Friday, April 25, 2008

on listening

It seems that the hardest thing to find is someone who will listen to you without judging you in the process.
Active listening in this sense means to be able to hear with your heart and try and understand what that person is going through without adding your reactions. The difficulty is in observing what your inner knowledge as well as outer experience can guide you with.
Tricky to walk that line, and put aside your own crap so you can be present for the other person.
Being present and not lost in your own past and future helps.
Also, we need to be there for each other, and to stay out of the way when someone needs us.

1 comment:

Yafiah Katherine Randall said...

Asalaamu alaikum Dearest Shaykh, I pray all is well with you and I thank you for all your help and prayers.
Recently I have been taking part in a dialogue group of Jews and Muslims where we have been practising compassionate listening. The experience is immensely powerful as we listen to each other and also listen to ourselves as we ask questions and reflect on what we feel in our hearts.

I love you Shaykh