Story 33 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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A healthy component of the practice is to stay awake to encroaching spiritual materialism. This danger begins to raise its head after you think of yourself as an experienced practitioner. You may judge your practice as quite advanced. You pat yourself on the back. You start acquiring compliments. Thoughts that you might teach someday may flutter through your consciousness. Don’t indulge in these meanderings. Keep an eye on them as you would a spot of crabgrass on an otherwise pristine lawn.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 15 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 32 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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An abscessed tooth forced me out of my hut and into Bombay, as it was known then, to see a dentist. I had his name on a piece of paper and was assured he was ektampukkha, “a cheap but best” dentist. No one was in the waiting room, and he said he could take me right away, two facts that should have warned me to be careful. Once I was in the chair, he quickly concluded my tooth was...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 25 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 31 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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I had an aunt who lived on a forty-acre estate west of Toronto. The manor house was an Elizabethan structure with separate breakfast and dining rooms, a full maid's quarters, apple orchards, and a forest with deer and other wildlife. In the late afternoon we would dress for tea and retire to the screened porch off the living room. My aunt would put Mozart on the hi-fi, and we would eat cucumber sandwiches. The tea service was...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 19 seconds

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'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 30 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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When you find yourself in a hole, first stop digging. Trite but true, when we find ourselves in this predicament, we need to lay down the activities that led us to be that deep in the hole. When I found myself in an alcohol-induced hole, I let all the alcohol-related activities go. These included for a time even good friends...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 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.

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Story 29 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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When the venerable Thai teacher, Ajahn Chah,was asked what technique of meditation he taught, he replied frankly, “I teach frustration.” Doing non-doing can be in itself frustrating, but in the hands of a meditation master it can be nuclear.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 31 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 28 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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In India they trap monkeys with a bamboo cage. The cage has a small opening just large enough for the monkey's hand to slip through. They slide a banana through the hole and wait. The monkey smells the banana and twists his hand through the hole and grabs the banana. Success. Or so he thinks, until...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 31 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 27 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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My father fought in WW2. This entailed sleeping in drafty and cold English castles on camp cots, followed by living in bivouacs as the regiment made its way from Normandy up the coast to Arnhem in Holland. He suffered from chronic back pain the rest of his life. He had his throat slit by an enemy agent in London,...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 18 seconds

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'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 26 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Trauma can exact a pernicious hold on our mind. Victims often seek help in the form of group therapy or individual counseling. Members of Alcoholics Anonymous admit to feeling helpless in the face of their inability to overcome their addictions. They speak of themselves as survivors. They are to be commended for facing their trauma, seeing it for what it is.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 06 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 25 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Mindfulness is very popular these days. Not long ago it made the cover of Time magazine. Library of Congress lists 4,063 titles that contain the word “mindful,” including Mindful Golf and Mindfulness and Murder. And therein lies the rub. The word has been commodified and monetized to such an extent as to obliterate its original meaning.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 13 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 24 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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As a child, I did not seek out thrills or danger of any kind. I did not enjoy games or contests or practical jokes. I hated costume parties. I’d rather go for a walk with my friends or sit and talk and have tea. Even today, I really don’t need fun.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 13 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.