Dr. Castaneda told us to lie down on the floor and relax our bodies. Like last time, he named muscle groups, we directed our attention there, and the muscles relaxed.

“Focus on the sounds,” Castaneda said. - It’s very quiet here, but the silence is full of sounds. To make it easier for you, concentrate on the first sound you hear.

The main thing is that it is constant. Others will follow this sound.

I began to listen to the surrounding space. Nothing. The silence seemed to be absolute. I couldn't even hear my own heartbeat. I searched with my ears for at least some sound, and this went on for quite a long time. Suddenly I realized that there was such a sound, I heard it, I heard it all the time. A fly was hitting the glass. I focused on this sound, and gradually it became stronger. Soon it became so strong that I realized that it was not one sound, but a combination of several sounds. I started sorting them. In addition to the beating of the fly on the glass, I heard the breathing of those lying next to me, the beating of their hearts, the rustling of leaves outside the windows. But still I could not recognize most of the sounds; they were unfamiliar to me. I was faced with the fact that I was forced to give them names, to think about what it might be like.

I soon noticed that when I thought about it, the sounds disappeared and I had to start over. My mind didn't like unfamiliar sounds. More precisely, he did not like the sounds themselves, but the fact that they did not fit into any category of familiar sounds. These sounds constituted some kind of unfamiliar world, and this world frightened my consciousness. Therefore, it simply drowned them out.

***

Listening to the world is a great practice. Consciousness can come to terms with the fact that not all sounds fit into familiar categories. Consciousness quickly gives up trying to recognize sounds and allows you to simply listen. At this moment the world is truly born for you.