Saturday, March 3, 2012

True Dialogue

Sometimes we know someone who is so set in their own ways that it is hard for them to hear what others have to offer. Sometimes that person is us...


Either way, if even half of the party is not receiving in someway, then the exchange is rather fruitless. Each side bouncing thoughts off of each other's walls. When I think about this concept, it's basic, but if it is so simple then why do we often put up walls when conversing with others? Why are we so set in our ways? 


I honestly don't have the answers to this. In my current life practices, I focus adamantly on learning from anyone who is willing to share their hearts with me. I let foreign concepts sink in without fighting them off. I try. I always try.


I've been enjoying and learning immensely from an author named Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk. His words are insightful and written with purely good intention. I feel the peace in his writing. When I read what he had to say about dialogue this morning is reminded me that I must practice receiving more diligently. I find it simple to receive his teachings when I am studying his words, but I find it much harder to receive from others in regular every day conversation. 


  by springknitter

I am likely not the only one who gets caught up in my "self" during dialogue with others. I have been guilty of that this week, so set in what I think is right for me, I am not even entertaining the possibility of another truth. In that sense I have missed opportunities to grow. 

I am not regretful however, because here I sit aware of my mistakes and taking the opportunity to make a change, receiving more consciously in every conversation.

I believe this will be an everlasting practice. The end of this post holds no answers or no conclusion. But I will leave you with this...

Practice creates habit in many physical aspects of our life. Therefore we must also apply practice to our minds, spirits, and in my case communication. I am very thankful to have come across this paragraph in Hanh's book. It reminds me that we can always search deeper into ourselves to promote change and growth. Life is truly beautiful that way. 

BPositive and BReceptive

Love, 
B


2 comments:

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  2. I, too, am reading and learning. We live in different countries that have experienced different histories and embrace different socio-economic values, but I would like to share a quote that came to mind when I read your latest wonderful blog post:

    "The bud disappears when the blossom breaks through, and we might say that the former is refuted by the latter; in the same way when the fruit comes, the blossom may be explained to be a false form of the plant’s existence, for the fruit appears as its true nature in place of the blossom. The ceaseless activity of their own inherent nature makes these stages moments of an organic unity, where they not merely do not contradict one another, but where one is as necessary as the other; and constitutes thereby the life of the whole." - Hegel, Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit (1807)

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