At the beginning of our two-year home school adventure, Natalie and I initiated a ritual of ringing a pleasant-sounding bell to mark the beginning of our day, and chose a hand-held bronze bell from Tibet, used by Buddhists to focus the mind. Later on, we learned the meaning of the two pieces: the bell and the dorje. Representing the masculine and feminine principles in the cosmos and in the individual’s energy body, the dorje is always held in the right hand and the bell in the left. The bell’s gentle ring was a pleasing contrast to the neighborhood middle school campus’ ear-piercing buzzer. When the breeze blew west from…
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LISTEN & SILENT Have the Same Letters
Seth S. Horowitz, an auditory neuroscientist at Brown University wrote an article for the NY Times titled “The Science and Art of Listening (11/11/12), which caught my eye (and ear). He says, “’You never listen’ is not just the complaint of a problematic relationship.” In fact: “Listening is a skill that we’re in danger of losing in a world of digital distraction and information overload. And yet we dare not lose it.” Why? “Listening tunes our brain to the patterns of our environment faster than any other sense… ” And, listening, he points out helpfully, can benefit our relationships: “Listen to your significant other’s voice – not only to the…
