Listening to another person is an essential ingredient for intimacy. In any relationship, there needs to be a give and take between listening and speaking. Underneath the content of what someone is saying is a song of hope and fear. As you listen, you get a glimpse of how they perceive the world.
Meditation is the practice of listening to yourself think - but not just your ordinary thoughts in the ordinary way. In meditation, you learn how to follow the sound (or the racket) of your thoughts into the inner world and rest there. You learn to hear the silence underlying thoughts, even when your mind is active.
A good conversation between people is an alternation of expression and silence. Pauses and silences can be eloquent. Meditation trains us to be very good listeners, able to hear the full spectrum of what someone is saying. You hear the song of the soul underneath their words. Everyone wants their song to be heard. When someone who meditates is listening to you, you can feel the power of attention.
Meditation exercises your ability to listen and trains it. This can lead you into hearing the cacophony of life as a form of music. People going about their business, the sounds of nature, can seem like noise or a delightful symphony, depending on whether your nerves are raw or soothed. If you have bathed in the beauty of inner sound and silence, you will be more able to accept the sound of the world. It is as if you have just come back from vacation.
