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August Turak is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, award-winning author, and contributor for Forbes and the BBC. He brings a wealth of experience and insight from his varied career, which includes founding a successful software company, working alongside legendary CEOs like Lou Gerstner of IBM, and spending over two decades as a frequent monastic guest at Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery in South Carolina. In his best-selling book, "Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO's Quest for Meaning and Authenticity," August reveals how applying the principles of Trappist monks to his business endeavors led to remarkable success. His journey is a testament to the power of purpose, service, and the pursuit of excellence in all aspects of life. His latest book "Not Less Than Everything" chronicles his life journey and some of the amazing encounters and experiences he has had along the way. https://augustturak.org/ Twitter: @augustturak
Revealing his new book Not Less Than Everything: One Man's Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment, published by Clovercroft Published September 26, 2023), August Turak reveals his stories as a member of the original team that launched MTV: Music Television and a successful hi-tech entrepreneur, Turak had what most people consider to be "the life." But he was not happy. This is the inspirational true story of how Turak overcame crippling depression and despair through a daring quest for life's ultimate meaning and purpose -- a search for transcendence. Although his stories are wildly entertaining and often comical, Turak wishes to address the individual and collective absence of higher meaning and purpose afflicting Western civilization. He hopes this book acts, in some small way, as an antidote to that. AUGUST TURAK is a successful corporate executive, entrepreneur, award-winning author, speaker, and consultant. He is the founder of the educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation. Turak has lived and worked alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey as a frequent monastic guest since 1996. As a troubled young college student in 1971, Turak was seized by the idea that the mystical experience that various religious traditions call Enlightenment, Satori, Nirvana, Samadhi, the Unio Mystica, or Cosmic Consciousness not only exists but might be attainable by him. This sparked a life-altering quest, as Turak became the first student of a rough-hewn, hillbilly Zen master; the protégé of the founder of the IBM Executive School; the client of a mystical psychologist doing government-funded research with LSD; a member of the original team that launched MTV: Music Television; a successful hi-tech entrepreneur and even a longtime, part-time Trappist monk. This same spiritual roller coaster dropped him off twenty-five years later in a tiny room of a rundown motel in Baltimore, Maryland, deeply depressed, fearing for his sanity, and with nowhere to turn. Or, so it seemed. After a corporate career with companies like MTV, Turak founded two highly successful software businesses. He has published many popular leadership articles for Forbes and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Selling Magazine, the New York Times, and BusinessWeek. His book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, uses 1000 years of Trappist business success and his own entrepreneurial experience to demonstrate that the monks are not successful businessmen despite adhering to only the highest ethical values, but because they do. Turak's inspirational true story, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life, combines his $100,000 Templeton Prize-winning story with original oil paintings from award-winning artist Glenn Harrington. August Turak lives on a seventy-five-acre cattle farm outside Raleigh, NC. For more information, visit: www.AugustTurak.com.
A new MP3 sermon from 721 Ministries is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: At the Abbey: Counterfeit Stimulus Subtitle: Mepkin Abbey Speaker: Sam Hunter Broadcaster: 721 Ministries Event: Podcast Date: 3/13/2024 Length: 36 min.
A new MP3 sermon from 721 Ministries is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: My Week with the Monks Subtitle: Mepkin Abbey Speaker: Sam Hunter Broadcaster: 721 Ministries Event: Podcast Date: 3/6/2024 Length: 33 min.
A new MP3 sermon from 721 Ministries is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: My Week with the Monks Subtitle: Mepkin Abbey Speaker: Sam Hunter Broadcaster: 721 Ministries Event: Podcast Date: 3/6/2024 Length: 33 min.
I spent the past week at Mepkin Abbey. It is truly a paradise. I was overwhelmed by the natural beauty. Huge ancient, moss-covered oak trees everywhere. I did not sign up for this Monday afternoon to Friday morning retreat because I needed to retreat from the world – and certainly not to retreat from my life. No, I signed up for this more as a test: to experience an extended time of silence and solitude. And … to see if I could do it. Here is what I learned.
