Zen Moments

- the great power of small things -

-- Stories from Alan --

Click on the Post Title to Read More...

Making Peace with the Imperfect

“It’s cracked like this because it’s perfectly in line with the Buddha’s teaching” A friend of mine bought a Blackberry the other day. The new Blackberries are pretty slick – email, contacts, calendar, sat-nav, camera… He got it set up, but he couldn’t get the email or the sat-nav to work properly. After waiting on [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (19 votes, average: 4.68 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
12,859 views | 3 Comments »

A Gift from the Setting Sun

“You watch it all, until the last sliver of golden light vanishes…” Having taught meditation for many years, I’ve found that one of the most common questions I get asked is: “How do I get started?” People often begin with a book and try to teach themselves. But in the beginning you don’t really know [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (20 votes, average: 4.90 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
5,240 views | 1 Comment »

Not-Knowing is OK

“Not-knowing is not easy, it’s not comfortable…” “And what do you do?” Back when I was 21, I was unemployed. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I hated that question. “I’m unemployed” was the truth, but I would cringe each time I gave that answer. In those days maybe there was more [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (13 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
2,244 views | 6 Comments »

Mudita – the Joy of Giving

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…”

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (13 votes, average: 4.85 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
1,810 views | No Comments »

Counting the Emotional Cost

“So – stand back and look at what it’s costing emotionally. Forget the money for the moment…” Having been a Buddhist monk, and now running an IT support business, I find that these two worlds sometimes overlap in surprising ways. In running my business, I never sign contracts with people. Everything is done on trust, [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (20 votes, average: 4.55 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
6,375 views | 4 Comments »

Let me think about it

“If you’ve practised with the small things, you’ll be able to deal with the big things.” This one stopped me in my tracks. The Abbot said he was going to get his sleeping bag dry-cleaned, and I thought “Mine could really do with cleaning too”. So I asked him “Could we get my sleeping bag [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (19 votes, average: 4.95 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
18,610 views | No Comments »

The lady who forgot her shopping

With a worried look on her face she asked me: “What did I do wrong?” This is something I wrote for a lady in Sri Lanka who decided she wanted to develop her meditation practice in daily life. She resolved to bring more mindfulness into ordinary day-to-day activities. So she set out to go shopping [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (11 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
884 views | No Comments »

Grace in Receiving

“No thanks, I don’t need anything right now… was like shutting a door in their face…” I learned a lot about receiving when I was a monk. I lived as a Buddhist monk without money for 17 years – where everything I consumed (apart from water and toothpaste) actually had to be put into my hands [...]

BadBoringOKGoodExcellent (13 votes, average: 4.69 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...
709 views | 4 Comments »

  • Zen Moments
    is a collection
    of beautiful
    and inspiring
    true stories


    Home Page
    Site Map
  • Stories About…

    • Awareness (24)
    • Buddhism (10)
    • Childhood (15)
    • Compassion (14)
    • Courage (8)
    • Creativity (13)
    • Decisions (8)
    • Fun (3)
    • Happiness (15)
    • Health & Healing (11)
    • Humor (9)
    • Kindness (7)
    • Life and Death (10)
    • Meditation (8)
    • Nature (11)
    • Relationships (6)
    • Spirituality (3)
    • Stories from Alan (8)
    • Teaching (6)
    • Travel (8)
    • Uncategorized (1)
    • Wisdom (11)
    • Work (4)
  • Hello

    • About
    • Who?
    • Contact Us
    • Contributing to Zen Moments
    • Why Zen Moments?
    • Guest Book
  • Updates

    Receive Regular Updates
    by Email

    by RSS
    RSS widget
    Facebook Group
    Friend us on Facebook
    Friend us on StumbleUpon
    Follow us on Twitter
    Follow Zen_Moments on Twitter

  • Most Popular Moments

    • The Art of Listening
    • Strong Enough To Bend
    • This is Water
    • An Unexpected Gift
    • Happiness
    • God in Drag
    • Let me think about it
    • Find What You Love
    • A Perfect Moment
    • Making Our Minds Up
    • The Cab Ride I’ll Never Forget
    • My Favorite Liar
  • Most Recent Moments

    • Harold and Maude…
    • When My Sorrow Fell Away….
    • Strong Enough To Bend
    • This is Water
    • Sisters
    • The Thirst for Spirituality
    • Seeing the lighter side…
    • The Amazing Hidden Talents of Ordinary People
    • Making Peace with the Imperfect
    • Awareness Test
  • books
    Zen Moments Bookstore
    Featuring Books
    Recommended by
    Zen Moments Readers
    >
    Bookstore Info
  • Search Zen Moments


Copyright 2008-2010 ZenMoments.Org
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy