Answer to a question about the overwhelming volume of noise in the world and the lack of presence, people tuning out, not being really present.

   Micciah: So, Please. What are your questions?

   Julia: I wanted to ask, Micciah, about the noise in the world. It feels like there’s a lot of noise, a lot of talking, a lot of trucks, a lot of people. It just feels overwhelming to walk down the street with the amount of volume of noise.

   Micciah: Yes.

   Julia: And on the other side of that, the lack of presence in the world. People tuning out, not being really present.

   Micciah: Not tuning up, but tuning out.

   Julia: Tuning out.

   Micciah: Yes. We have discussed this before and we will address it again now.
   [taking a drink of water from a mason jar] Water.
   There has never been a time on the planet that is this noisy. Never. In the history you know and in the history that you don’t know. It is true that there a places that are relatively quiet. Probably there are places that are quite quiet in the wilderness, but not as quiet as they were. And it is stressful on the nervous system of all beings, plants, animals, rivers. Sound is vibration. So when there is… When you are deluged with sounds your nervous system is affected by that, not positively. So it is increasingly important (Margarete, you said this before) first to find some place on your world, even in this city that is relatively quiet, and also, you know what we are going to say, find the silence inside yourself. It’s never really silent. As John Cage once said, “If you go into an anechoic chamber,” is that correct?

   Jon: Yep.

   Micciah: “You will hear your own blood pulsing.” So, we speak in a relative sense. There is a silence that you find when you align with Spirit, with your heart. When you hold an animal, (depending on the animal, probably not Posey.) A piece of fruit, a flower, touch your own face, sit quietly, that is a sustaining silence nourishing every cell, nourishing your energy body. And you can go into it quite simply, the three breaths that Thích Nhất Hạnh describes, three slow breaths. The more you do it, the easier it is to find the silence. And it is very… It is both  important and meaningful. Remember that there is only one of you. So when you are in that silence, you are in it for everyone, for everyone, for everybody. A few minutes a day, several times a day.
   Because the sound, as you mentioned Margarete, is constant sound, and particularly things plugged into your ears. If you don’t have to do it, don’t. If you have to, take them out. [rubbing her ears] You know, all the energy points are in your ears. The body, in acupuncture, is mirrored in the ears, and the feet, and the hands, the irises of your eye. Get your fingers in there, gently. It’s a good practice, anyway. Massage your ears. Energize your hands, [rubbing hands together] cup them, lovingly, over your ears. Very easy, and it makes a difference.
   And you are asking also about people’s presence, yes?

   Julia: Yes.

   Micciah: The key to so many questions, issues, is being present. In the all-time no-time this-time that-time every-time being present. Bringing yourself again and again into to the present. And yes, constantly being attached to devices, texting, watching, being plugged in does not support being present. It pulls you out of being present. You know you have had discussions here about walking in the street having someone just walk directly into you.
   So, you are living in this world, you are going to use your computers, your phones, and your iPads. Less is more. And the practice of presence, again, when you do it, you do it for yourself, and with yourself, and you share it with all beings and all lifeforms in the moments that you do it. Are it. Doing it is not.. You don’t really do presence. You are presence. The moments of quiet support the capacity to be present.