Rochester area’s Buddhists value meditative life

Cecily Fuhr had the kind of serendipitous introduction to Buddhism that is typical of many of its American practitioners. A graduate student in literature at the University of Rochester [New York, USA] in the early ‘90s, she happened to walk past the big old house at 7 Arnold Park, home of the Rochester Zen Center. “There was a sign that mentioned meditation,” she says. “And I thought, ‘I’m pretty stressed out,’ so I knocked on the door.” It wasn’t long before she was a member. After graduation, she worked at the center for a couple of years before going to law school in Seattle. But she missed Rochester and the Zen Center and moved back. Next month, Fuhr, 40, of Rochester, is joining the center’s staff of 15. “It’s the meditation,” she says of Buddhism’s appeal. “If that doesn’t work for you, you probably aren’t going to hang around for long.” Read Article

By Mark Hare