A big, tough samurai once went to see a little monk. “Monk!” He barked, in a voice accustomed to instant obedience. “Teach me about heaven and hell!” The monk looked up at the mighty warrior and replied with utter disdain, “Teach you about heaven and hell? I couldn’t teach you about anything. You’re dumb. You’re dirty. You’re a disgrace, an embarrassment to the samurai class. Get out of my sight. I can’t stand you.” The samurai got furious. He shook, red in the face, speechless with rage. He pulled out his sword, and prepared to slay the monk. Looking straight into the samurai’s eyes, the monk said softly, “That’s hell.” The samurai froze, realizing the compassion of the monk who had risked his life to show him hell! He put down his sword and fell to his knees, filled with gratitude. The monk said softly, “And that’s heaven.” Excerpted from Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values. ~Trent Gilliss, senior editor
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A big, tough samurai once went to see a little monk.

“Monk!”

He barked, in a voice accustomed to instant obedience.

“Teach me about heaven and hell!”

The monk looked up at the mighty warrior and replied with utter disdain,

“Teach you about heaven and hell? I couldn’t teach you about anything. You’re dumb. You’re dirty. You’re a disgrace, an embarrassment to the samurai class. Get out of my sight. I can’t stand you.”

The samurai got furious. He shook, red in the face, speechless with rage. He pulled out his sword, and prepared to slay the monk.

Looking straight into the samurai’s eyes, the monk said softly,

“That’s hell.”

The samurai froze, realizing the compassion of the monk who had risked his life to show him hell! He put down his sword and fell to his knees, filled with gratitude.

The monk said softly,

“And that’s heaven.”

Excerpted from Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values.

~Trent Gilliss, senior editor

Q:how to find "bell sound meditation" ?

Anonymous

Hanging bellA good morning to you, Anonymous!

I’m assuming you heard our show with Arthur Zajonc in which we call out this wildly popular ten minutes of guided meditation. We posted Zajonc’s bell sound meditation right here on Tumblr. And, if you have the time and the inclination, please let us know what you thought about it; we’ve been fascinated by the experiences.

Peaceful meditating!
Trent Gilliss, senior editor

I remember once I had a long period when I thought; ‘I’ll never have another idea again! I’ve explored everything.’ You’ve got this backpack of your history that you’re carrying around — how do you throw that off and really start from beginner’s mind? That gets trickier and trickier as you go along, to not fall into your habitual patterns in the way that you create, in the work itself, or anything.

Meredith Monk in NYC—Meredith Monk, in an interview with Mountain Record magazine.

The singer, composer, director, choreographer, filmmaker has been creating multidisciplinary works since the 1960s. Her latest CD is called Songs of Ascension.

(photo: Steven Henry/Getty Images)