Quieten your mind to listen

Quieten your mind to listen
4 Jan, 2008, 0000 hrs IST,N Kalyani, TNN

As children we played Chinese Whispers, where, a phrase that originated with one of us went around the entire group with each one whispering it in the ear of the other. And the last one to hear it in the group would announce it. This was followed by the original phrase being spelt out.

It was always amusing and amazing to see the distortion: what the original phrase was, and what was heard ultimately. Sometimes it was spoonerism at work, sometimes it got diametrically opposite in meaning, at other times it turned into a humorous concoction and at still others it ended up as gibberish.

Today our human intercourse and communication is carried on like a game of Chinese Whispers. Effective communication, which holds the key to understanding and harmony, is as much about good listening skills as it is about effective speaking skills. Listening. Do we listen? Apparently not.

And what hinders us from listening? In one of his discourses Osho explains thus: “The mind goes on spinning a thousand and one thoughts, and the mind goes on moving — in the past, in the future. How can you listen? And whatever you listen to, it will not be right listening at all .You will listen to something else which has not been said at all, you will go on missing that which is said — because you will not be in tune.”

Our perceptions, prejudices, apprehensions, in short, our distinct, particular mindset interferes in our listening with clarity. Clarity is really a certain transparency of the mind. With such a mind it is possible to listen disinterestedly, with genuine interest, true concern, and absolute honesty. “To listen means to be here, now,...without any thought, alert and aware, to listen in a deep receptivity,” says Osho.

Hermann Hesse, writes in his novel, Siddhartha (1922), about the protagonist, a spiritual seeker, of the same name, who learns from a river, a universal preceptor. “....he learned from it how to listen, to listen with a still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgement, without opinions.”

And through Siddhartha’s mentor, Vasudeva, a ferryman, Hesse alludes to a good listener, worthy of emulation: “... (he) took in every word, quietly, expectantly,...he missed nothing. He did not await anything with impatience and gave neither praise nor blame — he only listened.”