The Power of Deep Listening

Recently I have revisited the writing and teachings of our recent ancestors, Thich Nhat Hanh and Bell Hooks. Both of these wise ancestors have imparted teachings that are deeply resonant for me. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh is a global spiritual leader, poet, and peace activist, renowned for his powerful teachings and writings on mindfulness and peace. In the introduction to the chant of great compassion, Namo’valo, he states, ‘Deep listening is to be with the suffering in ourselves, to be with the pain, to transform the suffering, to understand suffering makes the energy of compassion arise. This compassion transforms and heals. Once you understand the suffering in ourselves, we can look around and begin to understand the suffering of the people around us. When you understand, you can look at them with compassion, and help them to suffer less with deep listening and compassionate looking.’

Last week, a patient with pain expressed frustration at being in pain. I asked, 'Can you hold your suffering with loving compassion? Not in order to change it, but simply to bear witness and be with it. Like you would with a child, your own inner child.'

This weekend I joined an online qi gong class where we used soft items like a rolled up beach towel, to create a soft surface to make contact with the body. As I rolled it across my chest, slowly pressing the softness to me, I felt the softening in my own body, in my own heart. This desire to be felt, to be grieved, a place of suffering to be witnessed that melted into tears with the gentle contact. The softness met with softness.

How can you offer your heart, your suffering, your unique beautiful self, deep listening?