Listen
Alan Watts Boreta Lyrics

Close your eyes
Shut off your visual distractions and focus inward

Listen
Pay attention to the sounds around you

(Listen, listen, listen, listen...)
(Continuously remind yourself to listen)

Well now
Now, let me explain

The easiest way to get into the meditative state
A simple method to enter a state of meditation

Is to begin by listening
Start by focusing on listening

If you simply close your eyes
By closing your eyes

And allow yourself to hear
Let yourself fully perceive the sounds

All the sounds that are going on around you
Every sound present in your environment

Just listen to the general hum and buzz of the world
Simply pay attention to the overall ambient sounds

As if you were listening to music
Treating the sounds like a piece of music

Don′t try to identify the sounds you are hearing
Avoid labeling or categorizing the sounds

Don't put names on them
Refrain from assigning any specific names to them

Simply allow them to play with your eardrums
Permit the sounds to resonate with your eardrums

And let them go
Allow the sounds to pass by without attachment

In other words, you could put it
To put it differently

Let your ears hear whatever they want to hear
Allow your ears to perceive whatever sounds naturally present

Don′t judge the sounds
Refrain from forming judgments about the sounds

There are no, as it were, proper sounds or improper sounds
Sounds cannot be classified as right or wrong

And it doesn't matter is somebody coughs or sneezes
It is irrelevant if someone coughs or sneezes

Or drops something
Or if something is dropped

It's all just sound
Every sound is merely a sound

And if I am talking to you right now and you are doing this
Even my voice speaking to you at this moment

I want you to listen to the sound of my voice
I encourage you to focus on the auditory experience of my voice

Just as if it were noise
Treat it as if it were any other sound

Don′t try to make any sense out of what I am saying
Do not attempt to find meaning in my words

Because your brain will take care of that automatically
Your brain will naturally process and interpret the meaning

You don′t have to try to understand anything
There is no need to actively seek understanding

Just listen to the sound
Merely focus on the auditory sensation

As you pursue that experiment
As you engage in this practice

You will very naturally find
You will naturally come to realize

That you can't help
It becomes inevitable

Naming sounds, identifying them
Assigning labels and identifying specific sounds

That you will go on thinking
Your mind will continue to engage in thoughts

That is to say talking to yourself inside your head, automatically
Meaning, having internal self-dialogue automatically

But it′s important you don't try to repress those thoughts
Avoid attempting to suppress or push away those thoughts

By forcing them out of your mind
Through a deliberate effort to remove them from your consciousness

Because that will have precisely the same effect
Forcing thoughts out will yield the same result

As if you were trying to smooth rough water with a flat iron
Like attempting to flatten turbulent water with a flat object

You′re just going to disturb it all the more
Doing so will only further disrupt the thoughts

What you do is this
Instead, here is what you do

As you hear sounds coming up in your head
When you become aware of thoughts arising in your mind

Thoughts
The mental activities and ideas

You simply listen to them as part of the general noise going on
You just perceive them as part of the overall mental activity

Just as you would be listening to the sound of my voice
Similar to listening to the sound of my voice

Or just as you would be listening to cars going by
Or like listening to passing cars

Or to birds chattering outside the window
Or like the chattering of birds outside the window

So look at your own thoughts
Observe your own thoughts

As just noises
Treat them as mere auditory phenomena

And soon you will find
Before long, you will discover

That the so called outside world and the so called inside world
The external world and the internal world

Come together, they are a happening
Merge, as they are both part of the same experience

Your thoughts are a happening
Your thoughts are also a part of this unified experience

Just like the sounds going on outside
Similar to the sounds occurring in the external environment

And everything is simply a happening
Everything is just an event or occurrence

And all you're doing is watching it
Your role is simply observing it

Can you hear the past?
Are you able to perceive the past?

Can you hear the future?
Are you able to perceive the future?

Can you hear the listener?
Are you able to perceive the act of listening?

Where do the sounds come from?
From where do the sounds originate?

Let them tell you the truth
Allow the sounds to reveal their true nature

(Truth, truth, truth, truth...)
(Highlighting the concept of truth)

Now in this process
During this journey

Another thing that is happening that is very important
There is another crucial aspect unfolding

Is that you are breathing
A significant part involves your breath

And as you start meditation
As you initiate the practice of meditation

You allow your breath to run
You let your breath flow

Just as it wills
According to its own natural rhythm

In other words don′t do, at first, any breathing exercise
Initially, refrain from engaging in deliberate breathing techniques

But just watch your breath breathing the way it wants to breathe
Simply observe your breath breathing naturally

And notice a curious thing about this
Take note of an interesting observation

You say in the ordinary way 'I breathe'
In common language, you might say 'I am breathing'

Because you feel that breathing is something that you are doing voluntarily
Since you perceive breathing as a voluntary action

Just in the same way as you might be walking, or talking
Similar to how you would perceive walking or talking

But you will also notice that when you are not thinking about breathing
However, you will realize that breathing continues even when you are not consciously focusing on it

Your breathing goes on just the same
Your breath continues unhindered in the same manner

So the curious thing about breath
An interesting aspect of breathing

Is that it can be looked at both as a voluntary and an involuntary action
Breathing can be seen as both voluntary and involuntary

