The Phantom within

There was a little fear within me as I readied to receive feedback about me, and how I came across to my companions, especially with whom I sat for “business” discussions every month. I had been quite conscious about many of the things which were going on in me for quite some time, and were working on some areas too. Now the fear was not about some unknown phantoms coming out of my cupboard, but about naming and accepting the one’s which had been living with me for quite many years, so much so I might have taken them for granted. Now is the time for me to take a good look at them again, and recognize them for what they truly are in my life.

Known devils are better than unknown angels, so goes a popular adage, and how true it is. The unknown phantoms living within me frightens me, and I have to make all effort not to let them get out at a moment when I least expected them. There were some other phantoms which were hiding behind myself, and I was least aware of them – when my companions gave feedback about me, these phantoms came across to me as unacceptable vices on my part. Two of my companions said that others may find it hard to work with me, because of my domineering attitude, and one said that I might find it hard to work with others.

I realize that all of my companions had a little bit of truth, and it would be a great danger if they asserted that they were absolutely sure about what they said about me; I am aware that even my own understanding of my limitations were conditioned by my awareness and consciousness. I felt that my friends were giving too much importance to the feedback given by others, and undermining my own realization of my limitations. The views and feedback of each one is conditioned by their own limitations and perspectives, and it would be next to impossible to separate these views from the personal bias.

But to be aware of the phantoms is one thing, and it is another thing to recognize the phantoms as residing inside of me. There is always a tendency in me to disown the phantoms, or attributing them to someone else, or to find excuses for their presence in my life. I know the same is also true with all my other friends and companions. There is not a single individual who from the very start embraces the phantoms without any reservation. All of them have their own excuses and limitations, but to name the nameless and faceless phantoms and giving them a space in the reality of our existence can make a lot of difference, and that is what I am struggling with just now.

I hesitate to accept everything that my companions tell me as gospel truth; there are more than enough evidences which say that many of my friends impose on me phantoms of their own making, and in psychology this could be just a matter of projection, and they may not even be realizing that they are doing this, either consciously or unconsciously. Not all phantoms are horrifying, and some of them could even be so very gentle and cool that even an angel may fail in comparison with them. Not all phantoms are evil and blood-mongers, some of them may even love to disappear into thin air, if that would help me to come to terms with the hardcore realities of life and embrace them wholeheartedly. This is time I welcome the phantoms and hug them lovingly.

Harnessing psychic power – Wholistic Healing

It is possible to achieve holistic healing through psychic power, provided the person concerned is open to receive healing from within. In this case, as has been already pointed out, healing comes from within; we have the resources to exert healing both to ourselves and to others. Following is a process of achieving wholistic healing; here psychic energy would flow into the entire person healing and refurbishing every weak and fragile part. This psycho-hypnotic exercise would take some 15 minutes, and should be held in a place where there is relative quietness, and the atmosphere conducive. It would be better to have someone direct the person who seeks healing using the following words, or something to that effect. If the exercise is available on a CD and could be played on speakers, it would benefit the one wishing healing to lie on the floor on the back, with as little clothes on as possible. Since the healing will take place at the confluence of body-mind-spirit, any external element may come as a distraction. However when there is another person this may not be possible. What is more important is that there is as little distracting elements as possible.

Preparation: As much as possible, rest all the parts of the back, arms, legs touch the floor, and relax. Adjust the position to reach the most comfortable posture. Take deep breath three times and breathe out slowly… one, two, three. Tell yourself, ‘during the course of this exercise, I am not going to fall asleep, but will be awake all through’! Now become aware of the different sounds around you… the sound of the fan, of the vehicles, of birds chirping… Try to distinguish the sounds… Try to capture the distant and faint sounds… Slowly turn your attention to your body, lying on the floor. Observe all tensions and uneasiness in different parts of the body. If there are more parts feeling uneasy, take a few deep breaths and breathe out slowly. If there are only a few parts feeling heavy, focus your attention on the particular part, and address it directly, e.g. my right shoulder relax! Hold that particular part tightly and loosen it, until that part is relaxed. Similarly make sure all parts of your body are relaxed.

