Art of Listening
To hear and to listen, even though conveys almost the same, still they have a subtle inbound difference in their true meanings. Te Hear means to merely perceive through our ears to any incident sounds. But to listen means to pay attention to those sounds. Therefore listening can be regarded as more of a conscious act than hearing. Listening is an art in itself which cannot be acquired easily. But in it there lies utmost beauty and great understanding. We listen with the various depths of our being . Do we hear directly, without translating or transforming or twisting it. Do we really listen just for the sake of listening. Our listening is always with a preconception or with a point of view. We listen with the multiple screens of our thoughts, interpretations, conclusions, likes or dislikes. We either listen with resistance or with pleasure. Is listening itself really the pleasure or it just 'gives' us pleasure. If even remotely associated with objective of grasp or rejection, then this act is no listening at all. To listen there must be an inward quietness, absolute freedom from the strain of acquiring , an emotion of relaxed attention. This act of listening brings a miracle of complete freedom from all the statements of the speaker, whether they are true or false, real or fiction . While listening the mind is in state of complete attention and complete attention means no border . The moment this attention builds up frontiers or borders, then concepts arise and the listener begins to fight, agree or disagree. But if listening is done without any single interference, the mind becomes extraordinarily free to act to any statement. This passive yet alert state is able to hear what ids beyond verbal conclusion. Words confuse, they are only an outward means of communication; but to commune beyond the noise of words, there must be listening in an alert passivity. When this state of perfect attention is achieved, then it doesn’t matter whether anything is being said or not. The fibre of communication transcends beyond the upstream direction of the river of words.
But most of us do not listen , and as simply the result, we don’t understand. We are too quick to react, to form an opinion, rather than waiting to be completely aware of what is being conveyed. We want to form an opinion quickly, explain the thing away and move on to something else. We are always in a hurry, mentally. We want to make an opinion, come to a conclusion, justify it , explain the thing to ourselves; or we simply wish to show the other person how clever we are - and how quick thinking people we are and start thinking of clever responses.
(article inspired by the ideas if J.Krishnamurti)
-Vaibhav
But most of us do not listen , and as simply the result, we don’t understand. We are too quick to react, to form an opinion, rather than waiting to be completely aware of what is being conveyed. We want to form an opinion quickly, explain the thing away and move on to something else. We are always in a hurry, mentally. We want to make an opinion, come to a conclusion, justify it , explain the thing to ourselves; or we simply wish to show the other person how clever we are - and how quick thinking people we are and start thinking of clever responses.
(article inspired by the ideas if J.Krishnamurti)
-Vaibhav