Dear friends, today is June the 20th. Not clear enough? Not loud enough? Today is June the 20th 2000, and we are still in our third week of the twenty-one-day retreat. Deep listening is a very important practice. Deep listening sometimes is called compassionate listening. Every one of us should train himself or herself to do this because this is the most important practice if you want to help. Of course we have to listen to ourselves. We have to listen to our body, we have to listen to our own sufferings and our real need. But we also have to listen to the person we love, to the people who suffer so much. Listening is so healing, so transforming. Therefore, every one of us has to cultivate the art of listening, deep listening. This is the Fourth Mindfulness Training. If you practice diligently during two or three weeks, you'll be able to listen. The practice of mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful sitting can help you to do so.

Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva that has the capacity of listening deeply. And therefore, he can help so many people. When we listen with compassion, we allow ourselves to be empty, without any prejudices, without any preconceived ideas. We listen not to judge, not to criticize. We just listen for the sake of listening. We listen in order to give the other person a chance to express himself or herself. And during the time of listening, we have to maintain alive that kind of desire, willingness to help. I listen like this because I want to help