SEVEN NEWS. THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE MEDITATING IN THE UNITED STATES HAS MORE THAN TRIPLED IN THE LAST TEN YEARS. SO AS WE CELEBRATE ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLNDER MONTH, WE LOOK AT THIS EASTERN TRADITION. TODD KURTZ TALKED WITH THE WORLD RENOWNED MEDITATION TEACHER IN NEW MEXICO. THE BEAUTIFUL SOUND OF THE BELL IN THE ZENDO AT PAIA ZEN CENTER IN SANTA FE. WENDY LAU SHOWING ME THE SPACE. SHE’S A DOCTOR WHO HAS TAKEN UP A DEDICATED MEDITATION PRACTICE AND NOW TEACHES OTHER DOCTORS WHO ARE REPORTING MEDITATION IS HELPING THEIR DAILY LIVES. THEY REALLY NEED IT. A LOT OF THEM ARE REALLY, REALLY SUFFERING FROM THE WAY THE SYSTEM IS AND ALSO THROUGH THE PANDEMIC. SO IN A WAY, THIS KIND OF PROCESS IS REALLY HELPING THEM PROCESS THROUGH THAT TRAUMA THAT THEY’VE GONE THROUGH. WENDY IS SITTING NEXT TO HER. TEACHER ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX, THE MOVEMENT IS TOWARD HARMONY ROSHI, OR REVEREND JOAN IS KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD FOR HER TEACHINGS, PARTNERING WITH THE MOST WELL KNOWN SPIRITUAL TEACHERS LIKE THE DALAI LAMA AND HER GOOD FRIEND RAMDAS. SHE’S BEEN TEACHING WORLDWIDE SINCE THE MID-SIXTIES AND OPENED UP IN THE 90S. I THINK ULTIMATELY THE GOAL IS HOW CAN WE END SUFFERING AND THAT’S IMPORTANT TODAY. THE TWO RECENTLY GOT BACK FROM TEACHING IN JAPAN. OF COURSE, MEDITATION PRACTICE STEMS FROM THE EAST, BUT NUMBERS IN THE US ARE SKYROCKETING LATELY, ACCORDING TO THE GOOD BODY, THE NUMBER OF MEDITATORS IN OUR COUNTRY TRIPLED IN THE LAST DECADE. 14% OF US ADULTS HAVE TRIED MEDITATION. 7% OF CHILDREN REGULARLY PRACTICE THIS ROSHI JOAN BELIEVES THE PRACTICES RESONATE IN THE WEST RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A CULTURE WHERE THE NARRATIVE IS OFTEN DIRECTED TOWARD I’M NOT ENOUGH AND ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT PRACTICE IS THAT YOU REALIZE YOU ARE NOT ONLY ENOUGH, BUT YOU ARE IN A WORLD THAT YOU IS PART OF YOU. YOU ARE ENOUGH. YOU ARE EVERYTHING THING. AND THAT REALIZATION IS PROFOUNDLY LIBERATING. NOW, INTERESTINGLY, NEW MEXICO HAS A STRONG BUDDHIST IN MEDITATION PRESENCE. WE FOUND 45 CENTERS ACROSS THE STATE, DESPITE JUST 1.9% OF OUR POPULATION IDENTIFYING AS ASIAN ROSHI, JOAN THINKS THE DRAW IS PART OF THE LAND HERE. THIS PRACTICE THAT CAME FROM THE EAST HAS BEEN CARRIED BY INDIGENOUS HERE FOR MILLENNIA, SHE RECALLED BEING AT A PUEBLO FEAST DAY AND TALKING WITH A MAN THERE, AND HE SAID, WELL, YOU KNOW, BUDDHISM’S A LOT LIKE US. THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES CARRY A VERY SIMILAR SPIRIT. IT’S PRACTICE FIRST IN SILENCE, GOING INTO OUR NOISY INTERNAL WORLD AND SEEING THINGS AS THEY ARE. THE BEAUTIFUL, AND WHERE THERE’S SPACE TO