We all have a lot to say… we live in a world where everyone wants to be heard. We hardly have anyone who is willing to listen to. We want our opinions acknowledged, our stories listened to, our messages replied to, our calls answered, and our voices noticed. However, are we ourselves listening or giving that undivided attention that we seek for ourselves?
Most of the times we observe, in conversations people are, interrupting, speaking over, checking the mobile phone or tab while hearing, already preparing their response while one is speaking, finishing someone’s sentence or judging the speaker. Sometimes one even notices an uninterested or ‘see, I am doing a favor, I am listening’ body language. These gestures make the speaker uncomfortable and spoil the conversations.
Listening is not simply about hearing what someone says, it is not just about communication, it is about understanding, thinking, building relationships, and knowing. It is a way of being present, with another person, with an idea, and even with ourselves. When we truly listen, we accept that for a moment, someone else’s experience matters, and probably matters more than our urge to speak. Before we can speak wisely, we must first learn to listen. To listen deeply, we must pause our own inner conversation long enough to make space for another voice. We must resist the urge to respond, judge, compare, or interrupt. We must simply be there.
There is also something genuinely human about being listened to. Most of us carry thoughts we haven’t fully expressed and feelings we may not have fully understood ourselves. So many things remain unsaid because one doesn’t get a good listener. When someone listens patiently, without judging or advising, it is soothing, clarity happens. Listening thus, is an act of care.
Listening also definitely creates the possibility of learning because it temporarily asks us to put aside the impulse to respond and allow something to enter our awareness. Listening is receiving. It requires more than functioning ears. It requires attention.
Interestingly, the Indian knowledge tradition has long placed significance on shravaṇa, hearing, listening, receiving knowledge through attentive listening. There is more to this idea than I have so far understood. And this makes me want to discover, was listening understood in a muchdeeper way in the Indian knowledge traditions? The Sanskrit word shravaṇa suggests that it was. That is a thought I would like to explore next.