Recipient of the prestigious Templeton Prize, Brother John is the true story of a meaningful encounter between a man (August Turak) going through a midlife crisis, and an umbrella-wielding Trappist monk. This magical encounter on Christmas Eve eventually leads August, and us all, to the redemptive power of an authentically purposeful life. Uplifting, deeply moving, Brother John is dramatically brought to life by over twenty full color paintings by Glenn Harrington, a multiple award-winning artist who has illustrated over 700 books for all the top publishers. Brother John's moving story takes place at Christmastime, and its inspirational message and rich illustrations are sure to bring us back again and again throughout the year.AUGUST TURAK is one of the founding members of MTV: Music Television (1981), an entrepreneur who began two highly successful software businesses, and an award-winning author, speaker, and consultant. He is the founder of the educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation. As a frequent monastic guest, Turak has been living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996. He has published many popular leadership articles for Forbes and been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Selling Magazine, the New York Times, and BusinessWeek.His bestselling book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, uses 1000 years of Trappist business success and his own entrepreneurial experience to demonstrate that the monks are not successful businessmen despite adhering to only the highest ethical values, but because they do. His most recent title, Not Less Than Everything: One Man's Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment (Clovercroft Publishing, September 26, 2023), is the inspirational true story of how Turak overcame crippling depression and despair through a daring quest for life's ultimate meaning and purpose. August Turak lives on a seventy-five-acre cattle farm outside Raleigh, NC. For more information, visit: www.AugustTurak.com.
MPF Discussion with AUGUST TURAKWhy You Need To Find Your Higher Purpose with AUGUST TURAK ABOUT AUGUSTAUGUST TURAK is a successful corporate executive, entrepreneur, award-winning author, speaker, and consultant. He is the founder of the educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation. As a frequent monastic guest, Turak has been living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996.After a corporate career with companies like MTV, Turak founded two highly successful software businesses. He has published many popular leadership articles for Forbes and been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Selling Magazine, the New York Times, and BusinessWeek. His book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, uses 1000 years of Trappist business success and his own entrepreneurial experience to demonstrate that the monks are not successful businessmen despite adhering to only the highest ethical values, but because they do. Turak's inspirational true story, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life, combines his $100,000 Templeton Prize winning story with original oil paintings from award-winning artist, Glenn Harrington. August Turak lives on a seventy-five-acre cattle farm outside Raleigh, NC. August is also the author of the inspirational new book “Not Less Than Everything: One Man's Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment”.On this episode of My Perfect Failure (Why You Need to Find Your Higher Purpose) If you are looking to find purpose in your life particularly in those tough times when we experience failures and setbacks. August shows how those tough moments are merely happy accidents waiting to be discovered. You will be inspired, enlightened, and motivated that our tough times can be our passport to a life filled with purpose, opportunity, and fulfilment. Some of the Areas covered.· Why we should live our lives with higher Purpose & Vales.· August reveals his life has been a series of Happy Accidents.· Excellence is not a Choice, It's a Habit.· The Hero's Journey.· Happy Accidents (We should seek the hidden opportunities in Life's setbacks)· The Mistake we make is to try to be Right rather than Good.· We discuss August's books including - “Not Less Than Everything: One Man's Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment”. Connect with AugustVisit August's website and Purchase August's books. www.AugustTurak.com Purchase: “Not Less Than Everything: One Man's Quest for Spiritual Enlightenment”. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Not-Less-Than-Everything-Enlightenment-ebook/dp/B0CGMQ28CJ What Every Leader Must Know About Personal DevelopmentFull URL: https://augustturak.org/what-every-leader-must-know-about-personal-development/Please Leave A Review Like this show? Please leave us a review here, even one sentence helps! Consider including your Twitter handle so we can thank you personally! MPF Website: http://www.myperfectfailure.com/
