A Reflection from our Buddhist Chaplain

Along with my path of service as a chaplain, I also serve as liaison to Tufts’ new Generous Listening and Dialogue Center (GLADC), which has, as its mission, the cultivation of generous listening - the capacity to listen, be present, and receive different perspectives. There are three aspects of the art of generous listening: listening to ourselves, listening to others and listening to nature. 

Given recent current events - the war in Ukraine, as well as the patterns of domination and oppression expressed through racism and multiple forms of othering - it would seem that the technological advances of this century have given us greater mastery of the physical world, without requisite co-development of the heart. Practices of listening from the heart, which are cultivated through a variety of contemplative traditions, can foster social-emotional intelligence. Eleanor Rosch (2016) a cognitive psychologist at UC Berkeley, refers to this kind of generous listening as “primary knowing”, a quality of knowing in which the mind is descended into the heart. The foundation is listening to ourselves - cultivating unconditional awareness of our own body and mind. This, then, makes it possible to extend presence and generous listening to others, to be comfortable with discomfort, and accept non-closure.

These qualities of presence were brought home to me one ordinary day when, after a morning of discussing generous listening, I walked out into the snowy day to get lunch. Amid the snowdrifts was a blind man who had misplaced his steps. Accompanying him to the bus stop, I became aware of how our individual contextual experience creates our world. Our relationships with others and the world, and our way of knowing is embodied, and situated, in our own lived experience. This insight was vividly brought home to me as we walked together. The experience was different than any conceptual understanding: it was a bit of a dance. There were sounds he was attuned to, that I had not heard, and there was also information that I needed to relay to him as we navigated the still-falling snow. In those moments of attunement, he found the meditation teacher he was looking for, and I met a new neighbor. It reminded me that, even amidst a busy Tufts day, when we pause to listen generously, the miracle of human connection is revealed in the here-and-now. 

The Generous Listening and Dialogue Center is currently planning an event for Earth Day. We look forward to sharing more about this in the days to come.

All the best, 

Ji Hyang Padma
Buddhist Chaplain 

Rosch, Eleanor (2016) as cited in Senge, P. and Schwarmer, O. (2016). Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.