Passive listening presence is not itself a thought-process. The presence is always something new and spontaneous

To be the thought present in passive listening, is to see it completely with the heart and the mind, to observe it neutral as in a mirror, without saying yes and no, and feel it deeply and incisively, without seeking to achieve anything with it.

And this presence is not itself such a thought-process. The presence is always something new, young and spontaneous.

The thought is the eternal recurrence of the same, and therefore never new.

The passive listening presence and the active evaluating thinking are two completely different things, and they can never meet.

But the habitual in our surroundings dulls us, so we shrug our shoulders and say: ”What is the use of it? That is the way of life”.

Thereby we spoil our sensitivity, so that we never act, when we are facing hideousness, exploitation, cruelty and suffering. Also our admiration and deep joy over all beauty are destroyed.

In this way, our life of feelings slowly and imperceptibly withers away.