May I notice what I have failed to notice

Instead of seeing without really seeing, we can stop to look. Instead of half-hearing sounds that irritate or please us, that either make some sense or just seem to be noise, we can listen to them all but at the same time be aware of listening to them.

—Peter Kingsley

The mind is a tangle of sensations, Vivid recollections of sensations, Images of events as well as Images of states of mind Relived at a certain rate in time or Perceived as meaningful in a flash Of insight, over an inner duration While innumerable subtle Faiths, fears, anticipations, instincts, Superstitions, and blind tendencies Forever tinge the fabric of reality

And these tendencies — tendens — Are a stretching to, a yearning to be That tends to explain or explain away The direct experience and exercise Some measure of control of your world And how you choose to be within it

And when you fail to notice What you have failed to notice Because you are busy trying Not to notice what you don't Want to notice, your prāṇa (प्राण) Your vital energy, the vivifier of Action and perception, is depleted Thoughts are dulled and action is clumsy

What is required of you is to Notice what satisfies or frustrates your tendencies And felt instinctively as pleasure or pain To Attend to the things that you Like to do that give you bad results And the things you don’t like to do That give you good results