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REALITY BITES ONCE YOU LET IT.

I rant, therefore I ran.

DO YOU EVER LISTEN?

The Importance of Listening

"Know thy self and thou shall know thy universe and the gods." (from an ancient Greek inscr i ption). In order to know ourselves we must listen to the voice of the master within and that only this voice can guide us on the way that leads to self mastery. We must learn to still our minds and become receptive to listen. Whether we listen with our ears or with our hearts, or experience the voice of the master within, genuinely listening is truly an art for listening at any level can be difficult. In order to listen effectively, one must block out all destractions and focus one's attention. Real listening consists of more than simply hearing. Genuine listening is simply paying attention to what we hear. The dictionary describes listening as "conscious hearing". Our listening can become a channel to which we experience joy and inspiration. Thru the technique of real listening, we can better understand and attune with ourselves, with nature, with fellow members of a human family, and with the cosmic. For some of us being a good listener doesn't cometh automatically as it might seem. It takes work and the desire to develop the technique. I recall a teacher once saying, "God gave you two ears and one mouth and you should consider listening twice as much as you talk".

It is important that we listen to one another. When I come to have classes, I try to make the atmosphere as fun and enjoyable for my students to talk freely. However it is equally important to listen to one another. If we make it a practise to be receptive, we might receive some important insights, information, suggestions from those we have judged from the least likely source.

As parents, we can listen to our children from sometimes out of the mouths of babies, come gems. I don't think that as a parent i was such a good listener, because I remember my son saying, "Mom, you don't listen." And he was probably right. However now, I really do listen and it is a joy to listen because I really learn so much from my kids and they know that they can depend on me to have the patience to listen to anything. I don't care what's going on I just empty myself and I listen. The youth today is struggling to be heard so I listen.

The world we live in is gratefully visual. From the time we open our eyes in the morning, we are bombarded with what we see. First there are lights and shadows followed by the dawn. Forms, shapes, colors, animals, everything man made and everything in nature. We stare at long busy streets on our way to work and we stare by the newspapers' headlines, and books and magazines on a nearby stands. Throughout the day, television screens, computer screens, watches, and palm pilots, blackberries - they're all vying for attention. It is also distracting because the competiton for our attention is so great.

I find it very restful to stop seeing so much and simply listen. To pay attention, to focus, to catch my breath, in a demanding world, especially if i can spend some time out of nature. Where can you go to just listen? If you're lucky to be near the water there might be a sound of waves raising on the shore. The sound of birds, or of the wind, listening to the trees. Wherever you are you just might listen to the sounds going on around you - the ticking of the clock, the hum of a refrigerator, someone's footsteps, the swish of the fan plates. Sounds can take you away from where you are sitting. You can chuckle as you listen with someone who is laughing from a distance.

In the city, I often stop to sidewalk musicians. Some play beautiful ethereal music from their distant home. And in just that moment I am transported, and I find myself very high atop very tall mountain. My head in the clouds nearest to God. If it is quiet, you can listen to your breath, or try to hear the beating of your heart. Contemplate the wonderful intelligence behind our existence. Listen to the rhythm of ourselves. Contemplate the vibration of sound that created the universe. Sometimes we can listen to nothing, how restful and peaceful. Choosing not to pay attention to the noise around us, but instead tuning in to silence. If we listen to the sound of silence, we can connect to ourselves in a way that gives us sense of wander and satisfaction. The artists around us are inspired by the voices they hear from within. The composers, the musicians, the painters, the poets and writers, the dancers who express the music they hear in sensuous and joyous movement. They all hearken to the voice of creativity, as they present our world with beauty and light. The great
mystic poet, Walt Whitman, seems to have closed his eyes simply to listen. When he wrote his famous poem, "I hear America singing", he says, "I hear America singing with varied carols, I hear. Those with mechanics, each one singing his as it should be, light and strong. The carpenter singing his as he measures his plain for his being. The mason singing his as he makes ready for work or leaves off work The boatman singing that belongs to him and his boat. The Deckman singing on his steamboat deck. The shoeman singing as he sits on his bench. The hatter singing as he stands. The delicious singing of a mother or of a young wife at work, or of a girl sewing or washing. Each singing what belongs to him or her and relentless. What songs do you hear?

Listening being able to focus our hearing, is essential to our being. The wisdom that we seek. The wisdom that cannot be taught, is received the moment we finally hear or listen to the voice of the master within. In the deepest mystical sense as we become more proficient in the art of listening, we can experience the most profound answers and understanding. The voice of intuition is the greatest truth we have to assist us in the way we live.

Intuition can help us accomplish our goals, guide us to make effective decisions, help us to know when to take actions, or to refrain from doing so. Intuition will help us to be safe when we are in danger, assist us in everything we do, advise us, counsel us about who is our friend or foe. Of course as we are living in the natural world, we are naturally compelled to tune in to the mainstream media. After all, we want to know what's happening in the world. The daily news challenges us to reach deep inside ourselves for understanding, tolerance, wisdom, love. However to survive in today's world, it is just as necessary to tune in to the master within for answers to the underlying reasons, for the sequence of events we find unfolding around us and listen to what can be our role, what we can do to effectively and constructively influence those events.

We should realize that we can all make a difference if we give it a time to listen and reflect in ourselves what we can offer the world in which we live in.

(based from an article on Peace Process)

Posted: 3/16/2008 at 00:23

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