A teaching story…
One day, a famous samurai set out to find a monk who was known to be very wise. When he arrived at the monastery, he demanded of the serene man, “Tell me, you are learned in this matter. What is heaven and what is hell?” The monk turned and looked up at the warrior. “You […]
An Amazing Word…
Read until the end and just enjoy our delightful language! This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word. This word is “UP.” This one word in the English language can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb and preposition. Who knew?! Not this (ex)English teacher! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses […]
A Taste of Wisdom
A Hindu parable recounted by Mark Nepo An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so one morning sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned, the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. “How does […]
Summer Daze?
It’s summer time (and the living is easy!) You know what that means right? Sure… barbequing, beaching, camping, boating, vacationing, picnicking, and sunbathing. But also potentially the utter collapse of our work momentum and productivity. It’s true, the dictionary even defines the “Dog Days of Summer” as “lethargy, inactivity or indolence.” It’s just the part of […]
Four monks’ story…
There is an often-told Zen story of four monks who decided to do a silent meditation for two weeks. By nightfall on the first day, the candle that lit their prayer hall began to flicker and soon went out. The first monk said “Oh, no! The candle is out.” The second monk said, “Aren’t we […]