Chinese Character for Listen

The Chinese character for "listening attentively" consists of five characters:
- the character for ear
- for standing still
- for ten
- for eye, and
- for heart and mind.

Chinese characters are really picturegrams: they are pictures that have evolved to describe a certain situation. Therefore, listening attentively means:

"When in stillness, one listens with the heart. The ear is worth ten eyes."

-- Zen Master Dae Gak, "The Practice of Listening"

I like the character and concept so much, I had it drawn by a Chinese calligrapher -- on the streets of New York City -- and had it framed. It hangs on the wall of my bedroom.