Shivpreet Singh

The Other Place: Listening - the First Step Towards Bliss

Listening is often praised in passing—as a virtue, a skill, a kindness—but only rarely is it treated as a path. A way of living. A way of becoming.

Today I am reading William Stafford’s poem Listening, in which the poet remembers his father’s gift of hearing: not just footsteps or moths, but the world itself—speaking from its edges. A kind of listening that invited the soft wild night closer, that widened the world and made even silence luminous.

Stafford’s poem reminds me how listening, when done deeply, becomes more than passive reception. It becomes a kind of migration—out of the self and into a broader field. His father did not just hear more than the others; he became more by listening. We too, Stafford says, can be touched “from that other place.” If we turn our faces toward quiet long enough, it might find us.

In spiritual traditions, this kind of listening is not unfamiliar. Guru Nanak, in the Japji Sahib, dedicates an entire set of four verses—known as the Suniye pauris—to explore what true listening does to the soul. Not just hearing words or concepts, but Suniye—a listening that transforms. A listening that opens the doors to divine perception.

By listening, Nanak says, the earth and sky revolve. By listening, death cannot touch you. By listening, you attain contentment, truth, and wisdom. Even the gods, even the scriptures, arise from listening. This is not the listening of noise but the listening of Naam—the Word, the pulse of existence.

Suniye is not merely a function of the ears. The ears are always open. But the heart? The attention? The self? These must be quieted. This is what makes Suniye so difficult and so profound. It asks us not to be doers but receivers. To set down our own noise. To enter, as the mystics say, the cave of the heart.

In everyday life, most of us rarely listen. We wait to speak. We scan for familiar patterns. We filter reality through what we already believe. Guru Nanak names this—the ego’s noise—as the barrier to bliss. But listening, true listening, allows us to become sangat—in association with the divine Word. Over time, he says, this transforms your very being. Misery and sin lose their grip.

This is not unlike what happens in poetry. Naomi Shihab Nye’s short lines invite us to listen to the trees, to the birds, to the delicate thrum of the living world. Shel Silverstein, in his childlike wisdom, urges us to “listen to the mustn’ts,” to the invisible constraints that surround possibility—and then, beyond them, to a voice that whispers: Anything can happen, child. Langston Hughes listens in the still of the night—not for sound, but for presence. And Paul Simon’s famous line, “The sound of silence,” gestures toward that same paradox of inwardness: that what matters most is often what’s unspoken, or unspeakable.

But what is shared by all these poems is not a content—but a posture. A state of alert stillness. A readiness to be changed.

William Stafford’s father was not a mystic, perhaps, nor a saint. But in the poem, he stands like one: attuned to other dimensions. A quiet seer on the porch. And Stafford, like Nanak, like us, waits to be touched from that other place.

That “other place” might be the soul. Or the silence between two people. Or the voice of a Guru. Or the stillness that follows a chant. Or the moment when a child, long asleep, says something that startles you awake. It could even be the wind through the leaves or the twitch of a squirrel’s tail. The world speaks. The divine speaks. But only when we stop speaking ourselves.

In a world that prizes noise, listening is a quiet rebellion. It is the practice of surrendering the illusion of control. Of receiving, not conquering. Guru Nanak and William Stafford have me convinced. Listening is the first true step toward bliss.

Here is Stafford’s poem.

Listening - William Stafford

My father could hear a little animal step,

or a moth in the dark against the screen,

and every far sound called the listening out

into places where the rest of us had never been.

More spoke to him from the soft wild night

than came to our porch for us on the wind;

we would watch him look up and his face go keen

till the walls of the world flared, widened.

My father heard so much that we still stand

inviting the quiet by turning the face,

waiting for a time when something in the night

will touch us too from that other place.

"Listening" by William Stafford, from West of Your City. © Talisman Press, 1960.

Some More Poems on Listening

"Listening" by Naomi Shihab Nye:

Listen,

the trees are moving

in their leaves.

Listen,

the birds are singing.

"Listen" by Shel Silverstein:

Listen to the mustn'ts, child.

Listen to the don'ts.

Listen to the shouldn'ts,

The impossibles, the won'ts.

Listen to the never haves,

Then listen close to me...

Anything can happen, child.

Anything can be.

"In the Still of the Night" by Langston Hughes:

In the still of the night,

While the world is in slumber,

I listen, I listen,

To hear your soft voice.

