Deep Listening

What the world needs now

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Another tough day at work; another day of holding in all that frustration. No sense in talking to your boss; you’ve tried that, but she barely heard, much less listened, to you.

You rush home, looking forward to venting to your spouse, but he interrupts your story. He had a hard day, too. Both of you are tired and frustrated. Neither of you is really listening.

What happens to all that stress that we carry inside? It gets recycled into new forms — an argument, a terse dismissal, road rage, loss of patience, and nasty comments.

“When no one listens to us or understands us, we become like a bomb ready to explode.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

So many families, couples, and relationships have been broken because we have lost the capacity of listening to each other with calmness and compassion. We have lost the capacity of using calm and loving speech. The Fourth Mindfulness Training is very important to restore communication between us.

What is the Fourth Mindfulness Training? Deep Listening and Loving Speech.

“Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful speech and the inability to listen to others, I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order…