Episode 86 or Episode 5 of Season 2 Guest: Rev. Stuart Higginbotham, Episcopal Priest serving Grace Episcopal Church in Gainsville, Georgia. http://www.gracechurchgainesville.org. Full Bio below Author of The Heart of a Calling News Commend to you the work of Dr. Martin Shaw. Martin is a storyteller and author. https://drmartinshaw.com Stephen Jenkinson. He is a former Hospice and Palliative Care director in Toronto, Canada. Grief & Mystery. https://orphanwisdom.com Dr. Fanny Brewster has a new book out titled Race and the Unconscious: An Africanist Depth Psychology Perspective on Dreaming August 4, 2023 Book Launch https://www.pacifica.edu/pacifica-news/dr-fanny-brewster-book-launch/ Personal Updates On Wednesday evening, September 13, I'll be joined by local musician Mike Bussey for an evening called “Songs and Stories of Weird Wisdom.” Cross Mills Library in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Write me at jim@jameshazelwood.net My Weekly Newsletter with an Essay on Mysticism and Psychology https://jameshazelwood.substack.com/ Poem by William Stafford The Way it Is There's a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn't change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can't get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old. Nothing you do can stop time's unfolding. You don't ever let go of the thread. Stuart's Bio I began my cure as rector of Grace in early January 2014, after serving as Senior Associate at St. Benedict's in Smyrna, Georgia, for over five years. Working with the entire leadership team at Grace, I have a particular passion for the intersection of contemplative practices and congregational development. Grace is an extraordinary community of nearly one thousand souls, and I feel blessed to live and pray among them as we prepare to celebrate our Bicentennial in 2028. I also serve as Assistant Professor in the Practice of Spiritual Formation and Ministry at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. At Candler, I focus on the contextual education of the Episcopal and Anglican seminarians, exploring the dynamics of congregational life in a “laboratory of spiritual imagination.” Candler School of Theology Anglican/Episcopal Studies Program My broader work as a priest, teacher, retreat leader, and author is grounded in the Christian contemplative tradition. I continue to share in ongoing conversations with friends from the New Contemplative Exchange, a fellowship first gathered by Thomas Keating, Richard Rohr, Tilden Edwards, and Laurence Freeman at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado in August 2017. Since that time, I contributed to and co-edited the volume Contemplation and Community: A Gathering of Fresh Voices for a Living Tradition (Crossroad, 2019) and am the author of The Heart of a Calling: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness in Congregational Ministry (Crossroad, 2021). Before “church life,” I studied in the pre-med program at Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas (B.S. in Biology, summa cum laude), and I did my initial theological studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia (M.Div, honors in spiritual formation). I also completed a certificate in Anglican Studies and the Doctor of Ministry degree from the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee Tennessee. With the global contemplative community, I have worked with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, the World Community for Christian Meditation, Contemplative Outreach, the Candler School of Theology, Mepkin Abbey, and others. As well, I continue my practice and research into the connections between the Christian contemplative tradition and the Tibetan/Himalayan Buddhism, and I have a deep appreciation for the intersection of poetry and contemplative practice. My wife, Lisa, and I have one daughter, Evelyn. We both grew up in Southeastern Arkansas, in the Mississippi Delta, with fried catfish, sweet tea, and mosquitoes the size of small birds. https://contemplativereformation.blog Host: James Hazelwood James Hazelwood, author, bishop, and spiritual companion, is the author of Weird Wisdom for the Second Half of Life and Everyday Spirituality: Discover a Life of Hope, Peace, and Meaning. His website is www.jameshazelwood.net
Today we are talking about the religious, brothers and sisters who have devoted their life to the service of God, and how our relationships with them - understanding their unique, intimate relationship with Christ - can help us lay people better invite Christ into our own lives. First, Darnell shares a story about Sr. Maura, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist, who's super power lies in a wink. He tells us how she fundamentally changed his relationship with God. Then August Turak, author of "Business Secrets of the Trappists Monks," tells us about his own experience as a frequent monastic guest at Mepkin Abbey. He explains how the lessons he learned through their simple lifestyle have helped him become a successful entrepreneur and leader. Learn more about August Turak: https://augustturak.com/ Learn more about Mepkin Abbey: https://mepkinabbey.org/ For more great storytelling and videos about living our faith authentically in the world follow MAX Studios: Website: https://ustmaxstudios.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxstudiosust/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtvFfPjMVugxN0ZHSpjrJWw TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maxstudiosust1?
