Story 53 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Many years ago, I attended a performance of Aida. This was a full production and the director wanted to impress. In the opening scene, he featured a live elephant. The audience seemed to anticipate the arrival of the elephant more than the two hours of Verdi that would follow the pachyderm's entrance. As the curtain parted, there stood the elephant as right as rain, center stage. The woman seated beside me, unable to contain herself, shouted,...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 32 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 52 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Life naturally simplifies. The many miracles of small things sidetrack the singular quest for ever greater success and accomplishments. Life loses its Photoshop luster when you simply live it. The little voices in your head or your gut may tell you to go right or left, here or there as they are conditioned. These are not usually the voices of wisdom but of...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
2 minutes 10 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 51 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Even the daily grind can be seen anew. Marcus Aurelius said it best: “Early in the morning I am rising to do the work of a human being.” It matters not a jot how you spend your days, but each one bears the possibility of doing the work of a human being.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
2 minutes 41 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 49 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Doing non-doing, allowing the suffocating angst in, though insisting it must sit in the corner and not suck out all the oxygen in the room, opens up a new way of seeing and experiencing daily life. It is as if you had been suffering from severe cataracts before and now your vision is unimpaired. The clouds have dissipated. The familiar takes on subtle hues and an unfamiliar clarity, leading one to marvel in the contradiction that while everything is the same, everything is different....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 56 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 50 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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I run almost every day. I don't push myself. I enjoy the sights and especially the smells as I run. I don't wear my glasses for that reason; my astigmatism enhances my sense of smell. I like the mustiness of mud thawing in the early spring and the tang of last night's rain as it evaporates in the first rays of the sun. Running is a kind of physical meditation. I am hyperaware of my breathing and every tweak and twitch in my body. I feel the sensations in my footfall. Like my daily meditation practice,...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 23 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 48 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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The fourth and final noble truth, the prescription for our illness, to continue the medical metaphor, is outlined in eight stages. The path (which is not, you may remember, a path but a wheel) covers everything from your behavior, your occupation, your speech, and your daily practice, right up to your thoughts and understanding. Note, however,...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 56 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 47 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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We used to drive to Toronto every Christmas vacation to spend the holidays with my grandmother. It was about 250 miles away, two-lane blacktop all the way. Our means of conveyance was at first a Prefect and later a Vanguard, both inexpensive, four-cylinder British imports with all the fire power of a lawn mower with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 34 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 46 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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For many years I faithfully sat two hours a day. This was my formal meditation practice. Two hours a day is a lot of meditation, I thought. I was wrong. Two hours a day is a lot of practice, but it is not a lot of meditation. Meditation cannot be measured....

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 58 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 45 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Without the ability to silently sit alone in a darkened room, we are destined to be a slave to our conditioned mind, reacting to self-imposed habitual preconditions, convinced that everything out there is awesome and everyone else is as happy as kings. So why, you wonder, am I so miserable? I have lost count of the number of times in a given day I start a sentence with...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 03 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

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Story 44 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Happiness is not something to pursue. Like the truth, happiness too is not out there somewhere. Chasing it is like a dog trying to catch its tail. Happiness has been hijacked by old habit patterns which have convinced us to look for it under the bright lights. We are so busy frantically...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 37 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2022 Pariyatti

'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' as a book and eBook can be found at https://store.pariyatti.org/a-lifetime-doing-nothing.

More by Ian McCrorie.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.