Emptiness. Nothing to say. Just sweet silence. Stillness and calm. Finally at peace. With room for all.
Still, here we are. Words, thoughts. Being in this body. Living in this world. While there’s breath. In and out, in duality.
Growing and unfolding. In body, mind, and spirit. Cruising along conscious. More or less alert and aware. Then slowing and shrinking. Fading away in old age?
When the body declines. Spirit can keep soaring. With new insights ever. In silence and calm. Not much to say. In emptiness. All free. Now.
Who looks in the mirror — at the movies or in life
“At some moments there are also gaps in the action; the show gets a bit slow, even boring. We might shift in our seats, notice the people eating popcorn around us, remember we’re in a movie. In the same way we can notice that there are gaps between our thoughts, gaps in the whole sense of our self. Instead of being lost in ideas and the problems in front of us, creating the whole drama of ourself, there are moments when we sense the space around our experience, let go, and relax. ‘These gaps … are extremely good news.’ They remind us that we can always rest in awareness, that freedom is always possible.”
“Awareness has no shape or color. It is beyond presence or absence, coming or going. Instead there is only a clear space of knowing, of consciousness, which is empty and yet cognizant at the same time.”
“When we learn to rest in awareness, there’s both caring and silence, There is listening for what’s the next thing to do and awareness of all that’s happening, a big space and a connected feeling of love. When there is enough space, our whole being can both apprehend the situation and be at ease. We see the dance of life, we dance beautifully, yet we’re not caught in it. In any situation, we can open up, relax, and return to the sky-like nature of consciousness.”
— The Wise Heart — Jack Kornfield — pp. 44-47
Emptiness fulfilled
Pear tree bloom, where Tonalibus found its home — April 2025 — near Bern, Switzerland
Wrapping and contents what is it that is as it is in the chain of relations conditioned by duality on the outside it appears the inside hidden mostly it seems as it appears to one perception triggers thought concepts one may find to wrap what is inside realize what is real establishing basics a foundation for one to stand impermanence that all just wraps around contents, preferably essence concepts and basics may point to as some most crucial questions arise answering themselves in patterns of the harmony that’s observed in sound, light, life, and love renouncing self possession letting go of illusions about self recognize blessings in every loss as divine harmony carries on all that which just is as it is to unwrap it and be free beyond basic concepts the contents’ harmony wisdom of loving hearts in patience and gratitude may you and I and all be free!
“Harmonics of the heart” — can you hear the overtones?
ॐ Om/Aum chant on C# (69 Hz) — single note chanting bass voices — 9:13
Contents can be mostly freed of wrapping
“This holy wisdom is whispered by the Tibetans in the ear of one who is dying. ‘Remember the clear light, the pure clear light from which everything in the universe comes, to which everything returns, the original nature… It is your own true nature; it is home.’
“It is sung as the prayer of oneness in Judaism, it is worshiped as the Holy Spirit of Christian love, it is celebrated as the eternal Brahman by the Hindus, and it is the essence of the Tao.
“If you don’t realize the source you stumble in confusion and sorrow. When you realize where you come from you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted as a grandmother, dignified as a king. Immersed in the wonder of the Tao you can deal with whatever life brings, and then, when death comes, you are ready. (translated by Stephen Mitchell)
“When we embody this truth, our life becomes a blessing. Compassion, understanding, a joyful freedom touch all we meet. A radiance of love pushes out of us… Without imitation, we become just who we are. Our being is at ease; our heart opens. Joy and freedom of spirit fill our days.”
— After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, Jack Kornfield, p. 296-297
No wrapping, just content contents
Warm spring sun rays melt snow and ice into the brook — March 2025 — Tschingel, Kiental, Switzerland
Sound of silence to be heard and seen one for all and all for one he or she who hears will see the light and the love in all life a passing show on Earth all changing evolving in oh so many ways just as it is.
She or he who sees can hear it clearly the sound of silence in her or his heart while ‘his or hers’ dissolves as an illusion for in the end possession belongs to nature as he and she and all are learning to see.
One who hears and sees will value high the qualities and divinity of all others while most who don’t will look down upon the others as inferior beings to be controlled by power plays in megalomaniac possession.
How far does this have to go to dissolve itself eventually in all the space given to dry up as one hears the sound of silence sees and can step out of the way let it flow freely and resolve the way it is no matter what illusion and impermanence as one may see and hear the sound of silence to be heard and seen one for all and all for one he or she who hears will see the light and the love in all life.
