On Listening
More from Shunryu Suzuki on listening:
When you listen to someone, you should give up all your preconceived ideas and your subjective opinions; you should just listen to him, just observe what his way is. We put very little emphasis on right and wrong, good and bad. We just see things as they are with him, and accept them. This is how we communicate with each other. Usually when you listen to some statement, you hear it as a kind of echo of yourself. You are actually listening to your own opinion. If it agrees with your opinion you may accept it, but if it does not, you may not even really hear it. That is one danger when you listen to someone.
It is a very difficult practice, but especially important for a facilitator, to listen without leaving traces of your own voice ringing in your own ears.