Questioner (Q): I have a question on my practice.
So, when I notice thoughts arising or the sounds of the cars, when I notice them in my awareness, I will ask, “To whom is this arising?” And sometimes I’ll go, "Oh! They will just disappear and won't bother me." And, I guess I have two questions;
Acharya Prashant (AP): Who is noticing all this? Who is the questioner?
So, when you ask, to whom are these sounds and noises? The answer is obvious. These sounds and noises are to the questioner. Can you question something without noticing it? If you don’t even notice the sound, would you question, "Who is the recipient of the sound? Who is receiving or paying attention to the sound?" So, a better practice would probably be to ask— why does the sound matter to me at all? If you ask, "To whom are these sounds?" then the answer will not take you very far. Because the answer is obvious. These sounds are to the questioner, nobody else. The incident of asking the question itself reveals the one who is cognizant of those sounds. So, that matter is settled.
Now we come to the next question then, there are a variety of sounds, always entering my sensory space, are there not? Why do I feel attracted to, or charmed by, or offended by a few of them, and why are a few others not significant to me? That's the question that will tell you something about the nature of your mind, the constitution of your inner