Surrounded by suffering and death, we believe in redemption and new life. Besieged by every form of war, we hope for peace and the coming of God's Kingdom. Where is war present in your life? Is it only experienced “out there,” or can it be found “in here” as well? Have you identified an enemy to destroy? Are you sure that enemy is not yourself? Excerpts from Doug's play “Merton and Me – A Living Trinity” and these words of Thomas Merton will guide our reflection: “Life and death are at war within us. As soon as we are born, we begin at the same time to live and die.” Douglas Hertler (aka Doug Lory) is a professional actor, playwright, retreat leader, and NYC tour guide. He also works at Fordham University School of Law as an actor/educator. His one-man play “Merton and Me – A Living Trinity” debuted in the fall of 2018 for the Corpus Christi Chapter of the ITMS. Doug spent the month of January 2020 living with the Trappist community of Mepkin Abbey as a monastic guest and will be performing his show there in February. He also serves on the board of the American Teilhard Association. His website is www.mertonandme.com.
Investigator, Author, and Tin Foil Hat Researcher, Frantic Missy joins me, Jordan Vezeau, for a wild ride of topics, and divulgences such as solving multiple murders as an unpublished author, connections of our world and sacred plants (like Hollywood or Ivy League Schools), and a virtual Bohemian Grove! She introduces me to Gertrude Sanford Legendre, which unravels a whole whack load of other topics, and uncovers connections to so many well and lesser-known topics and people, including the OSS, the Nazis, missing women, Mount Holly Plantation (sacred plants again), Philip Barry (playwriter of Holiday), and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Along with her interesting connections and wild life stories (including a kidnapping by the Nazis and a possibly unrealistic escape), she was a spy, explorer, big-game hunter, environmentalist, plantation owner, and more. Different parts of her family tree also raise attention; her father is from the Sanford bloodline, a political dynasty family similar to the Bushes! Another rabbit hole is apparently her daughter, Bakara Legendre who, similar to her mother, was a woman of many hats, but most interesting is her placement and photos/video she took at the Robert F. Kennedy assassination! We also discuss some famous cases of missing girls, including Madeline McCann, Brittanee Drexel, and Shannon McConaughey and some of the many interesting twists in their stories. We watch and react to the 1931 cartoon ‘Bimbo's Initiation' and make tons of off-the-top symbolic connections to the occult, various conspiracies, and warning signs, some that are very weird. Missy shares with us a crazy plantation map she owns from 1936 that helps connect family bloodlines relevant to some of the topics we discuss. We also discuss Decentraland, the new virtual reality craze that us shaking up the world of crypto currency. Finally, we make some conclusions and put out some theories to tie everything up until next time! The best one is Missy's theory on the missing girls (and the rare eye conditions), which ties in the Legendre family and the plantations, and involves them being trained as priestesses. This is another wild ride so sit back and enjoy this episode of Divulgence with me, Jordan Vezeau! **Being a brand-new podcast, all support is appreciated, any shape or form. That being said, I would highly appreciate a thumbs up on YouTube - PLEASE ‘Subscribe'! If you are on Apple, a 5-star would mean so much!** Resources: DIVULGENCE YOUTUBE - https://youtube.com/channel/UCStiGMkq3vDyOU6AW6DyvMgBITCHUTE - https://bitchute.com/channel/8QsxZf1nxO0C/ODYSEE - https://odysee.com/@Divulgencepod:0RUMBLE - https://rumble.com/user/DivulgenceTWITTER/INSTAGRAM - @divulgencepodPodcast available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Pandora. For bookings or promotions, please message on Twitter. FRANTIC MISSY TWITTER - @FranticMissyPre/Post-Show Resources, Mentions, and RecommendationsHere are some resources to check out before or after you enjoy this episode! Books: ‘Global Death Cult: The Order of Nine Angles, Atomwaffen, and the Slaughter of the Innocents' by William Ramsey (GIVEAWAY PRIZE), ‘A Guest of the Reich: The Story of American Heiress Gertrude Legendre's Dramatic Captivity and Escape from Nazi Germany' by Peter Finn, ‘The Time of My Life' by Gertrude Sanford Legendre Movies: ‘Holiday (1938)' starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant
Tracy interviews August Turak an award-winning author, speaker, consultant and contributor for Forbes.com and the BBC. He is also the founder of the spiritual and educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF). A super successful entrepreneur and corporate executive, Turak attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996. As a frequent monastic guest, he learned firsthand from the monks as they grew an incredibly successful portfolio of businesses. When he is not praying and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey, he works with his nonprofit and lives on a seventy-five-acre farm near Raleigh, North Carolina.
