Prestigious Utrecht University of Netherlands runs a “Meditation Center” for students
By ANISunday, December 19, 2010
NEVADA - Utrecht University (UU), one of the leading universities of the world, runs a “Meditation Center” for “spiritual time out”.
Located next to the sports field, this Center provides a space for worship, prayer, reflection and contemplation. It acts as a source of inspiration for global understanding, according to Utrecht University (Universiteit Utrecht), located in Utrecht in The Netherlands. Meditation is part of Recreational Facilities at UU.
Center’s large window reportedly displays symbols of the major religious and spiritual areas of thought: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism/Taoism, Islam, Humanism, Judaism and Shintoism.
Well known Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Meditation Center was a “step in the right direction”. Meditation could bring positive changes in one’s life and it complemented religion.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged other major educational institutions of the world to follow UU in providing an opportunity to students to explore meditation.
Hinduism had been associated with meditation for ages. There were various aspects of it, including pratyahara, upasana, samadhi, manana, dhyana, dharana; Rajan Zed added.
Few months back, UU organized five lectures on “consciousness”, where based on experience with insight meditation, Henk Barendregt (Radboud University) said that there was a way to influence the flow of mind-states via meditation. This could bring inner calm and make us ready to act in the world more fully.
Part of core mission of UU is to “address social issues and work towards solving them”. A globally leading university, it traces its basis to Irish monk Willibrord’s seminary launched in 695 and boasts of 12 Nobel Prize winners. With a budget of about 716 million Euros, it offers 258 degree programs in seven faculties to about 30, 000 students from 130 countries, including 2,150 doctoral candidates. Yvonne van Rooy is the President, while M.H. (Rien) Meijerink is Chairman of Supervisory Board.(ANI)