"The Sound of Silence" by Paul Simon:

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence.

Guru Nanak's Suniye - By Rajesh Krishnan

Guru Nanak’s Japji Sahib – V

Pauri – 8

Suniye Sidh Peer Sur Naath

Suniye Dharat Dhaval Akas

Suniye Deep Loa Paataal

Suniye Pohi Na Sakey Kaal

Nanak Bhagtan Sada Vigaas

Suniye Dukh Paap Ka Naas

By listening

one rises to become perfect and venerable

By listening, the earth and sky above revolve

By listening, the isles and nether worlds are stable

By listening, Death does not strike

Says Nanak,

Through listening

the devotee is always blissful

thus, all miseries and sins are annihilated

Guru Nanak in this Pauri reveals the art of listening and the benefits one can obtain by it.

Guru Nanak says that by listening, one can become a Siddha (person with occult powers), a Pir (saint), Sur (devta or a celestial being) and Nath (Lord like a king). Next he says that the Earth, the Sky also operate by listening (i.e. by following the Divine Order) and that the entire existence functions on this basis. By listening even death (Kaal) cannot touch. By listening, one is always in a state of bliss, thereby all miseries and sins are destroyed.

Sounds very simple! Just listen and everything is attained! To a layman this appears to be just overstated.

So a little more understanding is required on the meaning of Suniye.

Suniye distinctively involves listening or hearing (shravana) leading to “contemplation” (manana) and “imbibing” (nidhyasan); the initial steps for inculcating spiritual discipline. Suniye does not mean a chat or a dialogue. It simply means to listen.

Let us look at our everyday lives. When do we listen and what do we listen? Don’t we hear mostly what we want to hear, not what the other person is trying to convey? The moment something is communicated to us that does not synchronize with our habituated patterns, we start arguing and debating. Resultantly, we enter into conflicts by totally rejecting the other’s point of view without applying any logic. Shravana – the art of listening – is simply blown away to winds.

Suniye or shravana means to listen attentively and then reflect on it, followed by inference or contemplation leading to realization of the true meaning of what has been heard.

Suniye from spiritual and religious standpoint thus implies to visit the Guru – the Master – with an empty mind and fill it up to the brim with the holy Word and be constantly associated with it. The importance of association is well known. In fact, the word “Sangat” (association) is of extreme importance to remember. It is by our associating with things, both subjective and objective, that we tend to get influenced and these influences manifest in our actions. Repetitive actions form our habits and the sum total of our habits is our character, the gateway to our ultimate destiny.

This aspect has been well known to all our ancestors and Guru Nanak emphasizes and explains this phenomenon by using the word Suniye very logically and purposefully throughout this Pauri and the next three Pauris. Finally, the last two lines of this Pauri are repeated exactly the same way in all the four Pauris.

At the end of the Pauri, Guru Nanak simply guarantees that by listening, when one becomes constantly associated with the name of God, then the holy Word pervades the very being of that person and becomes like an armor to ward off and annihilate all miseries and sins.

Pauri - 9

Suniye Isar Barma Ind

Suniye Mukh Salahan Mand

Suniye Jog Jugat Tan Bhed

Suniye Sasat Simrat Ved

Nanak Bhagtan Sada Vigaas

Suniye Dukh Paap Ka Naas

By Listening, exists the trinity of

Shiva, Brahma and Indra

By listening

even the ignorant praise the name of God

By listening one learns

the mysteries of Yoga and the bodily humors

By listening

all the scriptural knowledge is known

Says Nanak,

Through listening

the devotee is always blissful

thus, all miseries and sins are annihilated

The famous Hindu trinity is Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Lords of Creation, Preservation and Destruction. However, in this Pauri, instead of Vishnu, the name used is that of Indra. If one follows Hindu mythology, Indra many a time represents the same powers as that of Vishnu.

Guru Nanak used the trinity earlier in Pauri # 5 and it is again referenced in Pauri # 30.

What exactly is this trinity?

While inferring Pauri # 5 it was stated that the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh – the “Gods” of Creation, Operation and Destruction – are conceptual symbols and stand for the three gunas (traits or tendencies) which serve as the fundamental operating principles of Prakriti – universal nature – which are called: sattva, rajas and tamas - the forces engaged in the process of creation, preservation, and destruction respectively. These Gunas are seen to manifest in all creations at all times, though not in equal measure.