August Turak is a successful entrepreneur, award winning author, speaker and founder of the educational nonprofit Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation. Since 1996 he has worked alongside monks of Mepkin Abbey. He authored Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s quest for Meaning and Authenticity and his latest book Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life” offers a new way of thinking for our survival and soul. Our topic “Do you trust the experts?” His articles on service and selflessness have appeared in Forbes and the BBC. www.AugustTurak.com For updates follow @erskineradio on Twitter
August Turak is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, media contributor, and award winning author who attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996. Turak's first book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO's Quest for Meaning and Authenticity, was published by Columbia Business School Publishing in 2013. The book chronicles Turak's 20-year odyssey as a frequent monastic guest at the Trappist monastery of Mepkin Abbey; the monks he came to know and love; the rugged lifestyle of prayer and work he share with them, and the amazing secret to 1000 years of Trappist business success: a secret that Turak calls service and selflessness. In parallel, the book describes how Turak and his partners used these Trappist business techniques to build and eventually sell two highly successful software businesses using only $2000 in seed capital and an unwavering commitment to the Trappist business model. Finally, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks demonstrates that the new economic model that Pope Francis seems to be seeking – in light of his frequent critiques of capitalism – already exists within the Judeao-Christian Tradition. Trappist monks have been successfully running businesses for 1000 years. The Trappist model doesn't reject capitalism. Instead it transcends the flaws and limitations of capitalism. The Trappists are not wildly successful in business despite their commitment to only the highest moral and ethical principles; they are successful because they are. What every good Trappist knows is that the more we forget our selfish motivations the more successful we become. By chronicling how he was able to build two highly successful companies in a secular marketplace using this model, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks emphatically demonstrates that the Trappist model is not all “motherhood and fluff,” nor is it only suitable for cloistered monks. For example, in 2017, Avera Health, a large, Catholic, Midwest hospital chain bought 1500 copies ofBusiness Secrets of the Trappist Monks. They worked exclusively with Turak's nonprofit SKSF to build a Resource Guide and Videos using the book and subsequently created a companywide, year-long program in organizational meaning and purpose and reported outstanding results. August Turak grew up in the cable TV business. He was a founding employee of both MTV: Music Television, and what is now the A&E Network in the 1980s. He is still in touch with Tom Freston, the former CEO of Viacom, and received a blurb for the back of his business book. Later, Turak moved to North Carolina and started the software companies that were eventually sold to BMC Software for 150 million dollars. Though his head did well in business, Turak's religious heart was always spiritually searching for a higher meaning and purpose to life. In 1996 all these issues came to head when a freakish sky diving accident triggered a severe “Dark Night of the Soul.” Looking for solace from deep depression, Turak turned to the monks of Mepkin Abbey: A Trappist monastery just outside Charleston, SC. He has been a frequent monastic guest ever since. Turak often spends weeks and even months at a time getting up at 3:00 AM to live, pray, and work alongside the monks. It was by living so closely with the monks that Turak was able to experience the monastic stories and lessons that he used to write Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks. In 2004, almost on a whim, August Turak entered the John Templeton Foundation's Power of Purposeessay contest. Although he had never written anything for publication before, his essay, Brother John, bested thousands of other entries and won the $100,000 grand prize. Brother John is the story of how a magical encounter with a Trappist monk finally taught Turak the purpose of life and the secret to happiness. Brother John was later reprinted in the anthologies The Best Christian Writing and The Best Catholic Writing. The Templeton Prize dramatically changed Turak's life. Brother John was published in two