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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'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.

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Story 43 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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The question remains, however, why is practice so difficult? To begin with, doing non-doing is by and of itself difficult because to be still and just watch goes against our very nature. This is especially true when...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
5 minutes 01 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 42 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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In large stores in Korea there is a greeter at the front door. He or she bows and wishes you well and a good shopping experience. Koreans are used to this formal welcome. They walk by without...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
2 minutes 00 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 41 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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You need to walk before you run. This much is certain. There is an old joke of a tourist lost in New York City who asked a passerby how to get to Carnegie Hall. He was told, “Practice, my boy, practice.” This process can appear to be slow going. This is quite normal, as the progress is incremental. (And meditation practice redefines incremental.) It can seem at times...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 27 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 40 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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“You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.” This was the great jazz saxophonist, Charlie Parker’s, musical lesson. But it...

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 39 from 'A Lifetime Doing Nothing' by Ian McCrorie
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My father would go apoplectic when he was near gum chewers. He would physically recoil as they mashed away in complete obliviousness to the consternation they were causing him. Though I didn’t understand the reason for his meltdowns, over time I absorbed his attitude. Each time some unsuspecting gum smacker tried to engage my father in a conversation, I could feel my father do a slow burn. Like a tuning fork hearing a note played on a piano, I would commiserate with him, and my habit patterning would...

narrated by Ian McCrorie
2022
3 minutes 29 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.