Columnist Susan Snyder: Meditation is worth a thought

Friday, Dec. 20, 2002 | 9:25 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

When was the last time you sat perfectly still and did nothing for five minutes?

No reading. No TV. No radio. No festering over errands, laundry, kids or work. Just clear your head of all the daily noise and listen instead to the helicopter flying overhead or the hum of the refrigerator.

This kind of meditation isn't the end-all for followers at Las Vegas' Great Bright Zen Center. It's the start.

"It's asking you to take a very close examination of your life and your priorities," said Thom Pastor, founder and abbot of the center that's tucked in a business park off Industrial Road.

He realizes this 2,500-year-old practice can pale when compared to modern meditation techniques of visualizing tranquil places or listening to ocean sounds over headphones.

"But when you take the headset off and drive down to Vons and someone cuts you off in traffic, what do you do?" he asked.

Like many modern Western degenerates, my knowledge of Eastern religion consists of college coffee-house discussions of Pooh's Tao, Piglet's Te and the art of motorcycle maintenance. And Las Vegas pretty much sets the standard for creating mental noise and distraction.

So it was curiosity, mostly, that drew me to the Great Bright center Dec. 8 to hear Zen Master Dae Kwang, abbot of the Korean Kwan Um School of Zen. Kwang, a monk since 1987, teaches Zen in Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Delaware, Alaska and British Columbia.

His speech attracted about 35 people -- enough to fill Great Bright's center wall-to-wall. Member Tom Flagg said he wasn't sure how many of those there that night would be back.

"We get hundreds of people who come once," Flagg said.

Maybe it's because the center doesn't look "churchy." Maybe it's leaving shoes at the door or the Buddha figure sitting cross-legged at the front of the room. (Not sure why a smiling Buddha is more disturbing to behold than a guy hanging on a cross in pain. But culture is what it is.)

"I think it's the chanting that puts people off," Flagg said. "But it directs and focuses your mind."

It sounded kind of cool, even to those who didn't understand Korean.

"It's like the first time you sang a hymn in church. You just followed along as best you could," Kwang told the group.

Some people's best was better than others. But we tried.

Pastor founded the center in 1994. They first convened in the lobby of a local acupuncturist's office. They had to move all the furniture for their meetings each Wednesday and Sunday, then move it all back for the next day's business, said Mario Intino, the center's co-director.

"I had big questions about my life and my purpose," said Intino, who joined five years ago. "I hadn't found any solace in my Catholic upbringing."

Such questions loom large for everyone. Perhaps that's what draws such a diverse group to Great Bright. Pastor is a woodwind musician and secretary-treasurer of the Las Vegas' musicians' union. Flagg is UNLV's media relations director. Intino is curator of the Smallworks online art gallery. Another member is a state park ranger.

"Even if you're Bill Gates, some little hole will appear," Kwang said. "We all have the question, and we all have the answer. We just don't want to believe our minds."