What Is the Silence of Listening?

Welcome to a new episode of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives.

In this installment, Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and leadership coach/journalist Jo Confino explore the importance of silence and its role in personal transformation and spiritual practice. 

They further discuss noble silence in the Plum Village tradition – a fundamental practice that allows for deep reflection, self-awareness, and connection with the present moment; silence as a space that enables practitioners to listen deeply; the challenges of silence; the contrast between the mainstream emphasis on productivity, noise, and external validation, and the Buddhist approach of valuing stillness, presence, and inner listening as a path to true well-being and happiness; silence as a means to engage more deeply with life, rather than as an escape; embodied listening; and more. 

The episode concludes with an invitation to take time for silent reflection and to explore the transformative power of silence in our lives.

Enjoy!

---

Co-produced by the Plum Village App:
https://plumvillage.app/  

And Global Optimism:
https://globaloptimism.com/

With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:
https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/

---

List of resources

Interbeing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interbeing   

Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout
https://www.parallax.org/product/being-with-busyness/  

Calm in the Storm: Zen Ways to Cultivate Stability in an Anxious World
https://www.parallax.org/product/calm-in-the-storm/ 

Buddha Path 
https://buddhapath.com

‘The Four Dharma Seals of Plum Village’
https://plumvillage.org/articles/the-four-dharma-seals-of-plum-village   

Brother Spirit
https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/brother-phap-linh 

Brother Phap Ung
https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/brother-chan-phap-ung 

‘Three Resources Explaining the Plum Village Tradition of Lazy Days’
https://plumvillage.app/three-resources-explaining-the-plum-village-tradition-of-lazy-days/ 

Tao Te Ching 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching

Bimbisara
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbisara

Devadatta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devadatta

---

Quotes

“When we learn to allow ourselves to be in silence, the silence becomes delicious because it gives us an immense feeling of spaciousness. But silence is also very scary if we are not trained in it – scary because we get to see our restlessness.” 

“The silence that we are learning to cultivate is the stillness that we all need.” 

“When we engage with the world, we don’t know how to be silent. That is not engaged Buddhism. That is not applied Buddhism. So the middle way is very important. Silence is not to suppress or to bypass what is going on; in our practice, there’s a space and time for everything.”

“Silence allows us spaces of deep reflection. Silence is also to hear ourselves.”

“Noble silence is the silence of being present.”

“There’s a lot to learn in silence, and a lot to discover, as well as to celebrate.” 

“The silence of listening is an art form and a practice of embodied listening. And that means that we’re not just listening with our minds, but that we need to learn to listen with our whole body.”

“We’re not here trying to gain more to enhance our ‘label’; actually, Zen is about seeing our label and letting it go, in order to see our wholeness. Because our wholeness is not limited to ‘I am a monk’, ‘I am a journalist’, ‘I am a coach’, ‘I am a business leader’, ‘I am my technician’. We’re so much more than this.” 

“Learn to let go. That’s the hardest practice.”

“A lotus to you, a Buddha to be.” 

“Don’t just do something, sit there.” 

“There’s nothing to learn, but there is a lot to unlearn. Because, actually, when we strip away all the fears, judgments, and sufferings, home is already there. It’s already present, it’s never gone away; we just traveled a long way from it.”

“So much of life is about feeling safe, and about knowing that we’re not on our own and that we are going to be supported.” 

“Colors blind the eye. Sounds deafen the ears. Flavors numb the taste. Thoughts weaken the mind. Desires wither the heart. The Master observes the world, but trusts his inner vision. He allows things to come and go. His heart is as open as the sky” – from the Tao Te Ching, credited to Lao Tzu.

“There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way.”