Invocation: As you lie down, feel your body becoming light. Feel that your body is becoming weightless, as if it were a feather. Realize that you can lift your hands up and it does not feel heavy, and so are your legs. Imagine that you are endowed with wings, and you flap your wings, and as soon as you do so, you soar up in the sky, and piercing through the ceiling you go higher and higher. As you reach the sky, you can see this place, your house, the trees, plants, your neighbors, and you can notice some familiar faces walking on the road… admire the scene from the sky with wonder and amazement, as if you are looking at the place for the first time. You wander in the sky for a while and keep moving, and you reach a place where you see a stream, and a flower garden beside it… the fields nearby are green with plantation. Listen to the rustle of the plants, smell their scent, feel the cool breeze. Near the stream, you see a small rock, and an elderly man giving shape in clay to a human figure. You find the scene strangely beautiful, and there is something in the scenery which is inviting you. You alight near the stream gently and slowly.

Invitation: You walk around slowly enjoying every second of your presence there. Feel the scented air, and fill your lungs with the fresh air… take one deep breath and drink the air, and breathe out slowly. Touch the flowers and appreciate their soft and gentle petals. As you move close to the rock, you see the elderly man inviting you close by to look at the clay model. Look at the old man, his flowing snow-white hair, and a glow of radiance around him. There is a touch of divinity in him, and you are drawn to him by a magic force… allow yourself to walk towards him. As you near this old man, you recognize that the model he had been giving shape to resembles very close to you… take a good look at the earthen statue and stay with it, admiring the beauty and wonder of this statue. Touch the statue, feel it, smell it, listen to what it says, and stay as long as you wish… As you admire this statue, you realize that this is the perfect person you had been always longing for… the most perfect creation of God. This is what you had been always longing to be like.

Immolation: You keep admiring the statue, when you suddenly realize that it is not a lifeless statue but a living person. Look at the person smile at you lovingly, and now he is touching you, just feel his touch, which is sending an electricity all over your body, and you feel as if his touch is burning the impurities in you, and you feel a burning sensation. The fire that he had ignited in you is spreading to every part of your body and is strengthening the weak parts, and giving new vigor to the tired bones and nerves… just feel the fire that is spreading to all the parts, and you begin to sweat… feel the heat and remain with it… take time for the fire to smother of its own accord, and don’t try to stop it by force. Let the fire burn all that is unwanted in you and feel all you did not desire in you burnt in the fire…

Embrace : When the fire is gone, you realize new strength and vigor in you, and the person who stands before you smiles at you, and stretches out his hands for an embrace… You realize that you too want to embrace the person, and move forward and embrace him/her. Just feel the touch of the person, the smell, breathing, and listen to the rustle of his/her clothes and just feel the person… As you remain lost in the embrace of the person, you realize that slowly that person is entering into yourself, and is melting into thin air and is lost in you… After a little while, you realize that the person has entered into yourself, and you are left alone in front of the rock. You turn around, and find no old man, who had invited you to see your true image.

Return : As you walk slowly around again, you realize that there is greater energy and power in you, and you realize that your weak bones are now strong, and many of the infirmities you had experienced earlier are gone. The worries and fears which had been haunting you are no more there. You find yourself as a new person, and you experience and enjoy the new-found joy and happiness. You see the flowers, and the green fields, and in the sky you see a group of birds returning home… you have a desire to join their company. You flip your wings and you slowly soar up in the sky… you wave your hands to say good bye to this beautiful place, and join the birds… merrily fly wading through the clouds, and when your house is seen, the other birds wish you and continue their journey, and you gently alight, and piercing through the ceiling, enter into this room and realize that the person lying down here on the floor is your own self… enter into the self and rest for a while, and thank God for this new experience. Savor the experience and stay with it for a while… Take three deep breaths and slowly rub both your hands gently and open your eyes.

