An Ear Unshaken by Sound

Today's teaching begins with the difficulty of steadiness. Practice, prayer, and even continuing one daily teaching are easily interrupted if the mind is not firmly set. Life's priorities change every day, and new tasks keep appearing. That is why practice is not something we do only at special times. It needs the strength to return again, even within a wavering everyday life.

The monk then spoke about practice through sound. When meditating, some people focus on a singing bowl or the sound of a bell. But when we look more deeply, what matters is not only the sound itself. Before the mind reacts by deciding whether it is a good sound or a bad sound, music or noise, it is important to notice the fact that we are hearing right now.

We hear sounds with the ears. Yet as soon as we hear a sound, the mind immediately judges it. It reacts by saying, this is good, I dislike this, this is noisy, this is pleasant to hear. If we simply follow that reaction, the mind is pulled along by sound and is easily shaken even by words of praise or criticism.

For study and practice to deepen does not mean gaining some special supernatural power. It means that whatever sound we hear, we are not tossed around by it, but notice the act of hearing. When we know the ground of hearing rather than only the kind of sound, the mind is less bound by good and bad sounds.

Today, look closely at the sounds that come to you during the day. At the moment you hear someone's words, surrounding noise, praise, or criticism, notice how the mind moves. When you know that you are hearing without pushing sound away or holding onto it, the mind gradually becomes quiet.