"So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it"
About this Quote
Krishnamurti points to a way of listening that refuses fragmentation. Words alone are only one layer of communication; beneath them move tone, rhythm, pauses, hesitation, and the emotional climate that gives a statement its life. To attend completely is to receive the total movement at once, without rushing to interpret or reply. The mind that is already rehearsing an answer is not listening. It is filtering through memory, bias, and desire, turning a living exchange into confirmation of what it already knows. Complete attention sets those filters aside and meets what is said as it is.
This emphasis runs through Krishnamurti’s teaching on choiceless awareness. He urged a seeing without the interference of conclusions, a silence in which the fact can reveal itself fully. Listening, for him, was not a technique but an expression of that silence. When attention is whole, empathy is not manufactured; it arises naturally because the listener is no longer guarding a position. The speaker then feels actually met, not managed or analyzed. In that meeting there is relationship, and relationship is where understanding happens.
Such listening does not imply passivity or agreement. It is an alert, undivided watchfulness that takes in the content and the feeling together and lets insight unfold before the impulse to judge or fix. From that clarity, response becomes precise and humane rather than reactive. In the noise of modern life, with its divided screens and hurried exchanges, this kind of attention is radical. It asks for the simple austerity of being fully present, even for a few minutes, with another human being.
To hear the whole and not a part is also to hear oneself without distortion, because the same attention that receives another’s words reveals one’s own inner movements. That shared field of awareness is the ground of intelligent action and authentic connection.
This emphasis runs through Krishnamurti’s teaching on choiceless awareness. He urged a seeing without the interference of conclusions, a silence in which the fact can reveal itself fully. Listening, for him, was not a technique but an expression of that silence. When attention is whole, empathy is not manufactured; it arises naturally because the listener is no longer guarding a position. The speaker then feels actually met, not managed or analyzed. In that meeting there is relationship, and relationship is where understanding happens.
Such listening does not imply passivity or agreement. It is an alert, undivided watchfulness that takes in the content and the feeling together and lets insight unfold before the impulse to judge or fix. From that clarity, response becomes precise and humane rather than reactive. In the noise of modern life, with its divided screens and hurried exchanges, this kind of attention is radical. It asks for the simple austerity of being fully present, even for a few minutes, with another human being.
To hear the whole and not a part is also to hear oneself without distortion, because the same attention that receives another’s words reveals one’s own inner movements. That shared field of awareness is the ground of intelligent action and authentic connection.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
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