“Permanent impermanence” — heart remediation blues
PentaBlue on D (rel. A 438.2 Hz) — 8-string guitar, crotales, nepali cymbals, tanpura — 7:43
The way it is — a closer look
“I was standing out on this evening and looking at the dusk, at the trees, … just contemplating … that trees are conscious. There is a certain level of consciousness in all life, in the fact that there is receptivity to the environment; and trees are very receptive to the environment they are in. One begins to change the perception of mind to one of a consciousness that pervades everything. Then it’s not just a human mind, there’s something more to it. But in Buddhism it is never named, you never try to form a concept about it. Instead you contemplate the totality, the whole sensitivity, the sensory realm and what it is really about. And that we have to contemplate from our own ability to be conscious and to feel but not see it in terms of ‘me’ and ‘mine’ — …”
Do you hear the sound of silence?
“With the sound of silence, some people hear fluctuations of sound or a continuous background of sound. So you can contemplate it, you notice that — can you notice it…? You’re using this sound of silence as something to remember to turn to and notice — because it’s always present here and now. And there’s that which notices it.
“There is the desire of the mind to call it something, to have a name for it, have it listed as some kind of attainment or project something on to it. Notice that, the tendency of wanting to make it into something. Somebody said it’s probably just the sound of your blood circulating in your ears, somebody else called it ‘the cosmic sound’, ‘the bridge to the Divine’. That sounds nicer than ‘the blood in your ears’. It might be the sound of the Cosmos or it might be that you’ve got an ear disease. But it doesn’t have to be anything; it’s what it is, it’s ‘as that’. Whatever it is, it can be used as reflection because when you’re with that, there is no sense of self, there is mindfulness, there is the ability to reflect.
“So it is more like a straight edge that you can go to, to keep you from going wobbly. It is something you can use to compose yourself in daily life…”
Do you listen to the sound of silence?
“The significant offering of the Buddhist teaching lies in what we call non-dualism. It’s the ‘neither-nor’ approach to philosophical questions. … “Now what does that do, as a practical experience, when you let things go and they cease? What’s left, what’s the remainder? … “When the perception of self ceases and all the doctrines, all the inspired teaching, all the wise sayings cease, there is still the knower of the cessation. And that leaves us with a blank mind. What is there to grasp?”
“Open to the silence and contemplate it, learning from it rather than running away from it to look for a warm mother or a safe father. “Then one way you can describe this Holy Life is a growing up of an individual being to that maturity where we no longer linger in the warmth of adolescence or childhood, or in the pleasures of the world.”
The shining through of the divine
“In our lives as separate beings, we relate to things. As individual beings, we have relationship to things, we have to meet and contact and react or respond to objects all the time for the rest of our lives. On the physical level, we have to respond to each other’s presence in some way, either ignoring or embracing or paying respects or cursing. In relationship, when there’s no self, then there is this divinity that manifests. So you can see that the human form is a form for the divine.”
“Five billion human beings who can manifest the divine in their daily lives, through metta, karuna, mudita, upekkha. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Sounds rather nice. “But five billion human beings manifesting greed, hatred and delusion is a pretty grim picture. Yet we don’t have the right to comment on them: this one here, this is what we have, this is what we can work on. Don’t worry about the others. This one here is what you can actually develop through reflection and through meditation.”
— The Way It Is, Ajahn Sumedho, pp. 102-103, 109, 115, 117, 157, 165
Mostly silent songs of the trees
Rising sun behind silent trees casting their shadows — March 2025 — Chanhassen, Minnesota
Trust the boat… heading out to sea the parting advice of the father’s bye a hand held high waving farewell let go for good it is what it is always all new a moment now come and gone impermanence sooner or later every tree trunk will make room for new growth nature’s renewal sound of silence a sweet refuge this wide ocean at times so calm and then it wakes waves and storms challenging what is to dare sail way out to an all new shore where you started long ago right now so trust the boat!
“Things arise out of the Unconditioned and return to the to the Unconditioned. It is through letting go rather than through adopting any other attitude that we no longer attach to mortal conditions.”
