Changed by Faith
Zen beliefs inspire Dallas man to lead environmental campaigns
Chris Blake
Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Features
"What are you doing, God?" Stuard said he remembers thinking. "You haven't done much for me lately, so goodbye."
His decision to leave Christianity coincided with his departure from Baylor, and two years later, he found himself at the University of Houston, where he began practicing Zen meditation.
From the Inside Out
"Zen meditation is the practice of sitting in silence, paying attention to each breath and focusing the mind on here and now," said Ruben Habito, a professor of world religions and spirituality at SMU's Perkins School of Theology. "It allows the practitioner to see how we are all connected in the universe."
Zen meditation led Stuard to hear Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen master from Vietnam. speak. Stuard soon left the United States for Plum Village in May 1992 and became the first western male to be ordained as a monk by Hanh. Stuard's experience at the Orthodox Good Friday service came 16 months after his ordainment.
"I felt like I was able to reclaim what had been lost," Stuard said.
So, in March 1996 Stuard left the monastery, learned of Habito and moved to Dallas to practice Zen meditation, which led him to his involvement in environmental activism.
"(Stuard's) dedication to social ecological work derives from his spiritual practice," Habito said. "Zen meditation opens your eyes to the wounds of the earth and you see the pain that's happening around you."
With his renewed fervor in Zen meditation, Stuard said he felt moved to do something to stop global warming.
"I refuse to stand by and see my planet die," he said. "And I refuse to be a victim."
Family Matters
"I was able to stay in the closet for her sake," Stuard said of his mother who passed away in May 2005. He said he did not come out to her because he didn't want to further endanger her health.
Stuard said he felt liberated when he could finally come out to everyone because he was able to live truthfully. This comes at the expense of minimal contact with his family because of their intolerance of his homosexuality, he said.
His decision to leave Christianity coincided with his departure from Baylor, and two years later, he found himself at the University of Houston, where he began practicing Zen meditation.
From the Inside Out
"Zen meditation is the practice of sitting in silence, paying attention to each breath and focusing the mind on here and now," said Ruben Habito, a professor of world religions and spirituality at SMU's Perkins School of Theology. "It allows the practitioner to see how we are all connected in the universe."
Zen meditation led Stuard to hear Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen master from Vietnam. speak. Stuard soon left the United States for Plum Village in May 1992 and became the first western male to be ordained as a monk by Hanh. Stuard's experience at the Orthodox Good Friday service came 16 months after his ordainment.
"I felt like I was able to reclaim what had been lost," Stuard said.
So, in March 1996 Stuard left the monastery, learned of Habito and moved to Dallas to practice Zen meditation, which led him to his involvement in environmental activism.
"(Stuard's) dedication to social ecological work derives from his spiritual practice," Habito said. "Zen meditation opens your eyes to the wounds of the earth and you see the pain that's happening around you."
With his renewed fervor in Zen meditation, Stuard said he felt moved to do something to stop global warming.
"I refuse to stand by and see my planet die," he said. "And I refuse to be a victim."
Family Matters
"I was able to stay in the closet for her sake," Stuard said of his mother who passed away in May 2005. He said he did not come out to her because he didn't want to further endanger her health.
Stuard said he felt liberated when he could finally come out to everyone because he was able to live truthfully. This comes at the expense of minimal contact with his family because of their intolerance of his homosexuality, he said.
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