Category: Spiritualibus

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

namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammā-sambuddhassa —
Homage to the blessed, noble, and awakened ones!

Devadūtas —
messengers
like angels
not all light
or beautiful
but all colors
of every kind
also suffering
opportunities
help wake up
from delusion
a human form
of self ‘nd mine
to however it is
no more nor less
entirely what it is
to totally let all be
in boundless space
and consciousness
embracing freedom
as the divine realizes
the present moment
for what’s here now
with all the angels
one to each other
divine messengers
with a big welcome
to accept and learn
wake up and open!

“देवदूत Devadūtas, angels here and now” — where are you?

Also suffering can be welcomed

“Knowing the world as the world is not a resignation in a negative way — ‘Oh, you know how the world is’– as if it is bad, that there’s something wrong with it. That’s not knowing the world as the world. ‘Knowing ‘ is a matter of studying, and taking an interest, investigating, examining experience, and really being willing to look at and feel [also] its negative side. It’s not [only] about seeking sensory pleasures, pleasurable experiences, but about seeing even your most disappointing ones, your worst failures, as opportunities to learn, as a chance to awaken: one can say that they’re devadūtas or ‘heavenly messengers’ that tap us on the shoulder and say, ‘Wake up!’

That’s why in Buddhism, aging, sickness, disabilities, and loss are seen not as things to fear and despise but as devadūtas. This word devadūta is a Pāli word; dūta means a ‘messenger’ of some sort, deva is ‘angelic’ or ‘heavenly’; so they’re heavenly messengers sent to … us.”

— The Sound of Silence, Ajahn Sumedho, p. 149

Devadūtas like angels or ancient trees

May you and I and all awake to harmony and peace!

A pilgrimage
on crossroads
from boundaries
across an ocean
some portages
toward silence
so many loons
and an eagle
right above
on a treetop
an old linden
at least three
hundred years
needs patience
to stay overnight
when you ask for
sounds of silence
one keeps hearing
but others may not
or at least not yet…
talking a little about
only what is present
a stillpoint here now
trusting awareness
in everyone’s heart.

“A pilgrim’s path” — here now

Trust your intuition

“There are so many problems at this time, it is overwhelming… The problems that face humanity on this planet… The delusion, the ignorance, the cause of the suffering. And now we are looking here, … not blaming someone else, but recognizing the ignorance in our lives, the illusions we create and operate from. We are learning to recognize that which isn’t deluded. That takes a willingness to be patient with yourself, and being receptive and open to whatever you are feeling, whatever results you are having from your practice… Come and see, trust this awareness more and more, recognize it… Be aware.”

— The Sound of Silence, Ajahn Sumedho, p. 118

Pilgrimage beyond boundaries

May you, I, and all be free and happy!

Aware of the sound of silence
no further words are needed
to rest in the present here now.

“Earth to God, come in please” — two dozen times

Thought, awareness, and the sound of silence

Thought and awareness

“Experience is always now, here and now… All that — memories of the past or anticipation of the future — is happening now… The future is a thought in the mind, in the present, and the past is a memory. You can be aware of thinking, be aware of thought. We are not our thoughts; our thoughts are artificial creations… that we tend to identify with, intimidate ourselves with…”

“Thinking is a critical faculty… a very useful function to have. But as an identity it’s a failure. You’re not at all what you think, you know — what you think you are is not what you are. And yet we tend to believe what we think we are…
Thought is a creation. So in this very present moment, what is it that isn’t a thought? Awareness isn’t a thought.”

“When we develop awareness, we’re coming from intuitive awareness rather than from personal experience. … Getting beyond that to an awareness before the personality can arise or cease — that’s awareness or sati-sampajañña [in Pali].”

“Trust in the awareness as that which holds you, which you’re resting in, in which you can observe. Witness the observer…”

The sound of silence

“I notice the kind of background sound which I refer to as the sound of silence, a resonating vibratory sound… a high-pitched kind of vibration that’s always present. … When you recognize this sound of silence your thinking process stops — you can rest in this stream. It’s like a stream. It isn’t like ordinary sound that rises and ceases or begins and ends. … Behind that, behind all other sounds is this sound of silence. … It’s always present, it’s just there whether I notice it or not.”

“One can see, recognize the sound of silence, the reality of consciousness — it has no boundary because it takes consciousness to be aware of this subtle, ringing, resonating vibration — and as we explore that, it has no boundary. We don’t create it, it’s like space, it’s infinite.”

“We’re not projecting or experiencing the consciousness through perceiving any particular thing but through awareness. That’s why I keep pointing to this sense of attentiveness and listening, like the sound of silence. I use this listening or hearing… learning to pay attention and recognize what awareness really is. … It keeps you fully present.”

Non-thinking and boundless awareness

“In this you recognize non-thinking. And as I said before, you have to think to create yourself as a person. With non-thinking, there’s no longer a person. …
This is the point: present-moment awareness of the infinite that embraces the finite. To me the great gift of being human is that we can do this.”

— The Sound of Silence, Ajahn Sumedho, pp. 21, 37, 63-70

Floating harmony of silence