anthologies, The Best Christian Writing and The Best Catholic Writing, and this, in turn, launched him on a second career. Turak became a leadership contributor for Forbes.com, an on-air radio contributor for the BBC, and Columbia Business School published his book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks. But the common fourteen-year-old thread that runs through all this subsequent work is the spirit of service and selflessness: a monastic thread that leads right back to a spool called Brother John. But, despite Turak's intense gratitude, over the years, Brother John gradually became a Zen koan for him: a frustrating stone in his shoe that led directly to this book… Brother John was written in 2004, and it is increasingly hard to find, yet we still receive a small, but steady, stream of correspondence from people who have stumbled upon the essay. Almost without exception, they write about howBrother John helped them through the death of a child, an episode of severe depression, or a particularly painful divorce. Being periodically reminded of the healing power of Brother John has been a double-edged blessing. Turak is, of course, profoundly moved and humbled by these letters. They always take him back to 1996: the year when the events you are about to read about actually took place. It was not an innocent religious “retreat” that initially sent August Turak to Mepkin Abbey and Brother John. A freakish sky-diving accident had triggered a personal crisis, or “Dark Night of the Soul.” Turak arrived at Mepkin Abbey hip deep in a desperate battle against depression, panic, and incipient despair. As a result, it has been especially gratifying for Turak to discover that his essay seems to convey a bit of that same healing power that he received from Brother John and the monks of Mepkin: a healing power that saved his life. Yet there is also a downside to this blessing. Why? Because these letters always left Turak wondering how much more good Brother John could accomplish if it were more widely available. He seemed to be the proud owner of a marvelous candle snugly nestled under the proverbial bushel basket. All this came to a head when a business executive drove 400 miles to thank August for writing Brother John. For several years, Turak had been toying with the idea of turning Brother John into an illustrated book. A busy executive willing to drive 400 miles proved decisive: something bigger was insisting that Turak act on his idea. Through grace or luck, he found an amazing artist, collaborator, and friend in Glenn Harrington. Glenn is an award-winning artist who has done illustrations and cover art for all the major publishers. He was also commissioned to paint many of the portraits that now grace the World Golf Hall of Fame. Glenn took immediately to the essay and to the project. On his own initiative, he travelled to Mepkin Abbey to meet Brother John and to immerse himself in the Trappist way of life. Glenn is a deeply religious man, and his art not only captures the spirit of Brother John but also conveys the serenity and mystical power that make Mepkin Abbey a spiritual nexus, a place where heaven and earth meet. At the John Templeton Foundation's Power of Purpose awards ceremony in New York City, Turak was asked what he intended to do with the $100,000 grand prize. He replied that he intended to give it to charity. After donating to Mepkin Abbey and several other favorite charities, Turak used the remainder to fund the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF). The SKSF is a not-for-profit corporation we created. Our mission is to bring Brother John's transformative message of meaning and purpose to a Western culture increasingly bereft of meaning and purpose. Over the intervening years, Turak continues to fund the SKSF, and any remuneration he receives from his writing, speaking engagements, consulting, or personal coaching, is donated back to the SKSF to underwrite our ongoing efforts. In our latest effort to make a difference, we are turning August Turak's Templeton Prize winning essay into an illustrated book: Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life. It will be released on October 21st. It is available now for pre-release orders on Amazon. The book will contain 22 original oil paintings of Mepkin Abbey by the award-winning artist, Glenn Harrington. The rights to Turak's essay, and therefore to this book, have been transferred to the SKSF. All royalties will be reinvested into future efforts like this one. At the most critical moment of Turak's life, Brother John offered to share his umbrella. Turak's life is now dedicated to sharing, to the best of his ability, this magical umbrella with you and all our fellow men.
