The Sacred Art of Listening: Forty Reflections for Cultivating a Spiritual Practice (The Art of Spiritual Living)

This is my third reading. This time around I engaged by utilizing Kindle highlighting and notation features as well as by journaling in a leather-bound journal. Kay Lindahl’s writing feels deeply spiritual, but not religiously preachy. It is not denominationally exclusive in any way. It nurtures reflection (contemplation). This is not a book trapped in the abstract nor lost in the esoteric—it inspires practical application—it’s instructional and of immediate utility. Embracing, with the author, listening as both a “sacred art” and a “spiritual practice” is for me a perspective changer. I might add that the flow of the reading and its practice intent is enhanced by the author’s many illustrative stories. Further, if art work intrigues you, each chapter is led with an artist’s ‘circle drawing’ symbolization of that chapter’s content objective. If you want to learn more about how to quicken your capacity to listen and slow your impetuous impulse to speak and cognitively leap ahead of true insight—I highly recommend this book to you.

Used this useful book as course reading on a "Listening " training

Have people in my current life who talk incessantly and am still trying to figure out howto deal with them. Slowly learning to interrupt (their interruptions) to tell them I hadnot yet finished my thought. I wonder if this is just one more symptom of our narcissismin this indulgent society. Author even addresses capitalism and how think tanks are addressingthe negative effects of capitalism on our society....the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM researchers fromaround the world concluded that at the root of capitalism is a SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY. Obvious, aswe observe AMERICAN corporations willing to sacrifice the lives of their own customers for a BUCK!

This was ok, and a book I will return again and again to and hopefully will get more from it the more I use it.

We could all use help in learning how to listen to one another. I feel like it's a great source for thinking more deeply about being still, and listening deeply to others, rather than running one's own thoughts and agendas on what could be a powerful and life-changing moment for both the sharer and the listener.