Burst Twenty Five (For Youth):
Listening is Loving
True listening is not just through ears; it is with your whole being. You then listen to not just what the other person is saying but to his whole being.
Alas, you remain caught in your own self-concern and related preoccupations. You pay attention to what you like and turn deaf to what you dislike. Attachments and aversions – seeking pleasure and avoiding pain – come into the scene even when the other person is saying something to you. Where is listening if you thus filter what he wants to convey?
In seeing the pettiness of all preoccupations, the mind sheds its attachments. You then discover quietude and space. Listening then helps you understand the other person beyond the words that he utters. You feel his whole personality as he verbalizes only a bit of his mind.
The mind, the flow of thoughts, has become so mechanical that actual seeing has gone dim. The incessant chatter of thinking creates an illusory realm of experiencing where you are afraid and are trying to do something hastily. Some memories or the other bring about insecurity and they drive you to constantly react to some imagined scenarios. You carry stress in the mind and this prevents you from listening.
Desire for gratification is also a mischief of memories. Some fancy holds you captive and, when the situation looks favorable, you indulge in hopes of a great time to come. Can you listen at all when your mind is away into the unborn future?
Empty your mind of yourself. Listening then just happens. There is then love.
Swami Chidananda
March 16, 2004