As Bhante Henepola Gunaratana put it:
“Somewhere in this process [of mindfulness], you will come to the realization that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking, gibbering madhouse on wheels barreling pell-mell down the hill, utterly out of control and helpless. No problem. You are not crazier than you were yesterday. It has always been this way, and you just never noticed. You are also no crazier than everybody else around you. The only real difference is that you have confronted the situation; they have not.”
A great conversationalist encourages others to talk about themselves, neglecting their own need to share their great stories. In our louder and louder world, says sound expert Julian Treasure, “We are losing our listening.” He recommends an approach he calls ‘RASA’ — receive, appreciate, summarise and ask. He says the art of conversation is being replaced — dangerously — by personal broadcasting.