Five Mindfulness Training - 4) Deep Listening

 https://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/the-5-mindfulness-trainings/

Aware of the suffering caused by:

Mindfulness is not knowledge. Mindfulness is the capacity to be mindful.  Compassion listening is not enough to know we need to be compassionate.  We actually need to practice, to build the muscle of compassion.

Cultivate the capacity to listen deeply, without judgment, without giving a solution, without advice.  Most of the time when we have difficulties, we just want someone to listen, to be heard, emphasize.  We are helping to release the suffering of somebody else when we listen deeply without interruption.

1) to protect life, to decrease violence in oneself, in the family, and in society. 

2) to practice social justice, generosity, not stealing, and not exploiting other living beings. 

3) the practice of responsible sexual behavior in order to protect individuals, couples, families and children. 

4) the practice of deep listening and loving speech to restore communication and reconcile. 

5) mindful consumption, to help us not bring toxins and poisons into our body or mind.

The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete ways to practice mindfulness. They are nonsectarian, and their nature is universal. They are true practices of compassion and understanding.

With mindfulness, we are aware of what is going on in our bodies, our feelings, our minds and the world, and we avoid doing harm to ourselves and others. 

When we are mindful, we can see that by refraining from doing one thing, we can prevent another thing from happening. We arrive at our own unique insight. It is not something imposed on us by an outside authority.

Practicing the mindfulness trainings, therefore, helps us be more calm and concentrated, and brings more insight and enlightenment.