Day 27 - The Art of Listening

40 Day Meditation Retreat 2007 with Sri Vasudeva
"Be Wise in Action"
Day 27 - Saturday April 21, 2007
www.blue-star.org

In the art of listening, we need to become mentally quieter because the tendency is to become active mentally. The moment a person starts to speak, we begin to process. Sometimes there are judgments, evaluations at the same time the person is speaking. It shows if you are listening to me and you want to write everything I am saying. I wonder though how much you are really listening as you are writing? Do you miss anything? I remembered a certain teacher once telling a journalist, "Please, don't write anything. Take my advice. Don't write anything when I am speaking, but listen, listen well."

The journalist was surprised to see how much information he or she could have written afterwards just by pure listening. The fear of losing information can actually take away from the listening because you are so caught. So you need to become mentally quiet when you listen, without the fear that you are going to lose information. You need to be able to listen to such a degree that you can follow the steps of the conversation. It's a skill.

Of course, there's nothing wrong in taking notes, but the notes shouldn't disturb you from listening because you want to take everything down. Then there must be patience in the listening. You need to be able to listen through conversations. Even when you think the point has been made and you want to stop listening at that point and begin to think, even though your eyes are focused on the person, you need to hold right there and listen more.

I am sure you know that if you were to record someone speaking and listen to it over and over again, you pick up a lot in the second, third, fourth, fifth listening. Then you get an idea of how much you actually missed the first time.

There is also listening with the heart. "Is your emotional being also important in the listening?" Creating a space of comfort, a space of love, a space of welcoming allows you and the other person to be at ease. This is a heart quality. It also brings the patience to listen. The heart quality also gives appreciation of the person and allows you to listen in a better emotional space which enhances the listening. You want to listen, or you enjoy the listening, or you are comfortable in the listening. So am I listening with my heart? Is there a heart quality in my listening? You need to observe that.

Thoughts, comments, opinions?

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