Zen Moments

“I discovered why the universe wanted me to be a teacher… the day I broke my toe…” Well to be fair, it was a few days after I broke my toe. And I’ve always suspected that what the universe wants is really what I want. So perhaps it would be better to say: I discovered [...]

“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 [...]

“It is my intention to work into each of my lectures … one lie” One of my favorite professors in college was a self-confessed liar. I guess that statement requires a bit of explanation. The topic of Corporate Finance/Capital Markets is, even within the world of the Dismal Science, (Economics) an exceptionally dry and boring [...]

“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. [...]

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 [...]

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life” Commencement address by Steve Jobs CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios Given to graduates of Stanford University, June 12, 2005 (Duration: 15 mins) “I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college [...]

“Such eyes of compassion, stillness, even love…” The first week I met my new student, a four year old with leukemia. He’d just had a week of intensive treatment. He had lost his hair, and his large brown eyes seemed to be looking at me through a curtain of pain. The next week he was [...]

“…it is quite possible for a 4 year old to humble an adult to ‘scum under shoe’ status…” Before finding an Art Teaching position, I worked part time as an Assistant Preschool Teacher. The pay was lousy, but I got to eat popsicles and graham crackers every day, rub backs at naptime, and sing the [...]

We are Vanessa Owen and Alan Lewis, and we’ve created this website to have something beautiful to do together and to share with others. We hope you will enjoy the site and find inspiration amongst its pages. Please consider contributing a story of your own to Zen Moments Alan: I became interested in Buddhism and [...]