Fainter and fainter and ....

Listening to a sound as it fades away is a powerful awareness experience.  Following the sound into stillness takes the mind to a singularity.

As I sat in meditation this morning, I heard the roar of a jet.  I listened as it swelled a bit, noticing how it moved in space, and then as it slowly began to fade.  I set an intention to listen until it faded completely into the background sound.

As the sound diminished, I began to hear other sounds, and became more aware of the distinctness of timbre and pitch of the jet.

Several times as the sound grew fainter, I caught my mind wanting to disengage, to drop its attention, to skip away to other things.   Instead, I focused a little more on the sound.

I heard the sound much longer than I expected, even beginning to wonder if I had somehow programmed a tiny loop in my head that continued to play the memory of the faintest sound even after it was gone.  Perhaps I did - I can't be sure.  But the sound eventually disappeared into the hum of a car passing on the road, and when the car was gone, so was the sound of the plane.