Now Guru Nanak in this Pauri declares that these gunas came into being by listening. One needs to reflect on “Ik Onkar Satnam” the mulmantra which means ‘One primordial energy’ the only Truth and the Cause of all creation. Scientifically, the first manifestation of energy is sound and all further manifestations occur later. Wouldn’t it then mean that when the first manifestation i.e. the sound is first heard and only then subsequent materializations take place? Hence, Guru Nanak proclaims here that the trinity came into being only by listening.

Next Guru Nanak says that by listening even “mand” the ignorant (some translate this as sinners) start praising God. Ignorance arises when we are connected with our ego – hence we become the doers of our actions. Actions result in reactions and an unstoppable flow of thoughts which bind or trap us. By listening, what Guru Nanak is saying is that we disconnect from our ego, the state of being a doer and instead become a witness. Once the sense of being a witness is established, then all ignorance vanishes on its own.

By listening one learns the secrets of Yoga and the mystery of bodily humors. Yoga is the art of understanding the energy within and giving it the right direction. We have to remind ourselves again and again that “by listening” implies the state of silence or solitude. When one is silent, one becomes automatically relaxed; and with restlessness diminished the breathing becomes peaceful. There is a different kind of glow and feeling of tranquility. In such a state, one then listens from within and acquires knowledge of yoga and the mystery of bodily humors.

Another point to note is that to see, one has to open one’s eyelids i.e. to carry out an action, but to hear one does not have to “open” one’s ears. They are always open to listen. Thus listening is a passive action. Yet can one listen in a chaotic, noisy or cacophonous environment? Hence shravana – the art of listening – warrants an undisturbed serenity – so that one may hear, contemplate and absorb.

Similarly, says Guru Nanak, the knowledge and wisdom of the scriptures (Shastras, Vedas, et al) is acquired by suniye or listening.

Pauri – 10

Suniye Sat Santokh Gyan

Suniye Athsath Ka Ishnan

Suniye Par Par Pave Maan

Suniye Lage Sahaj Dhyan

Nanak Bhagtan Sada Vigaas

Suniye Dukh Paap Ka Naas

By listening

Truth and contentment are attained

By listening

The advantage of spiritual baths

in the sixty-eight holy places is gained

By listening and reading again and again

honor is merited

By listening

Meditation transpires spontaneously

Says Nanak,

with the Word pervading always in the devotee

All miseries and sins are annihilated.

Continuing on the glory of Suniye (Shravana – the art of listening) Guru Nanak, in this Pauri explains that just by listening, awareness of all truth and contentment is attained.

Sat again in this Pauri is used for Sat as absolute existence and Truth.

The idea of discontent or dissatisfaction occurs when we relate our material wealth or egocentric thoughts compare our material wealth with what and how much the “other” has and this concept and feeling of the “other” exists so long as the idea of “I” exists.

Santokh or contentment means to express gratitude for what one has and bear no remorse for what one does not have. Only with this kind of attitude and perspective can one be in a state of Santokh or real contentment. Only then one can remain in a blissful state.

Thus the word “gyan” (wisdom, awareness, and understanding) is the key that unlocks all confusion that is caused by the feeling of “discontent” and this “gyan” – the awareness – comes from listening.

Next is ‘Athsath ka Ishnan’ or bathing in sixty-eight holy places. The prevailing ritualistic belief amongst the Hindus is that by bathing in the 68 holy places, one will be absolved of all sins and become virtuous.

However, in Raja Yoga (Kundalini Yoga), the Yoga Sutras explain about the seven major chakras or energy centers within the body. The word chakra in Sanskrit means ‘wheel’ or ‘disk’. Each of the seven main chakras has its own distinct character and relates to a unique aspect of our being. The chakras correlate to levels of consciousness, body functions, colors, elements, sounds, and much more. The blockage or energetic dysfunction in the chakras is believed to give rise to emotional, physiological, psychological and spiritual disorders. Similarly, the body also contains sixty-eight points which in the Yogic exercises are used to channelize the energy to attain virtue.

Yoga is by and large used by common people as an exercise for body fitness, the study of the chakras and channelizing of the energy through various points from the lower chakra to the highest is done by Siddhas to acquire occult powers.

To explain, the sixty eight points within the body, to common people, various pilgrimage spots became symbols through mythological tales and as it always happens, these symbols were and are mistaken for reality.

Rituals are the by-products of this explanation and people even today believe that by taking a baths at such pilgrimages, the sins will be absolved and the person will become virtuous or even attain salvation! Millions take such bath religiously (read blind ritualism) and find themselves in the same condition as before, because, in majority of the cases, what was supposed to have been drowned – “I” the mundane ego – returns inflated manifold.

It is in this context that Guru Nanak says that whatever the virtue that one can attain through bathing in “these” sixty eight holy places can be gained simply by listening.

Now, “Suniye Lage Sahaj Dhyan” comes as a revelation. Meditation means to awaken inside and listen to the sound of silence – and it is possible to meditate only when the mind is not engaged in the debates of internal dialogues. Hence, Guru Nanak says that by simply listening, meditation happens on its own accord, naturally.

Pauri - 11

Suniye Saran Guna Ke Gah

Suniye Sheikh Peer Patshah

Suniye Andhe Pave Rah

Suniye Hath Hove Asgah

Nanak Bhagtan Sada Vigaas

Suniye Dukh Paap Ka Naas

By listening

one becomes virtuous like deep oceans

By listening

sages, saints and Kings come into being

By listening

the blind (ignorant) finds the way

By listening

the Unfathomable is close at hand

Says Nanak,

with the Word pervading always in the devotee

All miseries and sins are annihilated.

The art of listening is further exalted in this Pauri. Guru Nanak says that by listening alone, the highest virtues can be acquired and one can fathom the depths of oceans. By listening, one can acquire the wisdom of the sages, the virtues of the saints and the sovereignty of the kings. Likewise, the blind (ignorant) discover the path by listening. What is generally known is the surface, but by listening, one can fathom the depths of boundless.

There are distractions all the way. And that’s one of the reasons we can’t listen to the Guru. The question is: how do you stay away from distractions? If you’re truly meditating, your Shabad Guru will keep calling you back. It will keep haunting you.

Guru Nanak's Tera Sadra

I’ve been meditating on the line: Tera Sadra Suneejai Bhai. Even though I sing other shabads, I keep returning to this. I was focusing on the word suneejai — listening — and then my mind wandered to suni pukaar, the first line of Bhai Gurdas’s Vaar 23. It literally means “listening to the cry.”

That cry becomes clearer if you read the previous pauri, Pauri 22: “Dharam dhaul pukaarai talai khaRoaa” — the bull of dharam cries out from below. It’s a beautiful continuation of Guru Nanak’s metaphor from Japji Sahib: “Dhaul dharam daya ka poot” — the world is balanced on dharam, the child of kindness. But Bhai Gurdas adds a twist — when kindness falters, the bull wobbles and cries. That cry reaches the divine, and in response, Guru Nanak is sent to Earth.

I used to brush over suni pukaar in Bhai Gurdas’s vaar. But this time, it stood out. Gurbani and Bhai Gurdas are so deeply interconnected. You understand one better by reading the other. You read Bhai Gurdas, and suddenly Gurbani opens up. You read Gurbani, and Bhai Gurdas starts to glow.

Actually, you can go back even further. Pauris 21 and 22 are perfect lead-ins to Pauri 23, where Guru Nanak arrives. So I sang all three pauris this time. You can listen to Pauris 21–22 here and Pauri 23 here.

Now here comes what might be called a distraction — but maybe it isn’t.

In Pauri 22, there’s a line: “Chaare jaage chahu jugee panchain prabh aape hoa.” I looked up the phrase chaare jaage chahu jugee. It shows up four times — three in Bhai Gurdas’s vaars, and once in the Guru Granth Sahib, in Satta and Balvand’s Vaar in Raag Ramkali, ang 968.

There’s a subtle difference in how the line appears:

Guru Granth Sahib: chaare jaage chahu jugee panchain aape hoaa
Bhai Gurdas: chaare jaage chahu jugee panchain prabh aape hoa

Bhai Gurdas adds the word prabh. You can’t add prabh to the line in the Guru Granth Sahib — it would break the meter. There’s an extra syllable. It doesn’t flow as naturally. Bhai Gurdas wrote his line with a slightly different rhythm, with an extra beat.

