The Zen Horseman Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Andelora, Joshua Francis Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 24/09/2021 16:44:37 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/624904 Andelora 1 Creative Thesis, Artist Statement The Zen Horseman Joshua Andelora In an effort to convey that one must be present in the moment, a wise Zen Master once told his student “Do or do not, there is no try.” Can anyone tell me which master said this? The answer is 874 year old Jedi Master Yoda. On May 25th, 1977 George Lucas and Steven Spielberg introduced the United States to Zen on a large scale through Jedi teachings. This was my first exposure to Zen Buddhism, and at the time I didn’t even realize that Yoda’s teachings were Zen. At the age of six my parents took me into a video store to look for movies to add to our collection. My father and I found our way into the Sci-Fi isle. I remember him looking at me as he picked up a gold and black box set of VHR’s with a black mask on it – I would soon find out that this was Darth Vader. The day that my father introduced me to Star Wars was the day that my life changed. I remembered him sitting down next to me when we were watching Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back1 and saying, just before Yoda was introduced, “pay attention to Yoda’s teachings son,”. It wasn’t until I took Dr. Jameson’s Introduction to Zen Buddhism course here at the University of Arizona that I realized just how similar Zen Buddhism is to Master Yoda’s Jedi teachings. So I called my father to tell him my epiphany – you could feel his smile through the phone as he said “Of course, why do you think I introduced you to Yoda”. This was the day that I realized Zen had been a foundation in my life for many more years than I ever anticipated. 1 Lucas, G. (Producer), & Kershner, I. (Director). (2004). Star Wars: the Empire strikes back [Motion picture on DVD]. Beverly Hills, CA: Lucasfilm LTD. Andelora 2 I’ve always been a “Zen Horseman” at heart. Although my father primed me to Zen at a very young age, when I was a child, I would dress up in my boots and hat, parade around and pretend that I was in Tombstone, AZ or out in the desert riding on my Mustang. Little did I know, the two are correlated in a more significant way than I ever imagined. A little over four years ago, during my freshman orientation at the University of Arizona, I was sitting in a very warm room on the second story of Slonaker House listening to an Honors College representative speak. He was addressing all of the prospective honors students in the room. I remember hearing the house sparrows outside the open window singing as he discussed the honors thesis that we would all have to partake in. I wanted my thesis to capture my passions and celebrate who I am as a student and human. The journey of writing this thesis however, has further revealed to myself who I am and what I am passionate in. If we track back four years ago, I thought I wanted to become a doctor of the body. Perhaps a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. I enjoyed physiology and how the body works, but I realized that to become a healer of the body in the typical medical sense was not my passion. I wanted to deal with the mind-body connection. It became clear to me in Physiology 202 that many issues with the body originate with the mind, especially through stress. My own coping mechanisms for stress included meditation and interacting with horses; whether it be just playing around with them or actual riding. I wanted to see how these play into psychology. Given that these are my interests, I declared a major in Psychology and a minor in Religious Studies during my junior year here at the University of Arizona. I fell in love with the major and became aware of a Andelora 3 newer psychological therapy that dealt with horses. The official name is Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. This is the therapy that inspired the basis of my thesis. Although, the positive effects that horses hold on the human body and psyche occur without undergoing formal therapy. Through the writing of this creative honors thesis I have utilized many resources and greatly expanded my own network. Given that this thesis integrates four separate aspects: Religion in regards to Zen Buddhism, Horsemanship, Physiology, and Psychology, I have had to gather a strong team of mentors. My official Honors Thesis Advisor who has been mentoring me through this entire process is Dr. Hester Oberman of the University of Arizona’s Department of Religious Studies and Classics. Dr. Oberman has helped tremendously with my third chapter, correlating Horses and Meditation and has helped me refine and edit the entire thesis overall. For my religious portion of the thesis, regarding Zen Buddhism and zen meditation, Dr. Alison Jameson of the Department of Religious Studies and Classics as well as East Asian Studies here at the University of Arizona has been mentoring me. With her specialties in Neo- Confucian and Chinese Religion she has provided me with wonderful readings to enrich my writing as well as refine and hone in my ideas in regards to Zen. These two superb mentors have greatly inspired me and pushed me to generate the best work that I am capable of. However, beyond my two mentors, I have engaged in many experiences to help bring credibility and authority to my honors thesis. To provide for first hand experiences with meditation and breathing, I have become involved with the University of Arizona’s Counseling and Psych Services’ Mindful Ambassadors as well as enrolled in Dr. Ann Baldwin’s course, PSIO 415, Mind Andelora 4 and Body Physiology. My experience with Mindful Ambassadors has trained me in a various array of Mindful practices, including meditation. Our mission is to spread mindful awareness to the University of Arizona’s community, including both faculty and students. This experience has allowed me to lead groups of Wildcats through meditative practices and actually ask them about their experience, how they feel, and how it has affected them. Granted, this sort of experience only goes so far. Therefore, in PSIO 415, Dr. Baldwin has focused her course on the effect that meditation and mindful practices have on the human psyche and body. Through research dealing with Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and meditative practice, this course has provided me with valuable experience, knowledge, and research for this thesis. Dr. Baldwin also engages in research with Horses and HRV, which has provided me with actual studies and knowledge regarding the effect that equine interaction has on the human body. This course, and Dr. Baldwin, have proved to be an invaluable resource. For my material about equine interaction, I have had two paramount mentors: Dr. Allan Hamilton and Sherry Simon-Heldt. Dr. Hamilton is a neurosurgeon, horse trainer and author here in Tucson. He is the author of the book Zen Mind Horse Mind2, a book about training horses through meditative Zen mentality, as well as how horses and humans are interconnected. During this thesis, I began working for Dr. Hamilton has his media intern, writing posts about horsemanship, researching articles and posting about equine therapy and more on his Facebook and Twitter. His book and work have proven to be invaluable to my thesis. 2 Hamilton, A. J. (2011). Zen Mind, Zen Horse: the science and spirituality of working with horses. North Adams, MA: Storey Pub., LLC. Andelora 5 Sherry Simon-Heldt M.S., is the owner and operator of Equine Explorations, an equine therapy facility on the east side of Tucson. Her work focuses on the mind and body connection between horses and humans, and how interacting with these hoofed animals affect our physiology and in turn our psyche. I have interviewed Sherry twice and was allowed to shadow her for almost a year now. Throughout writing this thesis Sherry has invited me to aid her in her month long Homicide Survivor equine therapy workshops. I was granted permission to be present and observe in the activities with Sherry’s clients, on the condition of upholding strict confidentiality. This experience that Sherry has provided me with is exceptional. Not only was I able to experience Sherry interact with clients and help aid homicide survivors through equine therapy, I was able be there with the clients, present in the activities and witness just how positively the psychological effects of this practice effected them. Without Sherry, this thesis could not have happened. This thesis serves to combine psychology and religious studies, as well as integrate my passions and career aspirations. In order to fully understand the effects of the practice of zen meditation, it is paramount that I have an in-depth understanding of the religion of Buddhism, its origins, how Zen came to be, and why the meditation is taught the way that it is taught. For this thesis I took my general knowledge of Buddhism and Zen, and through the guidance of Dr.