The atmosphere changes from day to day. Most days you can see well, but may notice some haziness of distant objects. Some days the air is thick, and obvious. Now and then there will be a day with crystal clarity - the air so pure that everything seems brighter, sharper, with more vibrant colors and deeper contrasts.
I wrote a while back about my observation that chanting Om was effective at clearing my mind:
http://mindfulday.blogspot.com/2013/10/om-and-etch-sketch-principle.html
Lately, I've been using four resonant syllables in my practice and some classes, which sound like "om - ma - ah - hum" - all in a single breath. I enjoy singing it because it makes a powerful vibrating, resonating sound I can feel in my body, and it calms my mind.
After one class, a student asked - "what does it mean?" I replied that it just is what it is. Of course, people attach meaning to things. Om itself has a long list of meanings, and I understand that Om ah hum is a mantra in the Buddhist tradition. I don't care. I'm only interested in that I enjoy making the sound, and in observing its effects on me. That's what "direct experience" means to me.
Yesterday, at a class, I asked the students to notice how it felt to sit in stillness. Then we sang om - ma - ah - hum three times, and sat for a bit after the sound had died away. My experience was of distinct contrast and clarity in the stillness - not silence, because there was sound - the background sounds of the furnace and the world outside and our bodies. But the stillness was deeper, and the remaining sounds were brighter, sharper, more vibrant.
What does it mean? The stillness was deeper, and the remaining sounds were brighter, sharper, more vibrant. That's what it means.
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