Listening: An Unfocused Attention

In mid August we moved to the foot of Mt. Burdell here in Northwest Novato and I have been hiking the Dwarf Oak Trail. This trail runs along the side of my back yard. We are separated from it by a deer fence. Weekdays, I have the trail to myself.

Yesterday, i went looking for hummingbirds hoping some of them have survived the intense smoke of the last two weeks. The trail was quiet and open to me, welcoming in a hesitant way. We are just beginning to know each other.

As I walked along, I was enveloped in a strong and deep silence. Within this silence, listening to “what wants to be known” is simply to maintain an unfocused attention. That is the key to listening: an unfocused attention, a very patient yielding to the unknown.

Silence can continue throughout the day as the background of the day.

Attentiveness to the great silence is an offering of respect to the voice of the sacred.

11/28/18

Tuesday Morning

Hello:

Welcome to our new website. Our old website is still available at Vimeo.

I have decided to write a blog rather than continue to publish the “Newsletter.”

Thank you to Sasa Petejan for creating our original website. And thank you to Sarah Keough for creating and maintaining this new site.

OK, so why this new site? In the year or so since the California fire, dubbed the Tubbs fire, burned through my neighborhood in Santa Rosa, I have been in a process of trauma recovery and unexpected changes in my capacities. This new site reflects what I am today, specifically the “Healing Gifts” which offer you an updating of my gifting to you.

This morning, I am troubled by the new suffering from the most recent California fires and the suffering at our border with Mexico. Mostly, I am still shocked by these events. I am ‘listening’ for a response.

Love,

Paul