It is written on my grandfather's tomb stone, "you may forget what one says, you may forget what one does, but you will never forget how one made you feel." Obviously, both are important: what you say, and how you effect people energetically. Different ways of saying the same thing understandably seem contradictory for one who cannot "grasp" the SUBJECT MATTER.
What is the language of listening? In our culture, there is only a language of telling. Yet surely there is an aspect to our existence that allows us to listen. Now optimally, a regular person already is capable of impressive functioning: that is, he has learned what to say and when to speak and also what to listen for. He is a master of his interactions. Yet who decides what it is that one listens for or deems what it is that's appropriate to say?
I once was walking through the woods with a friend of mine called Medicine Bear and several other teenagers. The other teenagers and I would be talking to each other, and every now and then Medicine Bear would say "do you hear the birds singing?" It was disruptive and soon nobody was talking anymore, because they were trying to bring their attention to other aspects of the world that they were not already programmed to.
The distribution of the attention throughout the entire environment requires NOT KNOWING (The art of Zen) what to bring your attention to. It is dropping all of one's programming so that there is nothing left but biologically received information. In this case, one doesn't respond to events through a social lens, but one simply creates every interaction they have, as they have it, while paying attention to everything. One cannot be socially manipulated in this way, because they are no longer hiding behind a self-image that is acting for them.
It might be strange to consider functioning without being "locked" in a specific pattern. How else are you supposed to know what to do? Well, that's the point really, to develop the skill of spontaneity rather then cleverness. When you are able to respond to events without locking yourself, you are free and can experience life wholly no matter what the situation is. You develop an unshakable internal power that is very healing.
What is the language of listening? In our culture, there is only a language of telling. Yet surely there is an aspect to our existence that allows us to listen. Now optimally, a regular person already is capable of impressive functioning: that is, he has learned what to say and when to speak and also what to listen for. He is a master of his interactions. Yet who decides what it is that one listens for or deems what it is that's appropriate to say?
I once was walking through the woods with a friend of mine called Medicine Bear and several other teenagers. The other teenagers and I would be talking to each other, and every now and then Medicine Bear would say "do you hear the birds singing?" It was disruptive and soon nobody was talking anymore, because they were trying to bring their attention to other aspects of the world that they were not already programmed to.
The distribution of the attention throughout the entire environment requires NOT KNOWING (The art of Zen) what to bring your attention to. It is dropping all of one's programming so that there is nothing left but biologically received information. In this case, one doesn't respond to events through a social lens, but one simply creates every interaction they have, as they have it, while paying attention to everything. One cannot be socially manipulated in this way, because they are no longer hiding behind a self-image that is acting for them.
It might be strange to consider functioning without being "locked" in a specific pattern. How else are you supposed to know what to do? Well, that's the point really, to develop the skill of spontaneity rather then cleverness. When you are able to respond to events without locking yourself, you are free and can experience life wholly no matter what the situation is. You develop an unshakable internal power that is very healing.
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