.
.
What is deep listening?
Sema is a greeting from the secret ones
inside the heart, a letter.
.
The branches of your intelligence
grow new leaves in the wind of this listening.
.
The body reaches a peace.
Rooster sound comes,
reminding you of your love for dawn.
.
The reed flute and the singer's lips.
The knack of how spirit breathes into us
becomes as simple and ordinary as eating and drinking.
.
The dead rise with the pleasure of this listening.
If some cannot hear a trumpet melody,
sprinkle dirt on his head and declare him dead.
.
Listen and feel the beauty of your separation,
the unsayable absence.
.
There is a moon inside every human being.
Learn to be companions with it.
Give more of your life to this listening.
.
As brightness is to time, so you are
to the one who talks to the deep ear in your chest.
.
I should sell my tongue and buy a thousand ears
when that one steps near and begins to speak.
.
~ Rumi
from The Big Red Book
translations by Coleman Barks
.