program, a pre-semester series of classes designed to help first-year students transition to college life. Students were taught basic meditation techniques to promote better mental health. Datta said that, while the techniques are based on the Thai Buddhist tradition, they represent a “platform-neutral” meditation with practical benefits on many levels.

“We encourage thinking about meditation not just for stress reduction, but ultimately as a tool of introspection and contemplation,” Datta said. “I think it’s very much in the tradition of the classic liberal arts education — to know who you are, to investigate your thoughts.”

In addition to the Roadmap program, Gunawan spoke to Datta’s Introduction to International Relations class and hosted a half-day retreat at the Well-Being Center on campus. The pair also met with on- and off-campus groups, including students at Richmond’s MLK middle school.

In his teaching experience Gunawan said students in the East and the West both face the same fundamental challenges.

“I call it research meditation, because it’s about being present, reflecting, and actively looking into ourselves,” Gunawan said. “It’s the same for everyone — any kind of life, age, race, gender, religion, or nationality.”

Datta said the students responded with genuine enthusiasm.

“You know, these are pandemic kids, and many of them have not had the chance to process the trauma of the last few years,” Datta said. “What we found was a deep level of understanding and a real curiosity about using meditation as a tool for mental health.”

Datta hopes to continue the initiative in 2023 and potentially expand the program for faculty and staff.  He’s also started a free weekly meditation class at the Well-Being Center this semester for anyone in the UR community.

“This is still new and experimental, but we know that meditation is an effective way for people to get real relief from anxiety,” he said. “We're ultimately hoping that the University of Richmond becomes known as a school where well-being is put front-and-center to a liberal arts education.”