LISTENING

“In the same way that you need to stop talking to hear what others are saying, you need to stop thinking in order to find what life is all about.” Alan Watts Alan Watts

Insight of the day:

Listening is so fundamental, that once acquired, makes the greatest difference in one’s life! It’s a game changer! And I am not talking about cliche active listening skills, listening techniques, etc. True listening is NOT a technique, it is an experience from being present.

A lot of people have come to me, over the years, to talk about their issues and I thought I was a good listener. Until my listening skills were put to the test, with my 3 Principles training, and I realized that very seldom had I been really listening…So I trained again, intensively, day in-day out, month in-month out, not only to truly develop excellent listening skills, but also because I discovered that there is nothing that gives me more joy!

I practice listening every day and I marvel…I listen to nature, I listen to other people and I am genuinely curious to learn where they come from…I listen to my inner voice, my soul and my insights. I listen to music, to my mentors, to poetry…I listen for the truth behind the words and the representations. I listen to the silence…I listen from my heart!

It’s magical, when we really listen, we fall in love with life over and over and over again, every day!!!! There are endless opportunities.

Have you noticed that people, especially children, know when you really listen to them, when you are present? Have you noticed how much richer your experience of life can be when you use your listening to learn, to discover, to expand, and to grow? Have you even noticed that your soul shrinks, every time you do not pay attention to it? The fact is, our whole world shrinks, when we are lost in our busy thoughts and it expands when we are in our quiet mind. And then, we wish we had more time, less pressure, more opportunities, fewer problems, more money, more help, better luck…etc,…

How about forgetting all about that and starting with listening from a relaxed mind? When wise people say the solutions are already inside you, that’s what they mean. However, you can not listen to your inner wisdom, when you are in the fog of your habitual, fear-driven ego. Remember what we have said: You are either in your thoughts or in the present moment; you are either in fear or in love. See?

To live a fulfilling life, we need to stop looking outside of us and start the other way around, with an inward direction, from a place of curiosity, wonderment, trust and love! Our inner voice is like a butterfly, if we try hard to catch it through busy thoughts, it is sure to escape. If we just allow, make space – in trust, peace and marvel – more than one butterflies will come and rest on our shoulders, in good time! And they will keep coming…

In essence, to truly listen, we (our ego) need to get out of the way! From there, the whole beauty of life and of our true self starts to unfold. One of my teachers says: “All people get insecure every day, the difference is that enlightened people don’t take their insecurities seriously. They see them for what they are (just the content of their thoughts) and they become present again.” Of course, when we are present, or grounded, we are in a good place to listen to the wisdom! Enlightenment and love itself, stem from a deeper understanding; not from blind faith or illusions.

When we are present and we listen, invariably we are of service to others and to the world; this is our true nature – and not the ego-centric, greedy, needy, creepy, limited ego thoughts, no matter how ‘familiar’, falsely comfortable, or conventional they seem.

Reflection journal:

Start noticing, when you listen to others, do you listen to agree, to disagree, to identify with them, to prove a point OR do you listen taking every moment in, without any filter from your own thoughts? The latter is what we call ‘listening’. When they say that love is giving your full attention, that’s what they mean, the kind of meditative listening that is completely NOT about you. And actually, when you listen with an open mind and curiosity, it’s like falling in love.

Think of it, when you meet a new person who excites you, in the beginning you want to know everything about him/her. Also, when you travel to a a new place, it’s like falling in love – you want to get to know that place. How does that feel? Expansive perhaps? Surely, it is like discovering a new world. All the problems start when you think you know enough and even worse, when what you are discovering somehow doesn’t fit into your ideas of how things should be…to be continued…