It would benefit if this exercise is done once in a while to bring back the lost energy and vigor in us, and this can also usher in well-being in all persons, irrespective of age, gender and physical condition of the persons. However this is not a substitute for serious medical ailments, which may require medical treatment.

Journey through Darkness

There are very few people who have access to the interior alleys of my life, especially of my past. It is so very frightening to let people walk through the narrow corridors of my tainted life, gathering moss all around, and smelling of filth and decay. My real self is so very different from the one which I pose before people, and there would be very few people who would be willing to accept my true self. Even some of my very close friends dare not walk through the dark alleys of my life, for fear they may have to look at me as someone very different from who they were used to, and that would be too frightening for them to believe, leave alone accept. Thus in most cases I would like everyone around me to believe that my true self is an exact copy of my exterior self. That is how I cheat the world around me.

I know that I have to keep doing this “cheating” for the sake of survival. I cannot afford to wash my dirty linen in public, what will others think about me? The world likes people who are fair-skinned, and it does not even mind people with colored faces; the world cannot accept people who are uncouth, rustic, who are closer to the earth. The world we live in cannot think of the heart of darkness or the darkness of the heart. It is amidst the thick darkness of the heart that I treasure some of the most precious secrets of my life, which is inaccessible to everyone I know of. Even some of my thick friends may not have access to this corner; it may be too frightening to visit this place, because here they might encounter the raw, natural I, and they may not even recognize me.

Yesterday as I was walking along the prestigious Park Street, on my evening brisk walk, I spotted one of the nuns, who was known to me. I went close to her and wished her, but she could not recognize me for quite a while, because she had seen me in my T-shirt and shorts, and she could not believe it was me. After a little while she recognized me, and said that I looked very different. And she was right, I looked very different. If this is the case for people to recognize me, how difficult it would be for them to recognize my real self? How would they respond were they to come to know the darkest secrets of my life, which of shrouded in mystery? Will they be able to accept the unholy, filthy, corrupt self of mine, which is far from the image I had been projecting to them?

There are just one or two people who were able to enter into the secret corners of my heart and have befriended the demon who bears my name; they have realized that this ferocious demon is not as cruel and horrendous as they thought it to be; there is a human heart to it, and it may be more human than several other human persons they know of. It is thanks to their presence that I am able to walk out even without putting on the cloth of a genteel man, who has been tamed by nature to be one of the finest of civilized men. But I cannot forget what had happened in the early years of my life, the different persons who had shaped me and molded me.

It is hard to safeguard the most treasured secrets of my life; I know that I cannot safeguard them all my life, though I had striven earnestly to protect them from men and women who really did not share my vision of life, and who did not want to share my life. But I don’t know how long I could do that, but one thing is for sure, soon I may lose control over these secrets, and they would become annals of every household, and I would see both praise and brickbats for my words and works. If someone dared to cut me into pieces and find my heart, he/she would realize that I had a heart which is so very human and tender, which cries for life, for a clear sky, for the full moon light, for the golden rays of the sun, for the unpolluted air of countryside, for clean waters of the stream… Life is wonderful really!

Addressing Authenticity

There is an uneasy feeling lurking within me for quite sometime, and it is not easy for me to articulate what this feeling is, and how it is affecting me deeply and significantly. It is like a shroud blocking my vision of self, the world around and God. One thing is sure, it is to do with authenticity! How am I true to myself, the image I frantically try to project before the world? As I struggle to unmask myself from the multi-layered masks, I am frightened to encounter more masks than I imagined.

I cannot think of living in an unauthentic life, and I detest duplicity. While I can swear by my so-called authenticity, more than the people I live with, I know more fully how miserably I fail in my attempts to live an authentic life. It is not that living an authentic life is altogether alien to me; I was fortunate to taste what it means to live an authentic and sincere life at least a few times in the past, though even before I began to taste the serenity of it, my mind was clouded by inauthentic thoughts.

