Beyond Duck Syndrome: Finding Equanimity at Stanford
A meditation and forum with Buddhist monks

Date: Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Time: 7:00-8:00pm
Location: Circle Sanctuary (top floor of Old Union building), Stanford University
All welcome.

At Stanford University, students sometimes joke about Duck Syndrome: calm and confident on the surface, paddling furiously underneath. We’re expected to be brilliant, productive, and somehow effortless at the same time. But beneath the surface many of us feel the pressure of grades, expectations, the cost of education, uncertainty about the future, and a world that often feels unstable.

Is it possible to be steady in the middle of all that?

This evening explores equanimity: an inner balance that does not depend on others and things going our way. Through a short contemplative practice, stories, and music, we will explore a simple but radical shift: learning to see the world as it is, not only as we think it should be.

Come pause, breathe, and discover a different way to be.

 Speaker Backgrounds

Jin Chuan Shi (Stanford alum, BA Physics & MA Religious Studies)

Bhikshu Jin Chuan was born in New Jersey and grew up in the Silicon Valley. In high school, he began exploring Christianity and Buddhism, and discovered his “calling” to be a monk–to the surprise of his family (and himself). While studying physics and religious studies at Stanford, he joined Dharma Realm Buddhist Youth and frequented Berkeley Buddhist Monastery. In 2005, he became a resident at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. He became a novice in 2011 and a bhikshu in 2013. In 2016, he received an M.A. in Buddhist Classics at Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU) where he now serves as an assistant professor and chaplain. Since 2021, Jin Chuan has served on the Buddhist Global Relief Board and recently the BGR Sangha Council. Together with Bhikshu Jin Wei, he is helping establish Redwood Vihara, a forest monastery in Boulder Creek, California.

Jin Wei Shi

Bhikshu Jin Wei was born in Poland and began his meditation practice in 1999. After living a fun but unfulfilling bohemian lifestyle, he encountered a Polish translation of the Sixth Patriarch Sūtra that inspired him to dedicate himself to Dharma practice and service. He volunteered in various hospitals and helped organize DRBA Delegations to Europe. In 2013, he came to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas as a Sangha and Laity Training Program student. In 2015, he took novice ordination, and in 2017, full ordination. In 2020, he graduated from the DRBU M.A. in Buddhist Classics. Jin Wei Shi serves on the Buddhist Global Relief Sangha Council. Currently, he serves as a lecturer in DRBU Extension while dedicating himself to the development of Redwood Vihara.

This event is presented by the Buddhist Community at Stanford, a student-led nondenominational effort that welcomes everyone of all backgrounds to explore meditation and Buddhism. BCAS hosts multiple weekly meditation groups on campus. For more information, please visit stanfordbuddhism.org