Today’s Book of the Day is The Art of Listening, written by Sarah Shaw and published in 2021 by Shambhala Publications.
Sarah Shaw is a faculty member and lecturer at the University of Oxford. She has published numerous works on the history and practices of Buddhism.
The Art of Listening is an amazing description and research on the Dīghanikāya or Long Discourses of the Buddha, which is one of the four major collections of teachings from the early period of Buddhism, together with the Patimokkha (basic list of monastic rules) the Vinaya and some parts of the Khuddaka Nikāya (mainly Sutta Nipata, Itivuttaka, Dhammapada, Therigatha, Theragatha, and the Udana).
The Dīghanikāya is composed of thirty-four sutras (or suttas) and is the first of the five Nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the “three baskets” that compose the Pali Tipitaka of (Theravada) Buddhism.
As Buddhists, we have to remember that the Dīghanikāya is what we can call an oral transmission of knowledge and historical, cultural, and spiritual insights.
Each sutra of this collection is a chanted composition that evolved and passed through the ages from monk to monk. Several centuries passed before these chants were written down.
Sarah Shaw examines twelve of these sutras, bringing together a rigorous literary approach and her personal understanding of the practice of studying and chanting them.
The author thus shows how the Buddha’s Long Discourses have two different forces within them: a comprehensive vision of the teaching of the Buddha from a philosophical, theoretical point of view, and a practical experience of the Buddha’s life, practice, and relevance in our world.
The book makes it clear, for those who practice, that the sutras are an integral part of our Buddhist practices, and that listening to them, so as to understand their intimate meaning, is itself a form of growing awareness during meditation.
Shaw remembers the readers that listening is a fundamental practice, completely different from today’s diffused idea of a superficial fruition of a text as a way to get an overall understanding of a subject. Sutras have been the way Buddhist teachings have been transferred for centuries, so we owe them our full attention during listening and practice.
I think that the best point of the book is precisely this: remembering all the Buddhists that sutras were chanted, and they should be chanted even today when we approach them for studying them. This physical involvement is integral to the comprehension of the teaching of the Buddha.
You learn the rhythm of the sutras while chanting them, you become conscious of the way the syllables sound in your mouth and throat, and you become more present here and now while practicing and studying.
The book is also rich in references to Buddhist cosmology, the role of rituals, magic practices, and meditation instructions. It is an amazing source of knowledge to make many useful references that range from the T’ien-t’ai Buddhist walking practice to the most relevant Tantric texts.
I recommend this book for its insightful and rich description of the early, oral Buddhist tradition.
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