Listening is one of the basic secrets of entering into the temple of God. Listening means passivity. Listening means forgetting yourself completely — only then can you listen. When you listen attentively to somebody, you forget yourself.
If you cannot forget yourself, you never listen. If you are too self-conscious about yourself, you simply pretend that you are listening — you don't listen. You may nod your head; you may sometimes say yes and no — but you are not listening.
When you listen, you become just a passage, a passivity, a receptivity, a womb: you become feminine. And to arrive one has to become feminine. You cannot reach God as aggressive invaders, conquerors. You can reach God only… or it will be better: God can reach you only when you are receptive, a feminine receptivity. When you become yin, a receptivity, the door is open. And you wait.
Listening is the art for becoming passive. Buddha has emphasized listening so much, Mahavir has emphasized listening so much, Krishnamurti goes on emphasizing right listening so much. The ears are symbolic. Have you watched?
Your ears are nothing but passages, just holes — nothing else. Your ears are more feminine than your eyes; your eyes are more male. Your ears are a yin part; your eyes are a yang part. When you look at somebody, you are aggressive. When you listen to somebody, you are receptive.
That's why looking at somebody for too long a time becomes vulgar, impolite, unmannerly. There is a certain limit; psychologists say three seconds. If you look at a person for three seconds it's okay; it can be tolerated. More than that, then you are not looking — you are staring; you are offending the person; you are trespassing.
But listening to a person has no limit, because ears cannot trespass. They simply remain wherever they are. Eyes need rest. Have you seen in the night — eyes need rest, ears need no rest. They are open twenty-four hours — year in, year out. Eyes cannot remain open even for minutes — continuous blinking, continuously tiring. Aggression tires, because aggression takes your energy out; so the eyes have to blink continuously to rest. It is a continuous rest. Ears are rested always.
That's why music has been used by many religions as an approach towards prayer — because music will make your ears more vibrant, more sensitive. One has to become more of the ears and less of the eyes.
OSHO