Programmes · Number 1

Zen Stories to Quiet the Mind

12 stories · 2 hr 46 min · on YouTube since 26 August 2026

Twelve gentle stories to carry you into sleep, each one a little slower, and a little quieter, than the one before. Warm tales of everyday kindness give way to old Zen and Taoist parables, ending at the edge of a dream. Soft ambient music rests between the stories, so there is nothing to wake you and nowhere you need to be.

Open on YouTube

The stories

1. 0:42 The Umbrella at the Crosswalk 12 min
2. 14:05 Two Words at the Roadside Pump 13 min
3. 27:50 The Lantern Row of Alder Street 10 min
4. 38:43 The Last Hour of the Long Shift 13 min
5. 52:34 The One Who Stayed 12 min
6. 1:05:29 The Cup That Was Already Full 14 min
7. 1:20:32 The Orange in the Gutter 13 min
8. 1:34:46 The Stone in the Road 13 min
9. 1:48:48 Perhaps. Who Can Say? 15 min
10. 2:04:56 The Monk Who Set Her Down 12 min
11. 2:18:26 The Empty Boat in the Winter Library 13 min
12. 2:32:56 The Tide-Line at First Light 13 min

Retold from

• a Stoic parable, after Epictetus
• a traditional Taoist parable
• a traditional Zen story