August Turak, serial entreprener and award-winning author who attributes much of his success to his 20-year stint as a frequent guest of the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey, joins host Kelly Scanlon on this episode of Talking Business Now. In our May 24, 2019 interview with Turak, he talked about the 1996 skydiving accident that triggered the emotional crisis that sent him to the Abbey in search of spiritual solace; his Christmas Eve exchange with a monk named Brother John that led him to write his Templeton prize-winning essay, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim and the Purpose of Life;and his book Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity, in which he describes how to apply the lessons he learned from the monks to achieve business success. In this episode, Turak returns to Talking Business Now to discuss the life and leadership lessons he learned from his father, which he published as a tribute in Forbes.com—on what would have been his father’s 100th birthday. Among them: ■ Be Your Best ■ Be Bold ■ The Value of Struggle ... and several others. Turak was a founding employee of MTV and the A&E Network. Later, he founded software companies that eventually sold to BMC Software for $150 million. He currently runs a not-for-profit called the Self-Knowledge Symposium Foundation. Connect with August Turak: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aturak Twitter: https://twitter.com/AugustTurak LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustturak/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
August Turak joins Talking Business Now host Kelly Scanlon to discuss the business lessons he learned from the Trappist monks. Turak was a founding employee of MTV and the A&E Network. Later, he founded software companies that eventually sold to BMC Software for $150 million. He currently runs a not-for-profit called the Self-Knowledge Symposium Foundation. As a successful entrepreneur and award-winning author, Turak attributes much of his success to his 20-year stint as a frequent monastic guest of the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey. As a monastic guest, he lives and works alongside the monks sometimes for months at a time. In 1996, a skydiving accident triggered the emotional crisis or “Dark Night of the Soul” that sent Turak to Mepkin Abbey in search of the spiritual solace he so desperately needed and the monks so graciously provided. In 2004, at the encouragement of some former students, Turak decided to enter the John Templeton Foundation’s Power of Purpose essay contest. He had 3,500 words in which to answer the question: “What is the Purpose of Life?” He had never written anything for publication before, but his "Brother John" essay about an actual Christmas Eve encounter at Mepkin Abbey won the $100,000 grand prize. Later, he wrote an article for Forbes.com called "Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks." It went viral. As a result, he was invited to become a leadership contributor at Forbes. In addition, Columbia Business School Publishing asked Turak to turn his article into a book. That book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity, applies monastic principles to secular business. Turak’s latest book, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim and the Purpose of Life, combines his Templeton Prize winning essay with the illustrations of the award-winning artist Glenn Harrington to offer an inspirational message of meaning and purpose. Connect with August Turak: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aturak Twitter: https://twitter.com/AugustTurak LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/augustturak/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today on Lyrically Lyme, The Total Tutor Neil Haley and Peyton Leonard will interview Author August Turak. AUGUST TURAK is an award-winning author, speaker, consultant and contributor for Forbes.com and the BBC. He is also the founder of the spiritual and educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF). August retired as a successful entrepreneur and corporate executive. His book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, was published in 2013 by Columbia Business School Publishing. When he is not praying and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey, he works with his nonprofit and lives on a seventy-five-acre farm near Raleigh, North Carolina.
Discover how to add more peace and purpose to your life with Trappist Monk August Turrak. The author of Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life (Clovercroft Publishing), August retired as a successful entrepreneur and corporate executive. He attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996. Find out their secrets to success with Temple today.
Have you ever wondered what the best way is to live your life? In this week's episode I spoke with August Turak about his new book, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life (Clovercroft Publishing, 2018), which addresses exactly that question. The answer, as August describes, was not a new revelation; he suggests that each of us knows the kind of life we ought to be living. The obstacle is not in the knowing, but in the doing, and our fear keeps us from becoming the person we could be. Brother John tells the story of August's transformative encounter with a Trappist monk's radical selflessness at Mepkin Abbey in 1996. Through this experience August discovered how we can move through our fear from fundamentally selfish to more selfless human beings. August and I talked about the many ideas captured in his relatively short book, which is beautifully illustrated with oil paintings by Glenn Harrington. Some of the topics we touched on included: Being seized by the idea that there’s something more to life Love as a profound yearning Being so in love with something that we don’t know what to do with ourselves The action-inspiration link The self-serving effects of serving others The inherent longing for transformation The hero’s journey as a transformation of being The excuses that prevent us from taking action Making self-transcendence a top priority The importance of undertaking self-improvement with a group Self-transcendence as the end of selfishness The ennui that comes from self-focus The joy in loving ourselves The necessity of making commitments Ambivalence toward transcendence The impossibility of imagining what it will be like on the other side of transcendence Being surprised by grace Service as an effortless privilege The importance of small steps to make big changes The positive peer pressure of a community Finding clarity in our view on life August referenced a poem early in the podcast, called "My Own Heart Let Me Have More Pity On." You can find the full poem here. August's story about his encounter with Brother John won a worldwide "Power of Purpose" essay competition by the Templeton Foundation in 2004. In addition to being an author, August is a speaker, a consultant, and a contributor for Forbes and the BBC. He is also the founder of the spiritual and educational nonprofit the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF). August retired early as a successful entrepreneur and corporate executive; he attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996. As a frequent monastic guest, he learned firsthand from the monks as they grew an incredibly successful portfolio of businesses. His previous book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks, was published in 2013 by Columbia Business School Publishing. When he is not praying and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey, he works with his nonprofit and lives on a 75-acre farm near Raleigh, North Carolina. Both of August's books have very strong reviews and are available on Amazon and elsewhere (please note that these are affiliate links, so a percentage of sales made through them will be used to support the podcast, at no additional cost to you): Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks To learn more about August and his work, please visit his website and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can view his articles for Forbes.com here, and listen to a representative BBC contribution here. Please note: The banner image for this post was taken by Davey Borden and is part of a collection called "Mepkin Abbey South Carolina." It is used in accordance with the license.
