"Listening to sounds with focused attention allows the practitioner to hear the voice of God in everything. The Baal Shem Tov urged his students to direct their awareness equally to prayer, birdsong, rain, or a shout in the street. The Maggid of Mezerich taught that the best way to practice listening was to forget oneself entirely. 'You must be nothing but an ear which hears what the universe of the Word is constantly saying within you. The moment you start hearing what you yourself are saying, you must stop.' Their Hasidic descendants continue to remain devoted to listening as a preferred form of meditation, for it can be practiced anywhere and at any time."