BOCA RATON – Barbara Schmidt has been following the masters of
meditation and practicing that relaxing art for some 30 years.
It has brought her confidence, courage, personal strength, happiness
and other lifestyle improvements.
Now, she is sharing what she learned through a program she
created.
Schmidt is the founder of the Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life program at
Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, a series of workshops and
lectures held during the school year.
She taught topical workshops during late 2011. After the holiday
break, the project continues with the appearance Saturday, Jan. 7, at
4 p.m. of Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, one of the first western women to
be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist nun. Former monk James Finley
returns to speak Jan. 26 and on Feb. 25, a group of Buddhist monks
will visit FAU to create a sand mandala in the Schmidt Gallery.
The Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life Workshop series falls under the
umbrella of Peaceful Mind Peaceful Life. Barbara Schmidt was the
founder, Mary Cormier and Adriana Faraldo are co-founders.
Three philanthropies donated a total of $600,000 several years ago
to fund the peace program. It came from the E.M. Lynn Foundation,
represented by Christine Lynn; the Bay Branch Foundation,
represented by Elaine Wold and the Schmidt Family Foundation,
represented by Dick and Barbara Schmidt.
“The community outreach program, in collaboration with the Schmidt
Family Foundation, has already brought such apostles of peace as
the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet and Dr. Jane Goodall to Boca Raton,”
said Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of
Arts and Letters.
In one of her workshops, Schmidt talked of how people should “live
their lives in a meaningful, loving way.” She said she begins and
ends her days with meditation. It boosts her inner strength and offers
repose at times of personal chaos.
“I can be confident and secure in whatever I do, no matter what. My
first reaction will be, ‘I can handle this.’”
She uses a system called The Practice, meaning “the actual
application or use of in idea, belief or method as opposed to the
theories about such application or use.” The Practice can also be a
verb, meaning to exercise a skill repeatedly or regularly to maintain
one’s proficiency.
Schmidt said people should adopt a “mantra,” or a “sacred phrase,”
to use for meditation “to retrain the mind to refocus its attention and
bring it back to the present moment.”
She concluded her recent workshop by quoting Ghandi, who
said, “Be the change we wish to see in the world.”