Beaming Faces at the Belief Bazaar

By JESSICA BURKE

Perper Plaza was filled with both students and religions alike co-existing happily on October 15 at Lynn’s Belief Bazaar.

The purpose of this event was to “give students an opportunity to experience various spiritual practices and go deeper into their own beliefs,” according to Spiritual and Religious Life Leader, Terrence McCorry.

“We want students to see what’s available on campus through interaction with no barriers,” said McCorry. “We did our best to accomplish that by offering henna, mandalas, yoga, and the chance to speak to some of the religious leaders here on campus.”

McCorry’s hopes seemed to be realized when students actively participated in all the activities and took something away from their time at the bazaar.

“I came to the Belief Bazaar to see what they have to offer and even though I’m not religious, I identify as Jewish, so I wanted to see what’s available to me,” said senior Rebecca Freeman.

Even though McCorry admitted, “the biggest draw to the event is the free ice cream,” many students found enjoyment in some of the other resources offered to them.

“My favorite part of the whole event was making a blessing with the Rabbi,” said Freeman.

Many of the staff that attended the event openly answered questions about any of the religions represented at the bazaar and clarified many important facts.

Leila Shastara sat under the “Tree of Knowledge” and talked about one of the important symbols for her Muslim culture.

“Women wear the Hijab for modesty,” said Shastara. “When we dress, we are required to cover our hair and everything except for the face and the hands. However some more conservative women choose to cover the face as well so only the eyes are visible.”

Another asset to the bazaar was Dr. Khalique Ahmed, who described the potential of meditation.

“There are many benefits to meditation,” said Ahmed. “Meditation clams the brain activity and even though there are many different types of meditation, they all have similar effects. Ultimately the reduce stress, blood pressure, risk of heart attack, it has even been proved that focused meditation improves student’s grades.”

Especially during the current time of midterms, stress for students is at its peak and meditation can help students in more way than one by simply meditating for an hour a week for eight weeks.