How To Listen �‪�‬ Skeptic Disciple

Thanks for Listening to the Skeptic Disciple Podcast 

We are first of all human and secondly we are learners. Listening is an essential skill in reading scripture and listening to teaching. In this episode we will discover how NOT to listen.

The 3 Defects of Listening:

1. Listening in a way that is like an upside down container. This means that physically we may be attending to but mentally we are busy somewhere else. So when someone is teaching, we are not in fact listening at all.

2. Listening in a way that is like a container with holes. This means that even though we are listening, we don't retain the content. In this case we lack mindfulness and memory. In order to benefit from teachings we must retain them with mindfulness. When our interest is half hearted, we only remember half the points, and we retain them only for a short time. We should reflect and think about whatever we have heard, over and over again. In this way, the knowledge will stay in our mind for a long time.

3. Listening like a vessel containing poison. When we listen to the teachings, we must avoid deluded motives. All activities, particularly Dharma practices such as listening and reading scriptural texts, must be done with a wholesome motivation. We should aim to control the undisciplined mind. I urge you not to treat Dharma knowledge like any other kind of science just to earn a living.

It's our hope that you can apply these principles even when we listen to each other. 

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Book Source:

Stages of Meditation by The Dalai Lama
Kamalaśīla.; Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV. Stages of Meditation. London : Rider, 2001.

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