We all know that listening is one of the important aspect of communication. But are we giving due importance to Learning from listening ? Listening and Listening helps sow the seed for expanding ideas, thoughts and action. Think of a situation where everyone talks and no one listens. Is it not a complete waste of time?

“To listen” is not merely “to hear”. We hear all the time, but rarely do we listen! Have we not heard about the truth several times from the Gita as well as other scriptures, but have we ever listened? We hear various fast paced songs from Indian movies these days, but songs that we listen to are often the golden oldies!

To listen is to hear with awareness and intellectual alertness. When we assimilate what we hear and through reflection, imbibe the same into our memory to generate new information, the process is called listening! So, in order to listen, our mind must be alert so as to be fully receptive and to comprehend better.

The Bhagavad Gita says that such a clear mind generates new, positive and dynamic ideas. However, if we fail to listen to our mind, they disappear, leaving no avenue to receive fresh streams of original thoughts. Listening is an art and great people have proved to be great listeners. Arjuna was an exceptonal listener who learnt quite a bit about Life from Lord himself.

Listening makes a person successful. A successful doctor is one who listens to our problems, isn’t it? We must listen and learn as listening opens up new conduits for self-improvement by broadening knowledge and deepening our understanding. Listening is a free gift from God and there can be no better way to express our gratitude than by developing this art!