Listening

What does it even mean to listen?

We all have an idea of what that word implies but do we truly understand the meaning. If we look it up, it will say to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing or to pay attention; heed. So we now know it means to hear, but it also indicates to pay attention. To fill in the blanks, we listen not only with our ears but our eyes and especially with our heart.

Active listeners look past the words themselves and they further interpret the meaning of the speaker’s tone and body language. I can't even tell you the importance this has when the communication has an emotional component. Listening to the heart offers a new set of skills that we should learn. Basically, listening to the heart is saying you should try to listen to your feelings and emotions. It could also mean that you should trust your feelings as an inner guidance that leads you throughout life. The first thing we men want to do is suppress this inner chatter. But I would encourage you through this inner wisdom, that you take a listen and explore this information. You never know where it may take you.

Why is it so important to do what your heart and soul desires?

Do you know what does your heart and soul want? In Ayurveda, the main cause of the disease is a failure of wisdom or Prajnaparadha. It is when we exploit external world by wrongly using our body and senses. It is the main disease of the modern world – when we use our body for our selfish external pleasure.

When we have wisdom, we know how to use our body and senses in a right way, and not ignoring its organic nature and needs. The main idea of the modern world is that everything is made to be exploited.

When we are born, we come into this world with a tiny portion of Divine consciousness inside of us. It is called Jiva in Ayurveda. In other words, it is our soul. The soul is our true individuality as apart from the false personality or separate self of the ego. Soul leads us back to unity. Ego drives us into division and multiplicity. We know and feel within our soul that we are all one, we are one with all the beings.

When we have true knowledge, we know that our identity with higher consciousness is what we truly are. And not a self-image that we have created based on the objects of the outside reality with which we identify ourselves. This is when self-knowledge happens.

Jnana, or a state of true self-knowledge, is when the mind is able to reflect the nature of reality the way it is. The mind, in this case, is being on its purest level. We can reach that through meditation and a lot of spiritual practices. Once we recognize our true individual soul, we can unite with the Supreme Soul, or Higher Self, Paramatman. And this is when we can find liberation and peace of mind. And eternal immersion in Satchitananda, or Being-Consciousness-Bliss.

The outside world is never a true goal. The true goal of everything is always inside. Once we realize that, we can become happy. And we can start living our dream life, the life of pure soul desire, that is directly connected to the Primal Soul or the Source.

Words by Ksenia Sita
Source: The Sublime Woman