The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice [Paperback]

Kay Lindahl (Author), Amy Schnapper (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2002

Hearing and listening are two different things. Learning to listen—really listen—requires sacred practice.

The Sacred Art of Listening guides you through forty practices of deep listening—to our Source, to ourselves, and to each other.

"Learning how to listen to and speak with each other are essential skills for creating relationships that lead to mutual respect, dialogue, understanding, and peace. As I explore a spiritual approach to listening, my understanding of what it actually means to listen continues to expand. Listening encompasses much more than words. Listening is a way of being in the world. These reflections speak from that voice." —from Part One

Inspiring text and contemplative artwork combine to communicate the three essential qualities of deep listening—silence, reflection, and presence. They demonstrate that the key to healthy relationships and spiritual transformation can be as basic as practicing the art of listening.

You will learn how to:

--Speak clearly from the heart

--Communicate with courage and compassion

--Heighten your awareness and sensitivity to opportunities for deep listening

Enhance your ability to listen to people with different belief systems

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Surely one test of belief is its application in everyday life. Restoring the sacred to the daily art of communication is an oft-overlooked avenue of practice, but one that finds its voice in this slender, substantive volume. Lindahl, the founder of the Listening Center in Laguna Niguel, Calif., summons us back to "the possibility of Listening as a key to peace in the world." For her, "listening is far more than hearing words"; it is a sacred art that requires reflection, illustration, meditation and practice. These 40 meditations are exercises in mindfulness that entreat us to slow down and practice silence, contemplation and presence with ourselves, others and God. The brief passages can be read superficially with little gain, but quieted learners can find gems among them about commitment, humility and favoring integration over balance, to name a few of the themes. Hand-drawn ink mandalas by Amy Schnapper complement each passage and should prove helpful to practitioners who might need a visual anchor while contemplating Lindahl's various themes. The meditation that is prescribed here feels Eastern, but the volume will be of great use to many types of readers, regardless of beliefs. The closing section, "Principles of Dialogue" (nine guidelines on listening to other people), crystallizes the tenets lovingly explored in the previous pages. The book is not large in size, but it is potentially powerful in application.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Lindahl is the founder of the nondenominational and omnifaith Listening Center, an institute dedicated to the skill of listening to others, and this book is a reflection of her work there. Her gentle conclusions and recommendations, including such notions as "suspend status" and "honor silence," are desirable in many circumstances, and Lindahl skillfully gives them a religious overtone; her work is ably supported by Schnapper's mandala-like illustrations. For most collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Skylight Paths Pub; 1 edition (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893361446
• ISBN-13: 978-1893361447
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #247,231 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Writing is a spiritual experience for me - and one of deep and profound listening. It is similar to meditation. However, when I meditate I find myself first listening for God/Spirit, then listening for my internal wisdom, my soul, then listening to others as I move out into the world. When I write it is just the reverse. First I spend a lot of time listening to others - to what's going on in the world, asking myself the question - what wants to be said now? Then I take time to quiet down and reflect inwardly - what is it that my inner wisdom has to say about this. Finally I sit in silence and listen for God/Spirit. Then I usually go for a run, come back, and sit down and the writing flows. Many times, what I thought I was going to write about completely changes by the end of this process. It is a mystical process.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listening for growth and balance, October 20, 2002

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice (Paperback)

Don't you just hate it when you are discussing something important and you can see that the person you are talking to is planning their response instead of listening to what you are saying? What about when you do the same thing? We all have a tendency to do this. Or what about when that small inner voice tells you that you should or should not be doing something? Do you listen? For a deeper more meaningful relationship both with others and with yourself you need to be able to listen and listen well. Listening is not the same as hearing. Sometimes I hear crickets at night, but I am so used to it that I have to actually stop and listen to really hear them and enjoy it.

Listening then is one of the key factors to positive, healthy relationships with others, yourself, your God, nature or whatever you want to have a relationship with. True listening requires practice. It requires slowing down and not responding immediately to a question but stopping to listen to how you really feel about the question. It requires a recognition that silence is just as important a part of a conversation as is speaking.

"The Sacred Art of Listening" contains forty meditative reflections about listening. For those who meditate deeper or better with an anchor on which to focus, each reflection has a mandala illustration on which to focus.

The author states that there are basically three qualities of deep listening. First is the recognition that silence is important. You can't listen if you are talking, even if you are talking inside your own head and planning what you will do later that day. The second quality is reflection. To listen well you have to reflect on what was said and what it means. What are the nuances of what was said? Was what was said the same as what was meant? The third quality is presence. You cannot listen well if you are not there. If your mind is somewhere else you are not present and therefore are not listening well.

Listening needs to be a part of a person's life if they are to have deep, meaningful relationships. The book is an easy read with well thought out reflections that are concise (two pages each) and yet insightful. A recommended read.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awakening, June 22, 2002

By 

Hanorah (Los Angeles, CA. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice (Paperback)

I truly enjoyed this book. It was for me an awakening. We get so caught up in daily life, we forget how to listen to our self, truly listen. How can we live a peaceful harmonious life if we can't listen to others, to ourselves or that creative wisdom within. It taught me that to understand anything one must be able to listen and to listen with a compassionate heart. This book gives simple yet poetic tools to understanding both the divine and daily importance of listening to ourselves,& others. It can be apllied to our work relationships as well as personal ones. The Illustrations are beautiful. I would love to have these prints hanging in my home. Fluid and strong, intricate yet simple, the perfect yin and yang balance. This is a book for OPRAH!!! Bravo to the Author and Illustrator.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the Sacred Art of Listening, June 20, 2002

By 

Dianne Steinbach (Saint Paul, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice (Paperback)

Kay Lindahl's book opened my eyes...or should I say ears. With all of the communictions devices at our fingertips today...we seem to have forgotten that perhaps the most important and effective communication tool is just plain old-fashioned listening. Amy Schnapper's complementary illustrations provide visual inspriation to reawaken your aural consciousness. An easy read, gently and beautifully written. I highly recommend reading it. (in the morning, in the sun, on the porch with a cup of coffee!) Then spend your subsequent days in the practice of listening and hearing friends, loved ones and business associates. You'll truly be amazed at how the suggestions in The Sacred Art of Listening will improve your relationships and communication outcomes.