Rev. Takafumi Kawakami, Deputy Head Priest at Kyoto’s Shunkoin Temple, embraces the skill of mindfulness as the center of Zen Buddhism and meditation, inspiring us all to slow our frantic lives to stay true to the present.

Participating in a TED event can have unexpected results, ranging from establishing new friendships and connections to inspiring us to think, live and act in completely new ways. For Jason Hsu, TED conferences had a profound impact. In 2008 he combined his TED inspirations with his varied professional experiences as a news editor in Taiwan, entrepreneur in San Francisco and UNESCO volunteer to found The Big Question Conference, a local event in Taipei modeled after the TED conference experience. When TED established the TEDx program in 2009, Jason was quick to found TEDxTaipei, the second TEDx event established in Asia. Now, as curator for TEDxTaipei and TEDx ambassador for Asia as well as co-founder and Chief Catalyst for MakerBarTaipei, Jason’s goals for TEDxTaipei mirror the goals for TED and TEDx events around the world: to bring new ideas home, and to share local stories with the world.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx