--- title: "At Ease — Listening to What Is As Is (QD031)" heading: "At Ease — Listening to What Is As Is (QD031)" subheading: "" updated: "2025-10-17T17:35:00+00:00" words: 461 url: https://ananda.icu/talks/quick-drops/qd031-at-ease-listening-to-what-is-as-is description: "No particular topic today. None needed. At ease. A simple reflective pause. Listening to what is. As it is. Not going anywhere with it. Not making anything of it. Simply attending to whatever that presents itself. When it's time to engage — then engage with attention. When it's not — or if you're overwhelmed — then step back, neutralize, reflect and reorient to what is." ... [◂ Quick Drops](https://ananda.icu/cat/talks/quick-drops) ⁘ [📺 Video ▸](https://ananda.icu/video#QD031) [🎶 Audio ▸](https://ananda.icu/audio#QD031) ⁘ [LINK 🔗](https://ananda.icu/talks/quick-drops/qd031-at-ease-listening-to-what-is-as-is) [PDF ](https://ananda.icu/files/pdf/talks/qd031-at-ease-listening-to-what-is-as-is.pdf) [MP4 ](https://ananda.icu/files/video/talks/qd031-at-ease-listening-to-what-is-as-is.mp4) [OGG ](https://ananda.icu/files/audio/talks/qd031-at-ease-listening-to-what-is-as-is.ogg) **Words:** 461 ⁘ **Length:** 02:51 min ⁘ **Created:** 2025-10-13 ⁘ **Updated:** 2025-10-17 No particular topic today. None needed. At ease. A simple reflective pause. Listening to what is. As it is. Not going anywhere with it. Not making anything of it. Simply attending to whatever that presents itself. When it's time to engage — then engage with attention. When it's not — or if you're overwhelmed — then step back. Level out and neutralize, reflect and reorient to what is. Into peaceful insight — beyond the echoes in your tunnel. When we react right away, we usually react to what is not. How could you react to what is — you didn't pause to see? Let not the tunnel drive you — become the driver again. Step out of your bonds — be a sovereign in your stream. _#QuickDrops #Pause #Reflection #Listening #Peace #WhatIs #Tunnel #Reactivity #Neutrality #Tranquility #AnandaICU_ **No particular topic today.** Simply listening. Attending to what is — as it is. When it's time to engage, then engage. And when there is no push to engage, let it all rest. And again, when the flux of engagement overwhelms you — take a pause, rest, reflect. We are blinded by the relentless flux. We do not see what is out there — and we do not see what is in here. We are driven by the need to react, like right away. But when we react right away, typically driven by the urges of emotion or our challenged identity, we react, we respond to what is not. We respond to a fraction of actuality. We respond to our projections and hallucinations. And it goes without saying that the outcome is less likely to be harmonic. Less likely to lead to mutual understanding, to reconciliation, even streamlining of our interaction. But there is no such priority that should ever override or supersede the priority to discover a plane of peace, of equanimity, of tranquility, in which we can first orient to the truth of what is, the best we can decipher it. It may not be the absolute truth. Fair, but it will be something that is beyond the tunnel in which you are driving. The itchy tip of your nose, the burning in your belly button — they will not reveal to you the fullness of what you are faced with. So please try and be aware of when you are driven in the tunnel. Reclaim your sovereignty, become the driver again. In control of the gear you drive in, in control of the turns you take. Hazards are averted, unwanted outcomes are minimized, and suffering is significantly reduced. Simply by your stepping out of the drive, from the relentless flux. Taking a break, reflecting, simply to listen. Taking what is as it is, and then based on that, we roll on.