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postcards

How often did you print out an unexpected email or even a SMS you got from a friend? I recently stood in front of the fridge and looked upon all those pinned postcards. These ancient transmitters of feelings and information still have a high value for me. Time stands still and you travel with all your senses to Rapa Nui, a long voyage (if you don’t live there directly), even the card itself lets you know, it was en route quite some time with all its scratches and bumped corners and edges… Especially in our fast time with emails, waves, IMs, blips and tweets – a postcard can become a ZEN ticket. I got one with “ZEN center -here-” on it. Thanks Valerie!
Being a fan of the Golden Middle Way, I happily use all the new, sterile and superfast tools ‘but’ I also appreciate an oldskool postcard, which I easily can pin to the fridge.
Write more postcards – if you don’t know whom –  I still have some free space on the fridge! 😉

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mono no aware

JAPAN Die Harmonie der StilleSandrine Bailly created a wonderful book “Japan: Season by Season”. The combination and composition of visual and lyrical arts offers a fine and ethereal path for the readers eyes and spirit. You can even hear the sounds of dancing brushes share their liquid color with the waiting paper. Traveling through the seasons of the book is like a journey into life and time. The physical weight and format of this book helps you to center and come back to earth (again).
Mono no aware.
Amazon.com Japan: Season by Season

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perfect tea time

teaWhen you have some great friends, it can happen, that suddenly some perfect tea walks into your door, now add a few free hours and some fine hot water. Wonderful ingredients for a lovely time.
“jade oolong” you could name a tea of the golden middle way, somewhere between green tea and black tea. While enjoying the tea, for me, it was like walking into a transparent buddha made of jade and being totally surrounded by vapor. Inhaling this tranquillity did center my being and slowly brought me back into another reality where I hold a cup of tea in my right hand. Very ZEN.
“whole rose buds”, well, if you ever heard somebody singing “I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses…”, this tea is the next generation. The smell of those lovely buds is simply fantastic. You might fall instantly in love with this “tea”, well I did. It took my a looong moment to realize that this amazing gift is meant to be tea. While brewing I felt like a perfume designer and alchemist. Drinking this essence was like diving into an ocean of roses. In a poetical way: liquid love.

In case you have not yet informed your friends what to bring with them to your next perfect tea talk, have a look at www.wearetea.com
Thank you, for making such great teas!


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waiting for a better offer

waiting for a better offer:
“You can always wait” is a quote of a friend of mine, another friend is most times waiting for a better offer. I recently started to ask myself if waiting can be relaxing. In the case of wait around for a better offer, mate, situation, life – you have to constantly compare new incoming data with an old fixed data you declared as the fixed/ starting point to yourself. These ongoing data-stream builds up tension in your system(brain) which might generate what we in short call stress.
Why do we act like this? (most of us, including me sometimes)
Many times these illusionary calculations are missing some important points. Sure, the TV, Camera, Computer, Gadget will be less expensive in a few months but how much weight do we give the missed joy, experiences, life quality? Can we rewind our lifetime after waiting for Mrs or Mr Right for ages?
Wait less, become stressless…

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2512 Christmas

2512-ChristmasA few years back I was asked by some friends, if I could make music for the Christmas time BUT finally relaxing, in lounge style, in short: perfect to chillout in the (most times) not-so-relaxed December time… “2512-Christmas” by ZEN-MEN was born and just got nominated by JPF in 2009 for one of the best holiday albums. Its available as oldskool CD or at iTunes.
Have a chillaxed Christmas time!
ZEN-MEN at iTunes

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1000 paths to ZEN

1000 paths to ZEN

“A Thousand Paths to Zen” by Robert Allen is a squared, small but thick book, or you could also name it a compressed source of inspiration and relaxation.

An old lady with huge insight in ZEN was asked about the sound of the single clapping hand. She said: “Instead of burden yourself with it, clap with both hands and carry on.”


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xmas harvest time

I recently got an email response from a friend of mine which made me think about various things… Thanks Tom!

thanks for the link Chris!!!
yeah, I am really noticing this year, how the “season” is designed to push people too hard.  everyone has all these expectations and I think in many people’s heads it’s “harvest time” and they have to do everything right now…
I’m this way too, it’s funny that I will put off seeing a loved one to go to a store and buy that same person a present.  the priorities are all wrong!!
Looking forward to a surprise…
-Tom

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interview 200904

In April 2009 a friend of mine asked me for an interview about ZEN and my-self for a magazine in a virtual world called Secondlife. Since then I was repeatedly asked, if I could publish it “outworld” to share it easier, so here we go(in English only).


Interview for the Secondlife Icon magazine, 20090410

Hi .ZEN, we seem to be missing each other online. So I thought I’d just compile the questions and you can just send the note card back with your answers. My rough draft is due tomorrow.

1) how did you get interested in ZEN? am i calling it correctly?
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the new year

from the last page of the “Lebensfreude” calendar 2009

Look forward to the new year
because…
you get another 365 days to make something out of your life,
you have the chance, to meet many nice people,
life awaits you with many beautiful surprises,
you can learn and explore new stuff,
you can spend time with your kids, your partner or your friends,
you can enrich others life.
Can you think of even more reasons, why you can look forward to the new year?

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Freue dich auf das nächste Jahr
weil…
du weitere 365 Tage hast,
mehr aus deinem Leben zu machen,
du die Chance hast, viele nette Menschen kennen zu lernen,
das Leben viele schöne Überraschungen für dich bereithält,
du Neues lernen und entdecken kannst,
du Zeit mit deinen Kindern, dem Partner oder den Freunden verbringen kannst,
du das Leben anderer bereichern kannst.
Fallen dir noch mehr Gründe ein, warum du dich auf das nächste Jahr freuen kannst?

Der Lebensfreude-Kalender 2010 bei Amazon.de

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chop wood

“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”

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“Vor der Erleuchtung; Holz hacken, Wasser tragen. Nach der Erleuchtung; Holz hacken, Wasser tragen.”

Old ZEN saying