Haven't you ever known someone who simply did not have the ability to listen; someone whose ego seemed so overpowering that he or she simply could not stop speaking as if in a filibuster or one-sided debate? Someone whose rude, verbose, inappropriate or self-centred, mindless remarks seem to invade your space? This is simply their "Radio Station Ego" broadcasting loud and unclear. This type of unaware communication has zero to do with listening and communicates very little.
True listening on the other hand, is a way of stopping and being present so that whatever is being said is immediately apparent on many levels much like listening to a clock up close; you can hear the tick-tock-tick-tock of its inner movements and visualize the cogs and mechanisms inside that are causing the sound. True listening is a skill and very much a part of developing your own conscious awareness at a deeper level. Its a skill that good psychotherapists use to clearly reflect, without distortion or interference so that their clients can better see and know themselves and in this way better discover for themselves what they want and need. It's a kind of hovering awareness as Freud called it. Being present and reflecting things as they are without distortion, colouring or expectation of any outcome.
Can you hear what's between the lines? Can you sense where the words are coming from, not just hear the words? Can you perceive and more importantly feel what others are feeling as they speak? If you want to genuinely hear what is being said in the present moment, if you want to become truly aware of someone's energy behind the words, of the true meaning they are trying to express, here is a conscious choice you can make; Simply tune in to a greater emotional bandwidth, and you will receive more channels and stations.
It may be subtle at first, but as you practice genuine listening, the art of being present with another person and listening beyond mere words, through the words, between the words, from the inside out, from behind the words, the true meaning of what they are expressing begins to shine through. And understanding the true meaning behind words allows you to perceive a greater degree of reality upon which you may base your actions which may or may not involve an immediate verbal response.
There are people who have developed their listening abilities to such an extent that they can here the music of celestial spheres, a whale's song from another ocean, the tunes played by angelic hosts and other celestial songsters. Tune in to all that is. It's worth it. Start practicing today.
