neighbor

our neighbors are very special people. they mostly are people we don’t know of, yet they might affect us much greater than our family members or relatives who don’t live close to us :

we hear their conversations / music they play;

we smell foods they cook;

we know if there is an argument / heated debate / children yelling…

we know when they sleep, shower, walk, do works that make a noise (e.g. drilling…), play an musical instrument…

their life style affect us quite a lot particularly if the building materials not quite sound proof, flats are very close to each other, and people r not really considerate / conscious.

we have the luck to have an upstairs neighbor who stay up late until 3 – 4 a.m. each night and like particularly listening to music very loudly.

it was so unbearable at the beginning that we thought of moving out very shortly after we moved in. even 1 night was intolerable as they kept making noises throughout the night despite our repeated efforts to solve the problem. i was devastated.

calling the police was the last resort we still have not done till now.

the amazing thing is, Eckhart Tolle also came into my life around the same period, and i did use this opportunity to practise totally acceptance / surrender…

the result being we are still here after almost 3 years. our neighbour do improve a little yet the basic pattern remain the same. i thank them for the wonderful lesson that made me much more conscious and present than before.

i have read :

people come to you

for a reason;

for a season;

for a life time.

may we respect all life forms that come to us anytime, and see the positive despite possible challenges / “bad” on the surface. for there is always a deeper meaning to all that happens, particularly sufferings, which very often is the teacher of awakening.

Namaskar

Sat Nam Deep I