Listening is an art. It’s not simply about sound waves being picked up by your two ears; it’s far more than that. Learning to really listen, to deeply listen, is a rich form of mindfulness that will help you learn and grow. That’s because deeply listening is a powerful spiritual discipline, for by giving your fullest attention to what another person is saying, you will begin to hear and sense in a more expansive way.

In this age of hands on technology and fingertip control, our attention spans are inevitably short, as we randomly flick our way through TV channels and scroll through texts and social media pages to find something of instant interest. To compensate for this short attention span, there is a need to practice deeply listening on a regular basis, a bit like having gym sessions to expand the power of your mind.

The key to any form of listening is to quieten the mind; and when you listen in the deepest sense your mind falls silent. When we first begin to be aware of this, listening to another’s words is likely to be interrupted by our own internal automatic responses in the form of personal anecdotes, feelings and opinions. The first step is to notice this mental commentary firing up and to choose to let it go. So, if you are listening and your mind wanders, bring your attention back to what is being said and listen again, don’t wander off from what you’re doing which is listening. Be tough with yourself and repeat the process as often as is necessary. Listen fully and attentively. Each time your attention wanders, bring it back. Honour the speaker with the gift of your listening, for this is a potent practice that brings you into powerful alignment with another soul.

Practice doesn’t just have to take place during face to face conversations. If you’re out and about take the time to really listen to a bird, the noise of the wind, the pattering of the rain, a dog barking and so on. Choose one sound and direct your full attention to it. If you’re stuck indoors, find a sound you can hold on to, listen to some ‘Oms’ on YouTube, or listen deeply to what your friend is saying on the phone. The more you do this, you will find that your ability to hone-in on a single source makes other sounds dissolve into the background, as the overall quality of the experience rises and expands. I’ve always found that focussing on the flame of a candle while sitting in a darkened room or soaking in the bath is an easy and effective way of stilling the mind and becoming peaceful.

Most of our thoughts are heard as an internal ‘voice’. If you keep up your practice of deeply listening, you will start to distinguish between the voice of the ego and the voice of your inner-being or Soul. Initially, they may sound very similar, so learning to distinguish between the two is another important step. So, take a step back and deeply listen. The voice of the ego will be impatient, inconsistent, self-important and centred on control, wanting, comparing, pushing, envy, judging and fear, whereas your inner-being or Soul will gently guide, nudge, suggest, seek to connect and come from unconditional love. For example, the thought “Well it’s alright for her” is ego derived. You don’t need to feel guilty about it, just recognise that these types of judgmental thoughts come from your ego. Genuinely feeling compassion for another is Soul-based, so the thought “I’ll call and check he’s alright” is likely to be an example of this deeper recognition. In this second example, you should feel you really want to reach out “and check he’s alright” rather than a purely emotional reaction or it would be good to be seen doing it as it’s what’s expected of you by friends or society.

Following on from this, try to find peace and silence in your own mind. To stop your thoughts flowing, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Can you feel the life presence within you? To stop your head running the show, sense the aliveness in your heart centre. Move your attention from your head to your heart. Your intelligence is not confined to your head; your entire body is intelligent. As you do this, your thinking slows right down and you begin to withdraw from the energetic play of the mind. The thoughts appearing are not you; it’s just a program of stuff. It’s okay, we’ve all got stuff. When you stop the program you realise you are not your thoughts. Thoughts don’t have any power until you engage with them, and if you can engage with them, you can also learn to disengage from them. The more you listen and connect with the voice of your inner wisdom, the more natural the process becomes and the greater the integration between your ego and your Soul.

With repeated practice and effort, you can learn to listen to nothing. When you can clear your mind and engage the stillness, you are truly present. Presence is a sacred reality revealed when thought dissolves and transparent attention is held, for the mind has become truly still, and you could say that in that moment the ego has integrated with the Soul. For, as strange as it may sound, when you are fully aware, there is no need to engage with thought. Thought becomes secondary as universal awareness steps forward to pilot your consciousness.