I am quite quick in noticing inauthenticity in others, especially in the very people I am to rub shoulder with each day, but I dare not raise this issue with them, lest they unrobe me, and expose the ugly self I frantically try to hide beneath my pseudo-authenticity. It is only a thief who can identify another thief, says an old adage in my tongue, and I do realize the adage is not wrong or untrue. Again it would be wrong for me to claim that I had been living in a fool’s paradise all these years, holding tightly to an holier-than-thou-art attitude!

But what has triggered this sense of insecurity and inadequacy in the recent days? I had been hearing, reading about so many holy men and women, whose sanctity was so well-known to the world, even when they spoke not a world. There was always a spiritual aura around them, and simple people could vibrate with their spiritual self and physical reality effortlessly. I wish to ask myself why is it I do not radiate such a kind of spiritual aura? I know the diamond is there deep within me, but its radiance is clouded by my insecurity and duplicity.

It is not impossible for me to get rid of all the masks which hide my true identity – even if it is so horrifying to some people; but if I try to do that, it is sure to cost me a good deal. I may have to get out of my self-centeredness and the indomitable desire to build a kingdom of my own. There is a joy in building my dream-place brick by brick, and ultimately it may not make me happy. If I am not prepared to abandon this dream project, then there is no way how I can free myself from the masks which I had covered my true self with. But I know I have to start this process today or tomorrow, and cannot wait for the beginning endlessly.

You are the man!

I shudder to think that the words of the prophet Nathan, addressed to King David were in effect addressed to me. The fact is that these words are addressed to every human person, who attempts to keep his/her inner self safely guarded. We know how to camouflage, and change the color of our skins according to the surroundings, very much like chameleon, so that no one suspects we have a dirty self under our skins. Our world may collapse the very moment when one or two inadvertently discovers our inner true self; we immediately struggle to carpet the dirt, and again put a big smile in order to show that everything is fine with us, that nothing is wrong whatsoever.

Fortunately there are too few people in the world who would dare to remove the thick carpet which covers our ugly inner selves. No one can bear the stench that may emanate from our hidden selves, and that is one of the reasons why others do not wish to strip us naked to show to the world who we truly are; the second and more important reason why we are often spared from disclosing our true selves is others are so frightened that if they pull out the carpet from my skin, the next day it may be my turn to remove the carpet from his/her skin, and that would be asking for too much of trouble. Therefore on mutual agreement, we all try to accept and acknowledge the hidden self beneath, yet dare not take a good look at them.

King David was taken aback, when prophet Nathan cornered him; the king could not believe that he himself could be so corrupt. Seeming disbelief is the first reaction of the people who do not wish to disclose their true selves. If they had known their true selves, then they might accept and acknowledge themselves as they are, instead of entering into a fierce battle to bring in rationalization, arguments to prove that the inner self they carry all through, does not belong to them. It demands a lot of guts and courage to acknowledge that we could be wrong, and fragile in some areas, which are nothing to be ashamed of. But transformation could take place the very moment, we accept and acknowledge our true identity.

It is not that we deliberately try to hide our true identity all the time; quite often it could also happen because of our ignorance. I have a inherent tendency to compare my friends has been pointed out to me by one of my friends; so long I had been imagining that I hate to do this kind of comparing, but when others catch me red-handed, as prophet Nathan caught hold of king David, there is very little that can be done to salvage one’s sanity and sanctity. Our friends are the best persons who could help us realize the thickness of the carpet which is covering our true self; they can even help us remove it and show to the world our true selves. It is in fact, part of their responsibility as friends.

