If all the teachings in all the word could be condensed into one word, that word would be listen. This simple word is at the core of what underlies every teaching, every religion, and every spiritual path. It’s also something we rarely ever do. Instead we are caught up in our own mess or whatever the hot topic of the moment is and this confusion and chaos and distraction keeps us from listening to what is being spoken out loud let alone to the words that rise up from deep within.
We fail to listen to friends, lovers, and family. It’s not that we don’t want to we’re just on auto pilot at times or assume we already know what they have to say. This is how we miss everything that’s right in front of us. We’re not listening with our mind, heart, and soul. Words of love and encouragement breeze by, questions remain unanswered and we miss the depth of meaning that’s conveyed. Why is it so hard to let these words in and allow them to expand and enrich us? Words of warning. empathy, and insight slide by without inhabiting our heart and informing our actions. Why do we refuse to listen?
The listening only gets trickier from here because as we enter the inner territory we listen even less. Thoughts, ideas, and intuitions morph and play tricks on us or we just plain ignore them. It’s not so much that we don’t want to listen, it’s more we don’t know how to listen. How do we listen to the silence, to our soul, to the mystery behind the veil, to all that is being asked of us? Here is where all the teachings, paths, and religions come in, as a way to help us fine-tune our hearts so we can listen to the deeper currents of life.
In the end listening is a choice. Listening requires patience and practice. It requires us to hone in on the secrets of our soul, for in there is locked the mystery. There is no key or combination, there is only our sincere, intentional, and relentless listening. When we are ready to listen we finally hear what we need most. Then we begin to decipher our own paradoxes and the pieces of ourselves that need reclamation and recollection. The words that come from deep within reconstruct who we are.
We can build fancy walls of words and excuses that keep this kind of listening at arm’s length. We keep ourselves locked out of our own hearts because we haven’t found the right rhythm of listening. It’s slower and more thoughtful, sometimes illusive. It’s incredibly hard to simply listen. It takes daring and surrender in equal amounts. It means we are vulnerable and unarmed against what may unexpectedly arise.
In the end listening means opening and after that opening happens we land in very unfamiliar territory. This can prompt us to stop listening again, fear will stop us in our tracks every time. That’s when daring and surrender arrive to help us out. The truth is we don’t always have to know exactly what we’re doing to know we are on the right track. When we thoughtfully listen we move in a way that feels authentic and resonates with something deeper in our soul. Then it’s just a matter of repeating this process; listen, open, discover, expand.
Quietly begin listening, wholeheartedly and without reservation. The mystery begins to unfold when we begin to listen.
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