我今年的年度关键词是：倾听。
这是一个意义蕴藏于音韵之中的词。聆听，是一个轻柔的词，它吞噬了半掩的L，羞涩的I，以及轻柔嘶嘶作响的S。它反抗着它所吸收的喧嚣，反抗着定义了这一年的那些喧嚣，那些喊叫、咆哮、嘶鸣和虚张声势。当周围的声音变得刻薄丑陋时，聆听变得异常艰难。
在社会分裂的时代，倾听尤其需要勇气。
“勇气不仅仅是坚持自己的信念，”道格·埃尔门多夫在哈佛大学对他的学生们说，“有时候，勇气是坐下来倾听那些你一开始可能并不相信的事情。”
这并非意味着，如果我们都多倾听，伤口就会愈合，冲突就会结束。这也不意味着要放弃我们的价值观；这只是对谦逊价值的一种策略性提醒。“在对手的错误中寻求真理，在自身的真理中寻求错误，总是明智之举，”神学家莱因霍尔德·尼布尔曾说。认真而勇敢地倾听不同的观点，能够加深我们的洞察力，并使我们更有力地论证——尤其是在公共生活中。
我们早就应该让内心的躁动平静下来了。激烈的公共争论和政治斗争已经侵蚀了我们的友谊和家庭，败坏了我们的讨论，破坏了社会制度，扰乱了我们的平静生活。我成长于贵格会学校，那里定期举行静默会议。这对一个九岁的孩子来说并非易事。但我当时就明白，现在也需要时时提醒自己，如果我们总是喋喋不休，就听不到内心那柔和而理智的声音，更何况我们还大声喧哗。
相反，让我们倾听。拥抱惊喜。注重细节。偶尔也享受片刻的宁静。
以上内容摘自此处。
这是一个意义蕴藏于音韵之中的词。聆听，是一个轻柔的词，它吞噬了半掩的L，羞涩的I，以及轻柔嘶嘶作响的S。它反抗着它所吸收的喧嚣，反抗着定义了这一年的那些喧嚣，那些喊叫、咆哮、嘶鸣和虚张声势。当周围的声音变得刻薄丑陋时，聆听变得异常艰难。
在社会分裂的时代，倾听尤其需要勇气。
“勇气不仅仅是坚持自己的信念，”道格·埃尔门多夫在哈佛大学对他的学生们说，“有时候，勇气是坐下来倾听那些你一开始可能并不相信的事情。”
这并非意味着，如果我们都多倾听，伤口就会愈合，冲突就会结束。这也不意味着要放弃我们的价值观；这只是对谦逊价值的一种策略性提醒。“在对手的错误中寻求真理，在自身的真理中寻求错误，总是明智之举，”神学家莱因霍尔德·尼布尔曾说。认真而勇敢地倾听不同的观点，能够加深我们的洞察力，并使我们更有力地论证——尤其是在公共生活中。
我们早就应该让内心的躁动平静下来了。激烈的公共争论和政治斗争已经侵蚀了我们的友谊和家庭，败坏了我们的讨论，破坏了社会制度，扰乱了我们的平静生活。我成长于贵格会学校，那里定期举行静默会议。这对一个九岁的孩子来说并非易事。但我当时就明白，现在也需要时时提醒自己，如果我们总是喋喋不休，就听不到内心那柔和而理智的声音，更何况我们还大声喧哗。
相反，让我们倾听。拥抱惊喜。注重细节。偶尔也享受片刻的宁静。
以上内容摘自此处。
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Very many years past Dalai Lama advised, ‘Learn from your enemy/adversary’. What he meant was to listen to your enemy carefully, i.e. analyse and study his problem and know why he is saying or doing certain things. In another occasion he went a step further to say that we should to talk to Al-Kaida & Co., again meaning listening to them, which no security man on Globe in his proper senses would ever approve.
Listening is of two kinds: a) Aggressive Listening and b) Peaceful and peace-oriented & - intentioned Active Listening (contrasted with passive listening of a sermon or a talk). In the former, analytical intelligence is heavily employed to see what the enemy is like, with the sole intention to overcome/conquer/ruin him later. This type of listening is standard practice in politics and is no alternative to wisdom. It helps to escalate conflicts. In the latter, we use more intuitive intelligence to arrive at salutary solutions to real-time problems. Ultimately, the problem lies deeply-knotted in our Mind, which needs be cleansed of all negativities and substituted by positive thinking and that’s probably what the author has in mind. Regular Yoga & Meditation can help immensely to swing the Mind to the positive side through constant practice. That's my experience.
George Chakko, former U.N. correspondent, now retiree in Vienna, Austria.
[Hide Full Comment]Vienna, 06/01/2019 20:41 hrs CET
This post was lyrical throughout, evoking the power of the word listen. Nicely stated Nancy and a good reminder every day of how we need to examine our own 'truths' and beliefs as well as considering other people's viewpoints. Listening is empowering for each person, it's at the heart of learning, compassion, and kindness.
Yes. So much this. Timely, just yesterday a friend and I were speaking about the need to listen more. Thank you for eloquently stating why listening more is so needed in these divisive times. Hugs from my heart to yours, Kristin