Psychologists and psychoanalysts have called the inner self as our shadows, and they had gone to the extent of inviting us to embrace our shadows, in order to really give birth to a new self, which can go beyond all the limitations experienced by the inner self. Anyone who attempts to blossom one’s self, without first reconciling to shadows, is bound to experience failure, frustration and depression. Today as I stand at the threshold of yet another significant moment in life, I would like to take a good look at myself; all these years, I had understood my inner self, only a fragment of it; it is just the tip of an iceberg and I have so much to learn about me, and I really wonder if I would be able to truly understand myself before I breathe my last.

Fear Factor (2) - Enemy within

On several significant moments of life, I have realized that I have been let down by an arch enemy, who has been following me wherever I went, whatever I did: myself, my inner self, my conscience, my mind, or my spirit! I may have a dozen names to describe how frightened I am to myself. I am not afraid of anyone on earth as I dread my inner self. It is paradoxical and even ironical to realize that I am afraid of myself, the one I know like the back of my palm! It really sounds ridiculous, but that is the fact! I cannot trust myself, I cannot believe in self, and I cannot predict how I would respond to a particular situation! I am so very unpredictable that I am frightened of myself!

But what am I afraid of, and why should I? The answers for these two questions are not as simple as the questions may sound! I may liken my innerself to a most sophisticated database, which processes every proposal I make in the light of the past experiences, correlates to them, and provides me an alternative that I should choose. Invariably the self would not permit me to choose something that is not in the database, but only that has been earlier registered. In that case, if I venture to choose something new, the mind puts a sense of fear, and later this is converted to guilt, leading to half a dozen ill-feelings which prematurely kill life spirit in me!

The fact is, before I begin to be frightened of others, however powerful they be, I am frightened of myself, and it would require far more courageous and energetic affirmation to convince one's inner self and come out to face reality! The enemy outside of me is not as horrendous and fearsome as the one inside of me. But is not there a way to free myself from the fears which may paralyse me for eternity, and face life as it comes to me? Of course there is a simple way, if we are prepared to give a try! Dissociate oneself from the chains of the past, and one is free from the fears which had kept oneself under control for years.

But why should our inner selves take refuge in the past experiences, be they positive or negative? The answer is rather simple: the self has to have certain anchor points, where it can place itself, when there are external attacks, and most often the past experiences provide such anchor points; these are so-called secure, safe-zones, but one may forget that in the long run these anchor points may become our chains. Dissociating oneself from the past experiences may not be as simple; but one may surely try to become conscious of what the past experiences could do to one's present.

Anyone who is frightened of one's inner self is sure to end up with defeat, because even the worst coward can defeat the most ferocious hero who has been defeated by own's own inner self. At the same time, even the best of external enemies cannot defeat the one who has freed himself/herself from the clutches of the inner self. Is it hard to dissociate ourselves from our past? It should not be, because unless we dissociate ourselves from the past, we cannot authentically live the present; anyone who has not left behind the baggage of the past, cannot taste freedom, happiness and peace.

Art of Listening - Body

It is obvious that the person who does not listen to his/her inner self, cannot listen to nature and to other persons. The art of listening needs to start with us, and we need to go through the process of fine-tuning not only our sensibilities, but also our priorities. When a person begins to hear less due to old age, or due to any other ailment, the doctors may provide a hearing aid; but there is a process through which this person has to go through in order to make the best of the electronic device: first of all, the hearing aid has to be tuned according to the specific problem of the person. But that does not solve the problem; when the person starts to use the aid, he/she begins to hear all the noises, the wind, the fan; all the noises are amplified, including the sound of persons. And here begins the tedious and painstaking process of sorting out sounds from noises. That is what we need to undertake before we become good listeners.

After Windows became a household name in all offices, one of the catch-words that went rounds was 'multi-tasking'; that is to say, the computer can do several works simultaneously. You may be typing a letter, while the printer is printing yet another document, and song may be being played. It is only the human mind which is capable of multi-tasking. When we are reading, not all of us pay attention to what we read; while listening to another person, only part of our attention is given to the speaker, while the mind is elsewhere. This can create a lot of problem in getting the best out of our efforts. At least when we are with human persons, we may need to avoid multi-tasking, and give our full selves to the person, because persons deserve our full attention.

