Make Space for What Matters

Home Retreat Rituals

“Suppose you are offered a cup of tea, very fragrant, very good tea. If your mind is distracted, you cannot really enjoy the tea. You have to be mindful of the tea, you have to be concentrated on it, so the tea can reveal its fragrance and wonder to you.“ These are the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen master, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on Mindfulness. His words also hold true for life. Life becomes full and beautiful only if we learn to slow down and live mindfully. Otherwise, life can’t reveal its fragrance and beauty to us.

Just Like Me.

j u s t l i k e m e | “If we learn to relate to others from the perspective of our shared humanity, we could extend our empathetic concern to strangers and even those whom we find difficult to relate to. Buddhist – derived compassion meditations use phrases such as “Just like me, others too wish to attain happiness and overcome suffering” constantly, almost in the fashion of a mantra: ”just like me, just like me…” Plus, as a consequence of relating to others through our common humanity, we are graced with no end of opportunities to get out of our own head, a key both to compassion and to our personal happiness, as we have seen. “ – Thupten Jinpa .

Being, ConnectedDeniz GunizFebruary 26, 2020meditation, mindfulness, compassion, self compassion, Thupten Jinpa, interconnectedness, connectionComment

The moon cannot be stolen!

A Zen Master lived the simplest kind of life in a little hut at the foot of a mountain.

One evening, while he was away, a thief sneaked into the hut only to find there was nothing in it to steal. The Zen Master returned and found him. "You have come a long way to visit me," he told the prowler, "and you should not return empty handed. Please take my clothes as a gift." The thief was bewildered, but he took the clothes and ran away.

The Master sat naked, watching the moon. "Poor fellow," he mused, " I wish I could give him this beautiful moon." .

BeingDeniz GunizJanuary 14, 2020hapiness, friends, love, dreams, meditation, gratefulness, gratitudeComment

Note to Self: Wabi Sabi

w a b i s a b i | Love the idea of perfection of being - not so perfect. 〰️ .

✏️Note to self! “Things can be perfectly imperfect! .
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➰ I guess I must be challenged by perfection somehow that I have started to have “wabi sabi” in my mind these days. May be it is just to justify my imperfectness ( is this even a word?) That’s a possibility sure. Ha haa... .
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➰The first time I questioned perfection was the time when Martha Stewart asked me to divide strawberries into three categories on set for a photo-shoot during my styling job.

Creative, BeingDeniz GunizDecember 6, 2019wabisabi, wabi sabi, creativity, design, japanese, japanese culture, interior design, styling, deniz-asutayComment

Note to Self: The Room, Empty and Full.

“I opened my eyes. The first light of dawn was filtering through the curtains. Without any thought, I felt, I knew, that there is infinitely more to light than we realize. That soft luminosity filtering through the curtains was love itself. Tears came into my eyes. I got up and walked around the room. I recognized the room, and yet I knew that I had never truly seen it before. Everything was fresh and pristine, as if it had just come into existence. I picked up things, a pencil, an empty bottle, marveling at the beauty and aliveness of it all.” – Eckhart Tolle

Dance, I love you!

If there’s one piece of advice that I could give everyone today it is this one by Elizabeth Gilbert:

“Dance. Right now. Stand up out of the chair that you are seated in, or the bed that you are brooding in, or the couch that has taken you captive. Put on some music and dance. Yes, even though you don’t feel like it. Dance. Dancing is free. It is available at any moment.

Zen Stories: Maybe

This is a story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer.

Editor's Picks, BeingDeniz GunizAugust 30, 2019Comment

Becoming Present

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

becoming present x breathe : According to Thich Nhat Hanh, breathing meditation is the most simple and basic meditation technique but also the most useful. Why? Because we’re always breathing. You can literally practice this anywhere, anytime, even if it’s for 15 seconds. The main crux of this technique is that you simply focus on your breath. .

Zen Stories: Two Monks and a Woman

Two monks while practicing their walking meditation happen to come across a woman with a long kimono. The woman tries to cross a very muddy road, but she’s not daring to step into the mud. So, one monk picks her up, carries her across the road through the mud, puts her down. The monks then continue to walk on in silence for another four or five hours, practicing noble silence…

Being, WellDeniz GunizJuly 27, 2019Mindfulness, mind, zen, story, zen-story, meditation, silence, living-in-the-past, thought-patternsComment

21th Lesson for 21st Century

21st Lessons for 21st Century.

You may have heard the name “Yuval Noah Harari”. He’s mostly known for his books titled “Sapiens”, “Homo Deus” and most recently “21 Lessons for 21st Century”, that critics passionately raved about and received much-deserved attention from the general public.

Aside from his popular books, interesting ideas and creative writing, what fascinated us the most was the fact that he was an avid meditator practicing Vipassana (Insight) Mediation for years. We happened to know this when he created in his book “21 Lessons for 21st Century” an entire section on Mediation and featured it as the 21st Lesson for 21st Century.

Making Space

Creative, BeingDeniz GunizJanuary 23, 2019make space, fulfillment, mediation, mindfulness, slow living, breathing, minimal, minimalism, creativity, creative, poetryComment

Take a moment and...

Take a moment and pause! We wish our friends in the US a Merry Christmas and happy holidays…

Last year, today, we attended the Christmas Mass at Princeton University’s beautiful Chapel together with our friends and had a very peaceful evening….

Take a moment and...

Beginner's Mind

Resilience is the new happiness!

Mindfulness @ Work

True Self

Take a moment and...

As part of my quest to have a better and deeper understanding about the meditation practice and apply it to my daily life, I mostly try to reach out as much sources as possible. This is because I believe every time I come across a new material that catches my attention, whether it be a book, article, video, or podcast, I either learn something new or gain a new perspective.

Being, WellDeniz GunizOctober 23, 2018meditation, present moment, awareness, mindfulness, creativityComment

Make Space for What Matters.

21st Lessons for 21st Century.