Venerable Ajahn Chah

It happened all by itself.

As soon as I sat down, the mind became truly peaceful.

It was rock solid.

It wasn't as if I couldn't hear the noise of the villagers singing and dancing.

I still could.

But I could also shut the sound out entirely.

Strange.

When I didn't pay attention to the sound, it was perfectly quiet.

Didn't hear a thing.

But if I wanted to hear, I could, without it being a disturbance

It was like there were two objects in my mind that were placed side by side, but not touching.

I could see that the mind and its object of awareness were separate and distinct, just like this spittoon and water kettle here.

Then I understood.

When the mind unifies in Samadhi, if you direct your attention outward, you can hear.

But if you let it dwell in its emptiness, then it's perfectly silent.

When sound was perceived, I could see that the knowing and the sound

were distinctly different.

I contemplated.

If this isn't the way it is, how else could it be?

I continued on investigating like this until my understanding deepened even further.