When we turn our attention to listening-to deep listening-we discover that this overlooked basic element of our lives is a part of everything, like water. Every person on the planet wants to be heard. nany of us are dehydrated in our need for someone to listen to us.
We see in the act of deep conscious listening the skills and philosophy we each need to be contributors to peace-within ourselves, in our relationships, our homes, our communities, and, collectively, in the world. Listening is an active spiritual practice; it is social meditation. It demands us to bring consciousness through to the surface of our busy minds. It demands that we become present. It demands that we care about another human being who we may, at the moment, be at odds with. It demands that we be vigilant.
Listening to someone is also good for us. It teaches us how to be better people. Listening is alchemy; it burns through our ego's habits, it burns through arbitrary perceptions, it burns through barriers we erect with our unconscious minds, it brings out the gold within the listener and the one listened to.
Listening is a very diligent guru. The call to listen taps us on the shoulder all day long, telling us to pay attention. We are constantly given opportunities to deepen in this practice. |
Listening is the disciplined action of loving. It is the harnessing of kindness. It is the reining in of the ego hollering "What about me right now?! What about my story?!"
Listening is the daily work of non-violence. Listening is how we take all that we philosophically and spiritually know and put it into practice.
Listening is a seemingly simple act with manifest, miraculous outcomes. Listening can make the world new, one person at a time.
Nothing changes things between people like really listening does. It is the Sorcerer's Stone, the hidden key, the simple answer, the Touch of God, the act of love that unravels the knots we make, setting each of us, listener and speaker, free.
Listening is the cup of water that can heal what we all thirst for.
By Marcia McReynolds of Planet. She teaches people how to really listen through workshops, The Listening Cards ™, and public speaking. |
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• The Listening Place
• Pledge of Listening:
Listening should be taught in schools
• Make Molehills Out of Mountains
• Problem Solving Process
• Listening for Sustainability
• Meditations on Listening
• Depression Sign of Missed Calling
• Path to Unconditional Happiness
• Guerilla Mediation Steps
• Listening to Emotional Blocks
in the Body |