This happens elsewhere too. For example:

GGS: aape paTee kalam aap aap likhanahaaraa hoaa
Bhai Gurdas: aape paTee kalam aap aape likhanihaaraa hoaa

Again — one extra beat. Bhai Gurdas was doing something deliberate with meter. I see this again and again in Gurbani. The beauty of the line isn’t just in the words, but in the rhythm. The meditation becomes more powerful when the meter is precise. Bhai Gurdas wasn’t just writing — he was singing. He was testing every line. Ensuring the seeker would receive a line both deep in meaning and balanced in beat. That’s part of the gift.

While I was reflecting on all this, my phone buzzed with social media notifications. People were sharing Meetha Meetha for Guru Arjan’s Shaheedi Gurpurab. We had just sung this shabad with my dear flautist Rajesh Prasanna, who’s visiting California this month.

Then I noticed something else — in that same vaar by Satta and Balvand, there’s a line: “Takhat baithaa Arjan Guru.” The same vaar where we sing “Dhan Dhan Ramdas Gur.” I realized Dhan Dhan and Arjan have a kind of internal rhyme. That became my next meditative thread. I composed a new piece around that pauri — listen to it here.

For those who enjoy technical stuff — this composition is in 7 beats (one less than how I usually do Bhai Gurdas’s vaars). If you say “ta-kha” before beat one, then the ta of takhat and jan of arjan fall on beat one. So does “satgur ka.” It makes the internal rhythm even more beautiful. Repeating “Dhan Dhan Guru... Arjan Guru” becomes a chant. A kind of heartbeat.

It gave me a way to remember Guru Arjan on Gurpurab. But then I paused — wasn’t I meandering too far from my original meditation? What does a takhat (throne) have to do with listening?

But then it hit me. It means everything.

If you’re not seated — truly seated — if you’re not letting the Guru speak, letting the Guru’s wind hit you, you’re not really listening. Then I started thinking about all the shabads where the throne — the takhat — becomes central. A place for singing, for the Guru’s presence:

Takhat baitha Arjan Guru
Aape takhat rachayo aakas paataala
So dar keha so ghar keha jit bahi sarab samale
Jithe jaye bahe mera satguru so thaan
Sa dharti bhayi hareyavali jithe mera satgur baitha aye

The takhat is where the Guru sits. The shining canopy of Oneness sways above. That’s where the singing happens.

And the heart — the heart is the real throne. That’s where we want the Guru to sit and sing. “Bas rahe hirdaye gur charan pyare.” Let the Guru’s feet rest here.

What better place than that throne? The Guru seated inside, showing us the way to sing — not with instructions, but through his own melodious footsteps.

And now, somewhere in the corner of my heart, Guru Nanak is singing:
“Deh bujhai” — Tell me, O Guru, how can I sing?

Because how would I ever know what singing is…
if the Guru hadn’t first sat down and begun to sing?

The Guru is my king and his feet are on the throne of my heart. Guru Nanak says: Sultan hovan mel lashkar takhat raakha pao.

Listening to this today today, and working on a translation:

Lyrics

Tere ishq ne dera mere andar keeta

Bhar ke zehar pyala, main taan aape peeta

Jhabde wahundi tabiba, nahi te main mar gayaan

Tere ishq nachaaiyaan, kar ke thaiyaa thaiyaa

Chup gaye ve sooraj, bahar reh gayi laali

Ve main sadqe hova, devein murjey vikhali

Peera main bhul gayaan, tere naal na gaiyaan

Tere ishq nachaaiyaan, kar ke thaiyaa thaiyaa

Ais ishq de kolon mainu hatak na maaye

Laahu jaandey berrey, kehrram mor laya

Meri akal jun bhulli, naal mhaniyaan dey gaiyaan

Tere ishq nachaaiyaan, kar ke thaiyaa thaiyaa

Ais ishq di jhangi vich mor bulenda

Sanu qibla ton kaaba, sohna yaar disenda

Saanu ghayal karke, phir khabar na laaiyaan

Tere ishq nachaaiyaan, kar ke thaiyaa thaiyaa

Bullah Shah, na aounda mainu inayat de buhe

Jisne mainu awaye, chole saave te suhe

Jaan main maari aye, addi mil paya hai vahaiya

Tere ishq nachaaiyaan, kar ke thaiyaa thaiyaa