Deep Listening
An introduction
Sonic Images, 1972
1. Can you find the quiet place in your mind where there are no thoughts, no words, and no images?
2. Can you remain in this quiet mindplace by listening to all the sounds you can possibly hear, including the most distant sounds beyond the space you now occupy?
3. Do you ever notice how your ears adjust inside when you move from one size space to another? Or from indoors to out of doors or vice versa?
4. Who is very familiar to you? Could you recognize this person only by the sound of her or his footsteps?
5. What is your favorite sound? Can you reproduce it in your mind? Would you communicate to someone else what your favorite sound is?
6. Have you heard a sound lately which you could not identify? What were the circumstances? How did you feel?
7. What do you sound like when you walk?
8. What sound is the most familiar to you? Can you describe it without referring to the source? What is its effect upon you?
9. Imagine the sound of a bird call. What kind of bird is it? When did you last hear it? What does it sound like? Can you imitate it?
10. What is the most silent period you have ever experienced? Was it only a moment or very long? What was its effect on you?
11. Can you imagine an animal sound? What kind of animal is it? What are its habits? What is it doing? Could you imitate the sound of that animal?
12. What is the most peculiar audiotry sensation you have every experienced?
13. Can you imagine a plant or tree? What kind of plant or tree is it? Where is it located? What sound comes to mind?
14. What is the most complex sound you ever experienced? What were the circumstances and how did you feel?
15. Can you imagine or remember some emotional experience? What non-verbal sound is associated with this experience?
16. Can you imagine the distance between any two sounds you are now hearing?
17. Can you imagine that you are in a very quiet, comfortable place, with plenty of time, with nothing bothering you? Can you imagine that you are in tune with your surroundings, and in the distance, beautiful sound is moving closer to you? What is that sound? What happens to you?