Living Zen: Listening

Before doing, you must listen;
listen to the many voices within.

You will hear the warrior,
stuck in pride and envy.

You will hear the monk,
clinging to solitude and silence.

You will hear the trader,
fettered by ambition and success.

You will hear the libertine,
sinking in unrestrictedness and lust.

You will hear many more voices,
all of them wishing to rise from the dead.

They are just phantoms,
echoes from your past.

Let them pass by, and your mind will
become self liberated.

Then, after listening carefully,
doing will take place.