Story 23 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia.” So wrote Richard Dawkins in Unweaving the Rainbow.

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 22 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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To repeat, all man’s problems stem from an inability to sit alone in a room in silence. However, Pascal omitted to say that sitting alone in silence in such a room is not easy. It can be so difficult, in fact, that it unbalances the mind.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
6 minutes 19 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 21 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Marcus Aurelius, the great Stoic philosopher, makes it clear how important it is to be present: “The longest and shortest lives amount to the same, for the present moment is equal to everyone.” Just one mindful moment is all you need to stand firm against the habitual temptations to engage, to follow, to blindly react to greed, hatred, and delusion.

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
4 minutes 19 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 20 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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A few years after living as a monk in West Virginia, I stayed a while at Wat Pah Nanachat near the Mekong River in Ubon in Thailand. This was the real deal. A forest monastery with dhuthanga monks who adopted thirteen additional vows, including taking only one meal a day and practicing...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
5 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 19 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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I am waiting for Thich Nhat Hanh to write a follow-up book, How to Listen, to address the proliferation of PMPs (personal music players). Many young people walk everywhere, earbudded to all the music ever created, oblivious to the sounds around them and within them. They drown out...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 59 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.

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Story 18 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Be here now. Just three words. Be here now. The oft-heard teaching is eminently simple but absolutely profound. Happiness can only be found in this moment, in the here and now. Living in the past will inevitably...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 33 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 17 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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This story is from Toni Packer, the late, much-venerated Zen teacher. A student asks a Zen master for some principles of the highest wisdom.

The master replies, “Attention.”

“Is that it?” asks the student. “Nothing to add?”

The teacher says,...

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 16 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Watch a baby for a while and you can't help but see how hard they are working. They are looking out on the world, trying to make sense of it all. They focus on this and then they focus on that. They react, sometimes with tears, ofttimes with a smile, indications that they have assessed the situation and found it wanting or fulfilling. When you place them on...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
5 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 15 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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The Pirahã natives live in the upper Amazon rainforest. Daniel Everett is one of only three linguists who can speak their language. He lived with them for many years and discovered through their language that they appear to be the only people on Earth who live in the here and now. They are fully...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 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 14 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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Many of us are busy with the business of being busy, and Knausgaard was no exception. His writing explores the busyness of his mind, especially with how he deals with his family. He explores the conditioned mind with objective honesty. Being busy can often be an affirmation of our status...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 38 seconds

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Audio copyright, 2021 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.