Attention and Responsibility

This week I'll be using the Tarot of Mystical Moments, created by Catrin Welz-Stein and published by U.S. Games. Paired with it will be the Inner Eye Oracle, created by Steven Bright and published by Red Feather. Today's draws are the Queen of Cups and the Authority Figure:

You cannot listen to what you hear if you resist it. To listen there must be attention, and where there is resistance there is no attention.

—Krishnamurti

The calm flow of the ocean's seabed reflects this Queen's emotional stability. She listens intently to the seahorse she holds, undistracted by the other fish swimming by. Buddhist teacher Haemin Sunim said: "If you think you already know everything there is to know about that person, what do you do? We tend to make a judgment about that person. We stop being curious. Rather than try to understand, we think we already know. So, we don't give them time and space for them to talk. Instead, we already assume that we already know. That's not love." Yet the Authority Figure tells us we need to do more than deeply listen. Even though we might offer feedback or suggestions, it must be clear that we cannot make decisions for them. We each are responsible for the choices we make, including the outcomes of those judgments.