You can feel on the one hand I am doing it
On one hand, you may feel in control of the breath

And on the other hand it is happening to me
On the other hand, it feels as if breath is happening to you

And that is why breathing is a most important part of meditation
This is why breath plays a vital role in meditation

Because it is going to show you
Breath will reveal

As you become aware of your breath
As your attention is directed towards your breath

That the hard and fast division that we make
The clear-cut division that we establish

Between what we do on the one hand
Separating our voluntary actions

And what happens to us on the other
From what occurs to us involuntarily

Is arbitrary
Is based on a subjective distinction

So that as you watch your breathing
While observing your breath

You will become aware
You will begin to recognize

That both the voluntary and the involuntary aspects of your experience
The voluntary and involuntary components of your existence

Are all one happening
Are interconnected aspects of a single occurrence

Now that may at first seem a little scary
Initially, this might appear somewhat unsettling

Because you may think
As you may speculate

Well am I just the puppet of a happening
Am I merely a passive participant in this unfolding?

The mere passive witness of something that′s going on completely beyond my control
Merely an observer of events beyond my influence

Or, on the other hand, am I really doing everything that′s going along?
Alternatively, am I the active agent of every occurrence?

Well if I were I should be God
If I were in complete control, I would be equivalent to a deity

And that would be very embarrassing
That would be highly uncomfortable and awkward

Because I would be in charge of everything
As I would have authority over everything

That would be a terribly responsible position
Such a position would come with immense accountability

The truth of the matter as you will see it
The truth, as you will come to understand it

Is that both things are true
In reality, both perspectives are valid

You can see it that everything is happening to you
You can perceive events as happening unto you

And on the other hand you are doing everything
Simultaneously, you are actively participating in everything

For example, it's your eyes that are turning the sun into light
Your eyes play a role in transforming sunlight into visible light

It′s the nerve ends in your skin that are turning
The nerve endings in your skin convert

Electric vibrations in the air into heat and temperature
Electrical vibrations from the air into the perception of heat and temperature

It's your eardrums that are turning vibrations in the air into sound
Your eardrums convert vibrations in the air into auditory sensations

And in that way you are creating the world
Thus, you are actively contributing to the creation of your reality

But when we are not talking about it
However, when we are not discussing this concept

When we are not philosophising about it
When we are not engaging in philosophical discussions about it

Then there is just this happening
Then, there is only this ongoing occurrence

This er
This, umm

And we won′t give it a name
And we won't attempt to label or define it

Now then
Now, moving on

When you breathe for a while
When you continue breathing for some time

Just letting it happen
Allowing your breath to occur naturally

And not forcing it in any way
Without exerting any control over it

You will discover a curious thing
You will come across an interesting realization

That without making any effort
Without actively attempting

You can breathe more and more deeply
Your breath can naturally become deeper with ease

In other words
To put it differently

Supposing you simply are breathing out
Let's say you are merely exhaling

And breathing out is important because it is the breath of relaxation
Exhalation is significant as it signifies the breath of relaxation

That's when we say phew
The moment we express relief and say 'phew'

And heave a sigh of relief
And release a heavy sigh of relief

So when you are breathing out
When you exhale

You get the sensation that your breath is falling out
You experience the feeling of your breath descending

Dropping, dropping, dropping out
Gradually descending, descending, descending

The same sort of feeling you have as if you were settling down into an extremely comfortable bed
Similar to the sensation of comfortably nestling into a pleasant bed

And you just get as heavy as possible
You simply allow yourself to become as heavy as you can

And let yourself go
And surrender yourself to gravity

And let your breath go out in just that way
Allow your breath to flow out in the same manner

And when it′s thoroughly, comfortably out
Once it has completely and comfortably left

And it feels like coming back again
And when it feels like returning inward again

You don't pull it back in
Do not actively draw it back in

You let it fall back in
Just let it naturally return inward

Letting your lungs expand, expand, expand
Allowing your lungs to expand, expand, expand

Until they feel very comfortably full
Until they feel pleasantly filled

And you wait a moment
And you pause momentarily

And let it stay there
And allow it to remain in that state

And then, once again, you let it fall out
And then, once more, you permit it to fall out

So in this way
In this manner

You'll discover that your breath gets quite naturally
You will realize that your breath naturally becomes

Easier and easier and slower and slower
More effortless and slower over time

And more and more powerful
And increasingly potent

So that with these
Therefore, with these practices

Various aids
Different techniques

Listening to sound
Engaging in sound-based mindfulness

Listening to your own interior feelings and thoughts
Observing your own internal emotions and thoughts

Just as if they were something going on
As if they were external events

Not something you are doing but just happenings
Not actions performed by you, but simply occurrences

And watching your breath as a happening
And observing your breath as an unfolding experience

That is neither voluntary nor involuntary
That doesn't fit into the categories of voluntary or involuntary

You are simply aware of these basic sensations
You are solely conscious of these fundamental sensations

Then you′ll begin to be in the state of meditation
At that point, you will enter the state of meditation

But don′t hurry anything
However, do not rush the process

Don't worry about the future
Do not concern yourself with the future

Don′t worry about what progress you're making
Do not fret about your progress

Just be entirely content to be aware
Simply be fully satisfied with being aware

Of what is
Of the present moment