Before and after
the circle closes
becomes round
like it always is
here and now
so long before
and also after
the foundation
a consciousness
and awareness
in one’s heart
independent
of all creations
impermanence
like every religion
that comes and goes
such as days, weeks
months, and years
or even lifetimes
all that is just is
a reality of life
and also death
comes or goes
before and after
the sound of silence
awakes in every heart.
“Octahedron moment” — even before and also after
Awareness, the sound of silence, and emptiness
“You can trust awareness. As you begin to recognize it and know it, you can rest more in being aware and listening to the sound of silence. As you sustain awareness in this way, consciousness can expand and become infinite. When this occurs you are just present in a conscious moment and you lose the sense of being a self — being a person, this body. It just drops away and can no longer sustain itself.
“It is not possible for emotional habits to sustain themselves, because, being impermanent, their nature is to arise and cease. You then begin to recognize the value of this expansiveness, which some people call emptiness. Whatever you choose to name it doesn’t really matter, so long as you can recognize it. It’s a natural state, it’s not created — I don’t create this emptiness.”
“I encourage you to rest and relax into this awareness that comes when you recognize the sound of silence. Just rest in this state of openness and receptivity. Don’t attach to the idea of it.”
“Behind it all is the sound of silence. It’s like this enormous, vast, infinite space that allows things to be what they are, because everything belongs.”
“Letting go is not resisting or getting rid of but letting it be what it is.”
— Ajahn Sumedho, The Sound of Silence, pp. 300, 304, 307, 314
Arch of light above and below, before or after
