Oakville Zen Meditation
The 7wonders of the world
We are in a classroom, somewhere, sometime.
The history & geography teacher has decided to test the general knowledge of the students and invited the parents to join the discussion.
The question is the following
What are the 7 human-made wonders of the world and not the Nature- based wonders which is a different list. This list is the most recent one from the United Nations.
Silence and surprise in the room.
Then, one student raised her arm and says” The Great Wall in China”
Yes ! replies the teacher.
Another student:” The Roman Colosseum in Roma, Italy”
That’s 2. Carry on.....all of you says the teacher.
A mother says: “ The rock temple of Petra in Jordanian and The giant statue of the Christ Redeemer above Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Wonderful says the teacher. 3 more to go......come on!
A kid stands up and says: “ I read about an ancient Inca temple called Machu Picchu in Peru ....... I think it is one of the wonders.
Fantastic, very good. 2 more to go.
A father stands up and completed the list:
“ Chichen Itza; a pyramid in Mexico and the Taj Mahal in India.
Very good to all of you said the very pleased teacher.
Then a student called Sophie stands up slowly and says:
Sorry to be blunt but all of you are wrong.
The teacher looks at her very surprised and asks:
Sophie, what do you mean?
The true wonders are in each of us: seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting are all wonder that we overlook at.
The class is silent.
The teacher: Wow!.... Sophie, very deep and down to earth at the same time. But you are mentioning 5 wonders......2 are missing. Which are they?
After some thinking, Sophie replies: well......laughing and .....loving.
The audience was shocked by her answers.
Then Sophie carries on:
Things that we overlook, that we take for granted and for which we are not mindful to are the simplest true wonders of the world because we cannot survive without them.
Looking at the audience, Sophie asks:
How often are you aware, in a mindful way, to what you see, hear, touch, smell or taste?
Let me give you few examples:
While commuting, how often are you listing to the Go train on the tracks rather than being robotized by your cell phone or computer?...... Never.
When you eat, how often are you aware of your fork and knife from your touch?....... Never.
How often do you smell the rain?....... Never
How often you are laughing, I mean laughing, not just smiling? .......Almost never
How often you pay attention to your love towards people and Nature?......... May be sometime.
The audience was frozen, looking down, in deep thinking.
The teacher asks: Sophie where did you get this.......... wisdom if I may say so?
Sophie replies:
One of my cousin is a member of Oakville Zen Meditation and the 7 Wonders were a talk given by the teacher.
Thank you
