What Is Awakening? (A Short Spiritual Story)

The Sound of the Bell A student asked the master,

What is awakening?

The master picked up a bell and rang it once.

The sound echoed through the temple.

Then the master said,

Did you hear the bell?

The student nodded.

The master smiled.

Now listen again.

This time the master did not ring the bell.

There was only silence.

After a while,

The student shifted uncomfortably.

There's no sound,

He said.

The master looked at him gently.

That is awakening.

Not just the sound,

But the silence that holds the sound.

The bell rings and we listen,

But when it fades,

We grow impatient.

We crave the next sound,

The next moment.

Awakening is listening to the silence just as clearly as the bell.

Being in each moment,

The student sat still.

For the first time he noticed the wind brushing the trees,

The rhythm of his breath,

The beating of his heart.

All of it,

Sound and silence,

Movement and stillness,

Was one.