Every month this past year, I had the privilege of attending a Boston Interfaith Leadership Initiative (BILI) meeting as a fellow. Each three hour-long meeting featured a different wonderful guest speaker and thought-provoking discussion and readings. However, as an MIT student, I would initially be a little nervous the week of a meeting. My thoughts were constantly wrapped up in the plethora of assignments and due dates, and it always seemed like no matter how hard I worked, I still needed every minute of available office hours to get me through the problem sets assigned for each class. This, of course, led to no small amount of stress—and me questioning whether I had the mental bandwidth to be truly present in the BILI meeting without worrying about my to-do list waiting for me back on campus. 

However, I quickly learned there was no need to worry. Each meeting was engaging, insightful, and the content so completely different than normal campus discussions that it wasn’t at all difficult to be present. In fact, unlike many group meetings at MIT, I felt mentally rejuvenated after a BILI meeting rather than mentally drained. It wasn’t just the readings or the speaker that imparted this feeling. Smaller aspects of each meeting, such as listening to the opening or closing ‘intention’—a meaningful object, anecdote, piece etc. that is shared by a fellow—or performing a mindfulness check—a self-scan to take into account how you feel as you enter a space—were calming moments that allowed me to ground myself and cast aside the stress in my head. 

Before coming to MIT, meditation had formed a core pillar of my daily life. But it wasn’t until BILI that I grasped the slow usurpation of mindfulness in my life by stress. I realized with regret that it had only taken a change of setting for me to abandon a lifelong habit. Granted, at home, my meditation experience had always consisted of a sanctum-like room with tendrils of sandalwood and incense wafting through the air. Serene, private, and nearly impossible to replicate on a college campus. 

Mindfulness comes in many forms—whether it be a deep conversation or physical exercise—and I certainly had plenty of opportunities in my day to turn simple activities into mindful ones.

But it wasn’t until I understood why I felt so calm after BILI meetings that I realized my definition of mindfulness was narrow, confined to a single activity and setting. Rather, mindfulness comes in many forms—whether it be a deep conversation or physical exercise—and I certainly had plenty of opportunities in my day to turn simple activities into mindful ones.  

But my realization was layered. I now understood that those moments of peace are crucial for allowing oneself to think deeply, and to therefore fully participate in deeper, philosophical discussions.

My personal opinion, and perhaps an important revelation, is that because it can be hard to find such meditative moments in a typical MIT day, it can also be difficult for students to stretch beyond their immediate worries and engage in deeper, spiritual discussions outside of a religious group meeting.

Therefore, it is my hope that the increased introduction of meditative or mindful practices to interfaith students or prior to the start of interfaith dialogue meetings can positively impact religious dialogue engagement on campus. 

I know many students on my campus may not be in an interfaith organization but would be interested in participating in dialogue. However, to start the conversation and ease them into topics with which they may not be immediately comfortable, it helps immensely when the conversation is approached with a clear, calm, and stress-free mind. 

While my emphasis on the connection between mindfulness and interfaith may be narrowly focused, I believe it can lead to a greater positive chain reaction than initially expected. 

These are a few lessons among many that I can bring back to my campus, at least on a personal if not on a widespread level. Like me, many of my friends struggle to incorporate mindful habits into their daily routine. But, also like me, a change in what they define as mindful could be instrumental in improving their habits. 

Furthermore, while discussions of faith or world perspectives don’t arise often in everyday conversation, a personal goal of mine after my time in BILI is to engage in these conversations more regularly and more spontaneously, and to encourage my friends to do the same. Although technology and religion don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand, it’s refreshing and grounding to form connections with others using religious philosophy and worldviews as a basis, especially when those mediums are so rarely explored in my university’s atmosphere. 

I’ve discovered that one of the prominent beauties of interfaith work is the diverse array of topics that can fall within its borders.  After a year with BILI, I’m eager to share all I’ve learned with my communities and friends on campus, ranging from topics on mindfulness to the nuances of interfaith dialogue. I’m excited to bring back the readings and the speakers’ lessons to MIT’s own interfaith group, as well as the lessons gathered from the retreat we planned. And lastly, I am eager to see how my own spiritual journey will continue to evolve and grow as a result of this experience.

Image Credit: Getting Started with Mindfulness: A Toolkit for Early Childhood Organizations