Sitting quietly this morning, listening to the world. A car starts, a helicopter passes overhead, a bird chirps, the voices of neighbors talking nearby, and thoughts arising about plans for the coming day. The mind loves to wander, but that is observed without judgment, and there is an effortless return to listening. The breathing, the feeling of the body. A dog barking.
At some point, the listener becomes irrelevant, and there is just open listening without restraint, and you realize that nothing is actually moving. Thoughts appear to move, like a movie, but ultimately, there is only the vast, open silence of awareness in which all is one; the sound of the car starting, the helicopter passing overhead, the chirping bird, the voices of neighbors, a barking dog, and thoughts coming and going are all one, inseparable whole.
To come upon this fact, and to rest in it, even for a moment, is peace beyond words.