It is a problem, because it is not that easy to give our full attention to what we are busy with; our minds are too fickle, and we may find ourselves helpless before the mind. But it is not impossible to control our minds, in order to focus our attention to what we want to. That requires training, tuning, even fine-tuning. There is a need to sift the different sounds that reach our minds, taking the ones that need our concentration, and throwing out the unwanted noise. In communication process as proposed by Strauss, between the speaker and the receiver is there a medium, but over and above the medium is a noise, which is caused by the external circumstances, and this may distort the message that is being communicated. We need to reduce the noise, so that we don't need to strain ourselves to get the message.

We cannot remove the noise that the mind presents (the excuse often is that the world is full of different noises), unless we take a dip into our inner selves, and that journey can sometimes be arduous and painful. One may come to know certain bitter truths, which had been kept hidden for several years; some of the hidden motives and agenda may pop up during the process, and it may be quite embarrassing to the person concerned, to find a not-so healthy self. But every growth process is painful; it is only after pruning that a plant can grow larger, and bear more fruits. If we are afraid of the pain that is intrinsic in any growth process, then we may have stunted growth, and should be happy with partial reality that our senses present.

We can enter into our inner selves only through the body, the senses, feelings and emotions. Therefore we shall need to start with a deep awareness of our body, how it responds to different impulses, responses. I find a quiet place, where no one will disturb me for the next five to ten minutes. I take a comfortable pasture, so that I don't move my body parts during the next few minutes; close my eyes in order to gain better concentration. This is going to be an exercise on the body. I start from the head; how do I feel, feel its weight, feel the strains and tensions on the forehead; move to each of the body parts: from forehead to the eyes, eye brows, nose, lips, chin, ears... Let me move slowly becoming aware of the different parts of my body. I will not try to change them, but just become aware of them. During the day, I will try to repeat this exercise once or twice, in order to become conscious of my body. Slowly my body may open its gates, for me to enter into the inner self!

Art of Listening - Claims

There is strife and conflict all around, and at times one is afraid of venturing into public places for fear of any assault, not by aliens or enemies, but by those familiar men and women we thought were far too innocent to indulge in such ghastly acts of violence. Everyone on earth has a claim, and for every claim there is a counter-claim and it is a never ending vicious circle, which has no end. Caught between these claims and counter-claims are innocent men and women who are unaware of what is happening behind their backyards. We are too frightened to look through the windows, which we have to shut them and pull the curtains over. We create a world of our own and insulate ourselves from the outside world, because we feel safe and secure within the four walls.

Innocent though we are, we too have our claims – in whatever walk of life. As a parent I have certain claims over my children, as a neighbor I have claims over friends and neighbors and the wider society, the government and I have claims even from God. Similarly everyone I come in contact with has a counter claim over me. I should be lucky if my claims and my neighbors counter-claims match; woe to me and to the people I live with if my claims don’t match with their counter claims. In such a situation, it is quite normal and natural that I assert my own claim, irrespective of others’ counter claims. In arguments, two or more people talk simultaneously, and there is none to listen.

Emotionally charged words find the most loaded expression in such encounters.
If there are so much of problems in relationships, conflicts and strife among family members and friends, the main reason is not that each one is not genuine. We all of us are sincere people. Even the worst of culprits and hooligans are sincere about their intentions and motivations, and we need to appreciate it. But their intentions (call them claims) may not match with our notions and ideas (call them our counter-claims); the situation may become volatile, because there is no objective criteria to say that a claim is better than another. But there is an easy solution to this claim-counter claim riddle, and most often we may not even think that it is possible!

