Monday, December 02, 2013

TED Talks - David Steindl-Rast: Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful


Along with Thomas Merton, Br. David Steindl-Rast was one of the first Catholics to engage in dialogue with Buddhist teachers (Merton worked with Thich Nhat Hanh and Steindl-Rast worked with Robert Aitken Roshi).

Among his many books, Steindl-Rast is the author of The Ground We Share: Everyday Practice, Buddhist and Christian (1996, with Robert Aitken Roshi), Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness (1984), A Listening Heart: The Spirituality of Sacred Sensuousness (1999), Deeper Than Words: Living the Apostles' Creed (2010), and 99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life (2013).

David Steindl-Rast: Want to be happy? Be grateful

November 2013

The one thing all humans have in common is that each of us wants to be happy, says Brother David Steindl-Rast, a monk and interfaith scholar. And happiness, he suggests, is born from gratitude. An inspiring lesson in slowing down, looking where you’re going, and above all, being grateful.


Bio: Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk, meditates and writes on "the gentle power" of gratefulness.

Many first met Brother David Steindl-Rast through a viral video called "Nature. Beauty. Gratitude," where Louie Schwartzberg's footage of time-lapse flowers in bloom is narrated by Brother David's moving words asking us to simply be ... grateful. Since 1953, Brother David has been a monk of Mount Saviour Benedictine monastery in New York, dividing his time between hermitic contemplation, writing and lecturing. He's the cofounder of gratefulness.org, supporting ANG*L (A Network for Grateful Living).

He was one of the first Roman Catholics to participate in Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and is the author of The Ground We Share: Everyday Practice, Buddhist and Christian, a text on Buddhist and Christian practice, written with Robert Aitken Roshi. His other books include Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer: An Approach to Life in Fullness, and Deeper Than Words: Living the Apostles' Creed. His most recent book is 99 Blessings: An Invitation to Life, a series of prayers for the general reader -- whether people of faith, agnostics, or uncertain.


Nature. Beauty. Gratitude.


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