The raft
“The Buddha referred to his teaching as a raft which you can make out of the things around you. You don’t have to have a special motor boat or submarine or luxury liner. A raft is something you make from the things around just to cross to the other shore. We’re not trying to make a super-duper vehicle; we can use what’s around us for enlightenment. The raft is to carry us across the sea of ignorance and when we get to the other shore, we can let it go — which doesn’t mean you have to throw it away.
“This ‘other shore’ can also be a delusion, because ‘the other shore’ and this shore are really the same. It’s merely an allegory. We have never really left the other shore, we’ve always been on the other shore anyway; and the raft is something we use to remind us that we don’t really need a raft. So there’s absolutely nothing to do, except to be mindful, to sit, stand, walk, lie down, eat your food, breathe — all the opportunities as humans to do good. We have this lovely opportunity in the human realm to be good, to be kind, to be generous, to love others, to serve and help others. This is one of the loveliest qualities of being human.”
A natural rhythm
“Learn to take the time to be silent and listen to yourself. Use the breathing and the body, its natural rhythm, and the way your body feels now. Put attention onto the body, because the body is a condition in Nature. It’s not really you. It’s not ‘my’ breathing any more, it’s not personal; you breathe even if you’re crazy, or sick — and if you’re asleep you’re still breathing. The body breathes. From birth to death it will be breathing. So breath is something that we use as an object to focus on, to turn to. If we think too much, our thoughts get very convoluted and complicated; but if we bring attention just to the ordinary breathing of the body at this moment, at that moment we’re actually not thinking — we’re attentive to a natural rhythm.”
The sound of silence
“As you calm down, you can experience the sound of silence in the mind. You hear it as a kind of high frequency sound, a ringing sound that’s always there. It is just normally never noticed. Now when you begin to hear that sound of silence, it’s a sign of emptiness — of silence of the mind. It’s something you can always turn to. As you concentrate on it and turn to it, it can make you quite peaceful and blissful. Meditating on that, you have a way of letting the conditions of the mind cease without suppressing them with another condition. Otherwise you just end up putting one condition over another.
Kamma or karma
“This process of putting one condition on top of another is what is meant by making ‘kamma’. … But if you have a way of turning from conditioned phenomena to the unconditioned, then there is no kind of kamma being made, and the conditioned habits can fade away and cease. … So your kammic formations… have an exit, a way of flowing away instead of re-creating themselves.”
Conditions and the unconditioned
“We keep with what is, recognizing conditions as conditions and the unconditioned as the unconditioned. It’s as simple as that.”
— The Way It Is, Ajahn Sumedho, pp. 38, 56, 71, 75 & 76
Trust the boat on top of the hill
On the way to the meditation gazebo on the high point of the region — March 2025 — Chanhassen, Minnesota
The good of religions and faith The good of Muhammad and Moses The good of Jesus and Buddha The good of Brahma and Tao The good of God and all The good of life and love The good of sound and light The good of spirit and soul The good of being conscious The good of silence and words The good of thoughts and feelings The good of seeing and hearing The good of being you and me The good of reality and illusion The good of conflict and peace The good of body and mind The good of here and now The good of duality and unity The good of breathing in and out The good is my religion and faith!
“Be here now – ༀ་ཨཱཿ་ཧཱུྃ – Ōṃ āḥ hūṃ” — meditation anchor
chanting bass voice, whistle breath, big gong — 6:48
Concentration on the good of religions and teachings
“Concentration is of three kinds: the concentration practiced [ordinarily], concentration which clearly discerns and the excellent concentration of the Tathāgatas. The concentration practiced [ordinarily]. When you are attached to the experience of bliss, clarity and absence of thought in meditation and intentionally seek them, or your practice is colored by any affinity for experiences, that is called the concentration practiced [ordinarily]. Clearly discerning concentration. When you are free from any attachment to meditative experiences and are no longer fascinated by concentration, but still cling to emptiness as an antidote, that is called clearly discerning concentration. The excellent concentration of the Tathāgatas. When you no longer have any concept of emptiness as an antidote, but remain in a concept-free concentration on the nature of reality, that is called the excellent concentration of the Tathāgatas.”
“Find the essential point common to all the teachings and practice that way.”
— Words of my perfect teacher by Patrul Rinpoche, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, pp. 250-251 & 259
The good of constellations hidden behind clouds
Fragments of Gemini and Auriga with Capella over Blüemlisalp in the cool of night — February 2025 — Kiental, Switzerland
