soul listening...

I've been on a Robert Kiyosaki kick of late (Rich Dad, Poor Dad and now Cashflow Quadrant). Wow, I feel a bit like an up-and-coming yuppie admitting these are the books I'm reading. Regardless, I plug them because they're legit.

On leadership, Kiyosaki says:

To be great leaders, rich dad stressed that we first had to be great listeners. If you did not listen to the words a person used, you would not be able to feel their soul. If you did not listen to their soul, you would never know to whom you were talking.

I find this to be a stirring and profound thought... feel their soul... listen to their soul. I appreciate the provocative imagery.

My favorite way of thinking of the soul is that it is the part of us which integrates our other parts and brings singular coherency. It is that which allows life to be a thing, rather than things; it integrates the various dimensions of a human being: our body, our thoughts, our emotions, our will, and our relationality. (thanks to Dallas Willard for some initial ideas surrounding the soul and a few friends who helped expand the concept).

As I think about feeling someone's soul, listening to their soul, I am struck with a captivating picture of fully hearing someone. To listen to another's soul is to hear them in all that they're saying, somehow putting together the often complimentary, often contradictory messages of emotion, worldview, body language, passion, words, etc. that they impart. Thus, I fully agree with Kiyosaki, to listen to or feel someone's soul, is to truly know them. And my hunch is that as we embark on this challenging task, we will find ourselves not only understanding other's with greater clarity, but also possessing for them greater compassion, acceptance and, ultimately, love.