August Turak joins me on the Business Builders Show / www.c-suiteradio.com to talk about his successful business career, business secrets of Trappist Monks, and his incredible story and BEAUTIFUL book, Brother John: A Monk, a Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life. EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS GIFT!August Turak is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive and award-winning author who attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey since 1996. As a frequent monastic guest, he learned firsthand from the monks as they grew an incredibly successful portfolio of businesses. Service and selflessness are at the heart of the 1,500-year-old monastic tradition's remarkable business success. It is an ancient though immensely relevant economic model that preserves what is positive and productive about capitalism while transcending its ethical limitations and internal contradictions. Combining case studies from his thirty-year business career with intimate portraits of the monks at work, Turak shows how Trappist principles can be successfully applied to secular business settings and to our personal lives as well. He demonstrates that monks, people like Warren Buffett and other "transformational organizations" are successful not despite their high principles but because of them. https://www.facebook.com/aturakTwitter: @augustturakListen to this powerful story and then order a bunch of the Brother John books for all those who you know are always searching for the purpose of life.Thanks for listening! You can find all our shows and many other fine shows at www.c-suiteradio.com. You can learn more about my executive coaching / business consulting businesses at www.martywolffbusinesssolutions.com and www.contractorsuccession.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Episode Show Notes jeffsanders.com/260 Learn More About the Show The 5 AM Miracle Podcast Free Productivity Resources Join The 5 AM Club! Connect on Social Media Facebook Group • Instagram • Twitter • LinkedIn Episode Summary Why are we all here? In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I speak once again with August Turak who is back to shed some light on the purpose of life with his new book, Brother John: A Monk, A Pilgrim, and the Purpose of Life. Resources Mentioned in this Episode Brother John [Book by August Turak, Illustrations by Glenn Harrington] August Turak [His website] August Turak August Turak is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, award winning writer, and author of Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO's Quest for Meaning and Authenticity. August has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and the New York Times, and he is a popular leadership contributor at Forbes. He attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey for 17 years. As a frequent monastic guest, he learned firsthand from the monks as they grew an incredibly successful portfolio of businesses.
Episode Show Notes jeffsanders.com/215 Learn More About the Show The 5 AM Miracle Podcast Free Productivity Resources Join The 5 AM Club! Connect on Social Media Facebook Group • Instagram • Twitter • LinkedIn Episode Summary In this week's episode of The 5 AM Miracle Podcast I chat once again with August Turak, author of the popular book, Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks. August and I catch up on his life and work, focusing on his leadership platform and meditation practice. August's previous appearance on this podcast is easily one of the most popular episodes of this show, and a must-listen. Resources Mentioned in the Show The 5 AM Miracle Audiobook [Available now on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes!] August Turak August Turak is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, award winning writer, and author of Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO's Quest for Meaning and Authenticity. August has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, and the New York Times, and he is a popular leadership contributor at Forbes. He attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey for 17 years. As a frequent monastic guest, he learned firsthand from the monks as they grew an incredibly successful portfolio of businesses.
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August is a successful entrepreneur, corporate executive, and award winning author who attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey as a frequent monastic guest since 1996. He is the author of Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks and a leadership contributor at Forbes.com.
[Legacy post: Small Business Talent] My guest on the podcast today is August Turak. He’s an accomplished entrepreneur and award winning author who now attributes much of his success to living and working alongside the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey. As a frequent monastic guest, he learned firsthand from the monks as they grew incredibly […] The post Entrepreneurship, Meaning and Authenticity: A Transformative Conversation with August Turak appeared first on Smart Solo Business.