A Buddhist monk spent the weekend spreading peace and mindfulness across the Mercer University and Macon community. Phra Ajarn Maha Dam Phommasan led three meditation workshops and a Community Peace Walk, with each attended by about 60 faculty, staff, students and community members.
Phommasan, who lives in Snellville, lost his leg last year after being hit by a car while participating in the national Walk for Peace. In March, the Mercer On Mission team, led by Ha Van Vo, Ph.D., D.P.M., M.D., welcomed him with “open arms” to fit him with a prosthetic leg, Phommasan said in a translated interview.
“I was overwhelmed with joy, happiness, just so satisfied. I have a new leg. I have another chance to walk,” he said. “Mercer University’s program … has given back to those that lost their limbs, their dreams, their confidence, their goals of what they want to accomplish in life.”
Phommasan expressed his thanks to Mercer for changing his life and the lives of countless other amputees. The Mercer On Mission team is currently working on a new prosthetic for Phommasan, which will provide a better fit now that his leg swelling has subsided, said Mercer On Mission Director Craig McMahan, Ph.D.
Phommasan eagerly accepted the invitation from McMahan to return to Mercer this fall to share how he uses meditation in his life.
“Meditation has helped me to prepare my heart (to) being in the present,” Phommasan said. “Whatever is going to happen, let it be and accept that in that moment. We all have that fear, but through meditation and understanding, it is preparing you mentally and in your heart, and that fear kind of subsides.”
During the workshop on Oct. 16, Phommasan shared his story and introduced the concept of meditation. Then on Oct. 17, he led sessions on achieving inner peace and outer peace through meditation.
“Meditation isn’t a particularly Buddhist thing, and it’s not something that is necessarily a religious thing. People who are Baptist and Buddhist and nonreligious can practice meditation and mindfulness, the focus on living in the moment,” McMahan said. “(Phommasan’s) call to meditate is that it brings us to the present moment and helps us stay in this present moment. He talked about the significance of meditation for his recovery from his accident. He also made a special mention of how important Mercer was to him in that journey, because we were the first ones to help him walk again, and that gave him such hope.”
Phommasan said he didn’t have the opportunity to finish the national Walk of Peace, so he welcomed the chance to lead a similar event in Macon on Oct. 18.
“It is a reminder that this is another form of cultivating peace — world peace, personal peace, inner peace that radiates through outer peace,” he said. “By doing this, it’s bigger than just (me). It takes effort. It takes time. It takes preparation. It takes a whole group of people.”
Participants practiced walking meditation as they journeyed from Washington Park to Tattnall Square Park to Cruz Plaza, and they engaged in sitting meditation at each stop. Phommasan presented Mercer President Penny L. Elkins, Ph.D., and other participants with a peace bracelet at the last location.
Kayden Cash, CLAS ’27, said receiving a bracelet and a personal blessing from Phommasan was really special. The bracelet symbolizes good fortune, protection and shared goodwill.
“Walking alongside students, faculty, staff and the Macon greater community with the same shared values of unity (was) meaningful. We walked alongside a Buddhist monk, anchoring the walk in an atmosphere of genuine mindfulness and purpose,” said Cash, a communication studies major. “(We left) our titles of students or staff behind and stepped into the shared values of community and unity under peace. Getting to share such a sacred piece of culture through the Community Peace Walk is something that will remain with me forever and serve as a physical reminder to carry the peace, compassion and shared community into my everyday life.”
Phommasan hopes the participants will continue to practice and cultivate what they learned at these meditation events. These practices can help them to cope with the anxieties and stressors of daily life and better understand others, he said.
“I think it’s really helpful to be exposed to wider and broader traditions that allow us to understand our own tradition better but also realize the world is bigger than our tradition and we need to make place for people who come from different places, ideologies and backgrounds,” McMahan said.
McMahan said the friendship between Mercer and Phommasan has grown, and the events were well-received. He hopes the meditation weekend with Phommasan can become an annual Mercer tradition.
“He’s a very kind and gentle person, and I think people appreciated getting to know him, especially since he was part of the national stage. This is a person who we met in some of the darkest hours of his life. We were able to use our skills and resources to give him hope again,” McMahan said. “Reconnecting over the support we were able to give him was very nice. It reminded us of our part in his story.”
The meditation workshops and Community Peace Walk were part of Mercer’s Countdown to 19, a university-wide celebration of the historic investiture of President Penny L. Elkins, Ph.D., as Mercer’s 19th president. The investiture ceremony, to be held on Oct. 29 and streamed live, will provide the global Mercer community the opportunity to participate in this landmark occasion from anywhere in the world. For additional information, visit inauguration.mercer.edu.
