Just Listen


My life completely changed when I began to truly listen. There is no greater speaking skill than the art of listening. Stillness and quiet bring profound benefits. By hearing beyond the voices and noise, I learn to accept my pain and vulnerability. Listen to your breath as if it were the ocean, each inhale and exhale rising and falling like waves. It is no accident that hear and here sound the same.  

Listening beyond sound itself opens the door to presence, allowing me to explore the mystery of each moment. In deep silence, words and concepts dissolve into stillness.  

For over thirty years, twice a month, I have gathered with a group where listening is practiced as meditation. I now pay closer attention to what others say, no longer distracted by rehearsing my own response. Instead of multiple voices competing with inner monologues, we practice insight dialogue. The silences—the gaps between words—are honored. In this space, I feel heard. There is no judgment, no interruption, nothing to block genuine communication.  

My favorite way of listening, though, is when I walk alone in the woods. To encounter wildlife, quiet is essential. Silence also allows me to fully receive the beauty of nature.  

Simply being silent opens doors. “Hereness” and “hearness” arise as I follow the transitory nature of sound—like a bell whose vibration comes and then fades. When I allow myself to fully hear, new possibilities emerge. Listening awakens presence, deepens awareness, and reveals potential.  



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