Introducing Listening to the SONG of Life
1.4 Two Modes of “Knowing-Listening”
Thus far, I have argued that the communication definition of listening to others needs to be expanded to include listening to the SONG of life with the five senses and with an intuitive sense of knowing. This intuition is connected to two ways of knowing-listening. Ken Wilber in The Spectrum of Consciousness presents an exhaustive review of philosophical, psychological, and theological literature about two modes of knowing that I consider as two modes of listening to the SONG of life.[1] Wilber summarizes the two modes of knowing as, “We have . . . two basic modes of knowing . . . one . . . termed symbolic, or map, or inferential, or dualistic knowledge [e.g., factual statements based on senses: “I see a red light ahead”]; while the other has been called intimate, or direct, or non-dual knowledge [e.g., subjective statements based on non-sensory data: “I feel elated”].”[2] I suggest that listening also operates using two modes of knowing. Listening can be dualistic, based primarily on the five senses, and listening can be non-dualistic, more intuitive in nature. In sum, the two modes of dualistic and non-dualistic knowing characterize a “knowing-listening” that is operative in listening to the SONG of life.