To self-monitor your progress, listen to what comes out of your own mouth, your physical voice. Become increasingly aware of the responses and reposts you give in conversation with friends and family. Did you fully listen to what was said? Who spoke the most? Were you in a rush? Be aware of what you say or write, for everything you do impacts others on many dimensions. Imagine yourself in their shoes and choose your words wisely, don’t put on an act or try to be perfect, just be yourself, and remain aware, alert and continue listening. In my experience, the wisest people are the best listeners, so if you want to access your inner wisdom and guidance, begin now, by deeply listening.

J.M. Harrison (Jonathan) is a Soul Mentor and Award-winning author who began writing following a mystical death experience in 2007. He has taught alongside Barbara Marx-Hubbard, Esther Hicks, Caroline Muir, Lynn Andrews, Dr. Bruce Lipton and others. www.AuthorJMHarrison.com

You can contact Jonathan directly by emailing him at soulmentor2020@gmail.com

 AUTHOR INFO

Born in southern England in the mid-sixties, by the early 1980s Jonathan’s love of music was expressed through contemporary singing and song-writing. In 1987, he had an interesting short stint as the lead singer of one of the most successful UK bands of the 80s, Frankie Goes To Hollywood. In 1990 he was awarded a gold disc for his lead vocals with IJ and the Soundwave on the Telstar compilation album Get on This 2, which sold over 100,000 copies, reaching number 2 in the UK album charts.

From 1997 onwards he underwent a series of transformational experiences that radically altered his consciousness, making him aware of what he calls the ‘Divine I-less nature of reality’.

In 2003, in group work under the guidance of one of Canada’s foremost spiritual teachers, the Rev. Brian Robertson, Jonathan developed a new musical healing technique called Spiritone.

In 2005 he co-founded the Dubon Centre of Healing & Awareness in Gascony, France. From there, he worked in a small team hosting retreats, workshops and offering holidays to an international clientele.

Never having written before, and following a mystical death experience in 2007, he penned his first book, We Are All One: A call to spiritual uprising. Written in six days, the critically acclaimed book won the 2009 All Books International Editor’s Choice Award (USA) in the category of Spirituality & Inspiration.

In January 2009 he taught alongside futurist and bestselling author Barbara Marx-Hubbard, Dr Bruce Lipton (The Biology of Belief) Esther Hicks (Abraham, Law of Attraction, and The Secret) Steve and Barbara Rother (Lightworker.com) and other presenters on a webinar hosted by Linda Panell at worldchangingwisdom.com

Jonathan’s second book, NAKED BEING: Undressing Your Mind, Transforming Your Life,

was published in May 2010. It was honoured as a USA Book News Best Books Award Finalist in the Spirituality genre.

Many of his articles, poems, and quotes have appeared in magazines and on Mind, Body, and Spirit websites worldwide. Over the years he has been interviewed by or written exclusive articles for: Kindred Spirit Magazine, Cosmic Lighthouse, Mystic Pop, Yoga Magazine, Paradigm Shift, High Spirit Magazine, Nonduality.com, Searchlighton.com, Watkins Review, Creations Magazine (New York) and others. He has appeared on more than fifty radio shows worldwide as well as an hour-long exclusive interview on Conscious TV.

From 2010-2014 Jonathan was recruited to be the Director of Education and General Manager of Gaunts House in Dorset, England. His work there included hosting facilitator interviews, planning and managing in-house mindfulness based training, 1-to-1 soul sessions with visitors, overseeing the care, comfort and wellbeing of visiting groups as well as attending to the numerous day to day requirements of managing the staff, buildings and grounds of a large country manor.

In 2015 he collaborated with US Grammy Award winner Richard Theisen, recording music and chants Jonathan ‘heard’ in southern France whilst researching the area for a novel. The resulting book, The Soul Whisperer: A Tale of Hidden Truths & Unspoken Possibilities, was the winner of the 2016 Beverly Hills Book Award in the category of Visionary Fiction.

A fourth book, YOU are THIS: Awakening to the Living Presence of your Soul, was published in 2016 by Mantra Books to acclaim from fellow authors and teachers. Jonathan’s next book Free To Be Nowhere is expected to be released in 2020.

As an Elder for More To Life magazine, he will be regularly contributing to the publication. Jonathan offers a 1-to-1 spiritual mentorship service.

More to Life readers interested in connecting can contact Jonathan directly by emailing him at soulmentor2020@gmail.com