the fourth mindfulness training

The Fourth Mindfulness Training is about the way we communicate. Our speech can be powerful, or we can be shouting in the wind. Never in the history of humankind have we had so many means of communication - email, cell phones, faxes, television, radio, newspapers - but we still remain distant islands. There is so little real communication between the members of one family, between the individuals in society, and between nations. This is because we don't know how to listen to each other. We have little ability to hold meaningful conversation. The door of true communication has to be opened again. When we can't communicate, there's no circulation; we get sick, and as our sickness increases, we suffer and we spill our suffering on other people.

Speech can be constructive or destructive. Mindful speaking can bring real happiness; unmindful speech can destroy life. When someone tells us something that makes us healthy and happy, that is the greatest gift she can give. The Fourth Mindfulness Training also shows us that mindful speech goes together with listening deeply to others. We listen with all our attention and compassion; we are really there to receive what the other person needs to say. Our only intention is to help the other person feel safe enough to open her heart and find relief from her suffering.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power