The mystery, the essence of all life, is not separate from the silent openness of simple listening. ~Toni Packer
Listening. That’s not something many of us are very good at. While we’re listening to music or podcasts, our minds are often engaged in something else. We pride ourselves on multi-tasking, not realizing that our minds are fragmented and inefficient. When we listen to someone, we make eye contact and nod or otherwise indicate our attention, but where is our attention really? Often we are evaluating what the person is saying, agreeing or disagreeing, thinking about things that we are reminded of, planning what we are going to say in response, or really just letting our mind wander. We don’t always hear what is really being said.
We are not much better, and perhaps even worse, at listening in silence to our inner wisdom. We are not taught in this culture to listen to or to trust what our inner guidance whispers to us in the silence of our souls. On the contrary, we are conditioned to distrust our own wisdom and to depend on the expertise of others. We are taught what to think, how to behave, what to feel. We have so disconnected ourselves from our inner resonance that we don’t even try to listen within when we are disturbed or confused.
And if our spirit does speak to us, nudging us or cautioning us, we dismiss it or we seek validation from an external source. In my younger years, I judged everything by my rational mind. If I had an intuition about a particular situation, but it didn’t make sense to me, I went with my head. Always a mistake, as I learned. However, when I started to trust and follow my inner guidance, even when it seemed unjustifiable to my mind (and there were more than a few of those situations), it turned out beautifully. Some of the craziest inner advice I followed led to the most beautiful blessings in my life.
I’m more attuned now to that inner voice. I listen for it in silence when I need some guidance or clarity. And if it comes to me unbidden, I pause my noisy thinking and pay quiet attention with my whole self, knowing that what I hear rings true.
For in the sacredness of every moment, Divine Grace is telling you alone all that is required. ~Jean-Pierre de Caussade
I love this quote — For in the sacredness of every moment, Divine Grace is telling you alone all that is required. ~Jean-Pierre de Caussade
and yes listening – a tough assignment –
Yes, that’s one of my favorite quotes too. A good reminder to listen and to trust what you hear.
In reading this post I was powerfully reminded about something I realized last night while listening to music: most of my playlists are meant to be used while doing something else. These are often soft instrumentals that simply create a mood but don’t interrupt another task.
That must be the epitome of not listening while listening.
That is a good example, Bob! On the other hand, music can often provide the mood for doing something else, and in that sense is meant to be in the background of the main activity. It does seem to me, though, that many of us find it very difficult to just do one thing with our full attention, whether that is listening or something else. And listening within for inner guidance is even more challenging when we’ve got something else occupying our attention.
You’re going to put influencers out of business