As ISU faculty members know, the life of a career academic is filled with stress. Juggling research, grading and teaching taxes the emotional reserves of scholars at every level, from adjunct to department chairperson. At times, the pressures of their jobs can seem inescapable.
But for two ISU instructors, this is not the case. Brian Eslinger and Joel Geske said they find relief from the stress of work in the Buddhist traditions of mindfulness meditation.
Historically, the term “meditation” has been used to refer to many different practices within Buddhism, including breath-counting, repetition of a word or phrase known as a mantra and the contemplation of paradoxical questions called koans. Broadly speaking, the aim of meditation is to attain enlightenment — a state of total freedom from suffering and desire.
Eslinger, a lecturer of philosophy and religious studies, learned about Buddhism from…