When we are emotionally charged, the doors of our hearts and minds get closed automatically, and then there is no way that the views and ideas of the other person can ever enter into our hearts. The words hit on the doors of the hearts and minds and bounce back. That is why there is greater noise when two emotionally charged persons argue. It is within our control to reverse the process and we will find that there is no major conflict between our claims, and our throats may be saved from yelling, so that we may sing some sweet melodies for our loved ones, our energy may be saved for more productive works, and our time may be utilized for growth oriented events in life. The magic mantra here is, Listen! Listen to my heart and mind (what comes from within), and listen to the other (what comes from without).

As a preparation for the graceful moments of listening, today I sit in a quiet place, where I can be sure that no one will disturb me for the next five to ten minutes, and close my eyes. As I close my eyes, I am able to hear a thousand voices deep within me, not the external sound and ambience, but the inner voices. It is possible that I am able to see many people, whom I have categorized as good and bad people; but during the next few minutes, my main preoccupation is to listen to them. But the process needs to start with the external sounds. If it is required, I may take enough time to identify the different sounds, and stay with them. I will gently move from one sound to another, without rushing through them. I will pay special attention to those faint sounds, those feeble voices, and let them enter into my senses. It will benefit me the most if I am able to enter into these sounds and become part of them; then I will know that I am unlocking the closed doors of my heart and mind!

Art of Listening - Intro

There are far too many people who embrace death voluntarily at a reasonably young age, because they find life intolerable and unmanageable. One of the main complaints we hear from death-notes is that they find hardly anyone who would listen to them.... This might sound a bit silly and even trivial for us, but for many who had decided to participate in the rat-race of the market forces at a relatively young age, this is an acute problem, which may lead them to decide on things which are irrevokable. There are not many people who would listen to them! How long would they keep talking to the four walls of their world, to cats and dogs whom they adore beyond all limits, and to their own self. They want someone who would respond to them, enter into their world even of hatred, vengence, jealosy, forbidden pleasures.

Today the world is in great demand for listeners, and it is from this great demand that the profession of counselling and psychiatric clinics have mushroomed in all developed societies. One has to pay about one hundred dollars or Euros to someone who would listen to them. The money is paid for listening to their sad stories. Such sessions may go on for months, until the person feels that there are people who dont mind listening to them. But it would be wrong to think that the world is in short of people who are ready to listen to others. We can think of our parents, especially our mothers, who would listen to every little non-sense and stupid things that we might be muttering, without questioning anything in return. One thing is true for her, not the content of what I say, but the fact of my trying to communicate something to her!

If one is prepared to listen to others, then it can become a way of life altogether, and that person may do more good to the society than several other so-called social workers. But what sort of listeners does the world look forward to? Surely not any kind of people who would like to make it a means of livelihood, like the counsellors and psychiatrists! There is a different kind of listeners, who not only listen to these people, but after listening to them attentively, would also mirror what and who they are in a way which is far from intimidating, or involving pre-judgment. These are unbiased, objective listeners who can build the broken reed, and build on the shattered dreams.

It is not impossible for us to become good listeners the world is in need of, and we do not require highly specialised degrees or scholarship to pay a listening ears to the people in need. The most important thing that we require is a mental disposition which looks at the people as they are, in the particular situations they are in, without expeccting what they should have been. In other words, these sincere listeners forget the past and begin with the present, and move towards future. It is not that the past is useless, but that it is not going to help the persons to return to their past. The past is given a decent burial, acknowledged with all the pleasure and pain it had brought. But the journey starts in the present.

To listen is an art, a wonderful and noble art, because this art is related to the heart of persons, individuals with a unique face and identity. We are about to embark on a short journey into the art of listening, to pick up the salient features that can truly make us effective listeners, who are pillars of our crumbling world; today as a cursory exercise, I would like to spend a few minutes in silence, trying to enter into my inner self; to listen to the different sounds and noises that I can hear, not only through my ears, but more through my heart and mind. Let me follow the course of these sounds, and remain with them, without ever trying to brand them as good or bad. Slowly let me become part of these sounds...!