幸福就是有你陪伴

領導力的養成教育是需要由內而外，試著換角度，立場，最重要用心眼去看!

12/23  黑玉

The Sound of the Forest

Back in the third century A.D., the King Ts’ao sent his son, Prince

T’ai, to the temple to study under the great master Pan Ku. Because

Prince T’ai was to succeed his father as king, Pan Ku was to teach the

boy the basics of being a good ruler. When the prince arrived at the

temple, the master sent him alone to the Ming-Li Forest. After one

year, the prince was to return to the temple to describe the sound of

the forest.

When Prince T’ai returned, Pan Ku asked the boy to describe all that

he could hear. “Master,” replied the prince, “I could hear the cuckoos

sing, the leaves rustle, the hummingbirds hum, the crickets chirp, the

grass blow, the bees buzz, and the wind whisper and holler.” When

the prince had finished, the master told him to go back to the forest to

listen to what more he could hear. The prince was puzzled by the

master’s request. Had he not discerned every sound already?

For days and nights on end, the young prince sat alone in the forest

listening. But he heard no sounds other than those he had already

heard. Then one morning, as the prince sat silently beneath the trees,

he started to discern faint sounds unlike those he had ever heard be-

fore. The more acutely he listened, the clearer the sounds became.

The feeling of enlightenment enveloped the boy. “These must be the

sounds the master wished me to discern,” he reflected.

When Prince T’ai returned to the temple, the master asked him

what more he had heard. “Master,” responded the prince reverently,

“when I listened most closely, I could hear the unheard – the sound of

flowers opening, the sound of the sun warming the earth, and the

sound of the grass drinking the morning dew.” The master nodded ap-

provingly. “To hear the unheard,” remarked Pan Ku, “is a necessary

discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler has learned to listen

closely to the people’s hearts, hearing their feelings uncommunicated,

pains unexpressed, and complaints not spoken of, can he hope to in-

spire confidence in his people, understand when something is wrong,

and meet the true needs of his citizens. The demise of states comes

when leaders listen only to superficial words and do not penetrate

deeply into the souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feelings,

and desires.”

Copyright © 1992 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.

All rights reserved.