Zen Moments

The Train to Kyoto

Zen Moments — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:15:53 +0000

“Everything comes down to you and one moment and one action…” From www.soulbiographies.com featuring Morgan Fisher (duration 8 minutes. try full screen. scaling on or off. use headphones) There is something so simple yet so profound that it’s quite possible we find ourselves missing it completely. Morgan spent many successful and raucous years playing in major [...]

Planting Seeds

Zen Moments — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:05:29 +0000

“Suddenly I was face to face with a swinging club…” For some years I taught Art to teenagers who had been excluded from school. You have to be so careful with kids like these. Especially when they first arrive. They’re often hostile – brittle, ready to fly off the handle at the least imagined slight. The [...]

Choose Your Mantra with Care

Zen Moments — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:30:15 +0000

No matter our disposition, we still have a choice…” By Lara Owen March 12 2008, Soreze, France. I walked Balthazar this afternoon a little way along the lane to the next village, accessible from Soreze by a path that runs along the edge of the mountain. On the way back we met a sad-looking older woman, small, [...]

Mudita – the Joy of Giving

Zen Moments — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:20:27 +0000

A man surprises people at a gas station and offers to pay for their gas. He selects his target cars almost at random and tells his amazed recipients: "Just do something nice for somebody else..."

Puppy Love

Zen Moments — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:27:07 +0000

“As heartbroken as I felt, my world had become richer for loving.” I was in Southern India at an Ashram at the foot of a sacred mountain. During my time there I would go from the mountain to the place I was staying. There were many people living on the streets and many animals, as anyone [...]

Never Give Up

Zen Moments — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:28:22 +0000

“He was looking at that rock with will and determination…” The incident that I am narrating, happened about 10 years back, and was an eye opener for me. The place was Nagpur: a small but upcoming town in India where I was born and educated. Although I had a difficult childhood (after losing both parents early in life), [...]

Teen Transformation

Zen Moments — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:53:19 +0000

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world” - Ghandi This is a short summary of a powerful, inspirational video which documents the moving transformation of a group of teenagers as they follow Challenge Day’s “Be the Change” program. “The Be the Change movement inspires people to notice what’s happening in the [...]

The Kindness of a Stranger

Alan — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:45:39 +0000

“Who is this man?” Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2nd, 1988. At the airport in Miami [...]

What is that?

Zen Moments — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:55:12 +0000

“I hugged him every time he asked the question – 21 times – my innocent little boy…” A Father and Son sit together in the garden – a touching reminder of the need for patience as our parents get older… A short (5 minute) Greek film made in 2007. Directed by Constantin Pilavios. Some versions on YouTube have a [...]

Achieving your Childhood Dreams

Zen Moments — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:50:59 +0000

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture. Professor Randy Pausch gave his last lecture at the Carnegie Mellon University on Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed auditorium. In this moving presentation, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” he talked about lessons he has learned in life and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal [...]