Language can be a funny thing. It comprises words arranged in a way to convey meaning and expression.

Not knowing the language of another person can surely cause barriers in communication and understanding. And this can keep people apart.

However, I can comprehend almost 10 percent of what my Guru says in Tamil, despite not understanding the Tamil language. My fellow friends at spiritual meditation class are even more amazing!

Over a year ago, when classes started for the first time, my classmate K had to have an English-proficient friend seated next to her to explain the lectures of the guru and the flow of the guided meditation.

Today, she sits at the front of the class, during every session and understands it perfectly. The weekly homework to share our experiences of the week is also written in English. She does this every week, sometimes even recording the experiences she has encountered on a daily basis. And another classmate of mine, M, now wants to take up public speaking in English and Mandarin, so as to help facilitate other activities in these languages.

What brought about such amazing transformations?

Stilling the monkey mind

I can relate to what both K, M, and what many other classmates had gone through. Before we began our meditation course, our minds would be filled with endless thoughts, some necessary and others not really. But after regular and daily meditation, we can look at our noisy minds and quieten them down, enough to say, “Oh hey, this is what I am thinking right now.”

Situations which may have seemed insurmountable before, like understanding English, or plucking up the courage to speak in front of a crowd, have suddenly become rather ordinary, as self-defeating emotions and thoughts are easily overcome.

We now understand the manual on how we operate, and this manual is a good ‘first step’ to how we can then better manage ourselves.

Listening

We have discovered that a calm mind can be pretty powerful. Opportunities seem to open up and the possibilities seem almost endless.

However, when this powerful capability combines with effort to consciously listen, even more wondrous possibilities begin to reveal themselves. How did K understand English so fast?

A quiet mind helps. A quiet mind further helps when it increases awareness about a situation and its context.

If you are in a classroom setting with a smart board that displays electronic notes, and the session breaks for 10-minutes, what would the thought that comes to your mind be when the trainer speaking to his assistant in a different language, says only two words in English — ‘PDF’ and ‘Whatsapp’.

Not everyone would think about looking for notes from class, because they are keener to relax, recharge, and catch up with their friends. But, consciousness about the context of the situation can open the door to greater understanding of what has happened and can happen.

With meditation, we learn more about ourselves and how to manage our actions, thoughts and words. When we apply this mindfulness to our surroundings, we can also better understand it and potentially even manage it.

Effort

Mindfulness and consciousness from regular meditation, is how K ‘understood’ more of the spoken English language than she used to. And how M now has confidence to do new things she never would have done over a year ago. And how, you or I can understand the conversations of people around us even though they speak a different language.

Language can create or reduce the divide between people. But mindfulness and conscious listening can create bridges between human beings, no matter how different their language, or even their backgrounds and culture may be.

It can happen if you choose to put in the effort to do so.