18
LISTENING -
AHIMSA ATTENTIVENESS
Parichart Suwanbubbha, Thailand
This article will discuss a concept of listening which is vital
knowledge for doing dialogue. It is an important tool and process for
conflict transformation. It also covers the virtue which represents a set
of selected values such as compassion and sympathy, which one can get
from deep listening, love and non-violence, truth and fearlessness from
Ahimsa, respect, courtesy, total concentration and good relationship of
trust from attentiveness in accordance with the Buddhist perspective. In
other words, these values are also inherent in the process of dialogue
which focuses on ‘deep listening’.
18.1 ‘Deep Listening’ in Dialogue
Most people associate dialogue with a conversation between two in-
dividuals or groups of people. This is generally correct, but the under-
standing foreshortens the dimensions of dialogue by focusing on its bi-
nary polarity. As David Bohm points out, the word ‘dialogue’ derives
from the Greek root of dia, which means ‘through’, and logos which