Compassionate Listening Project

A non-profit organization dedicated to empowering individuals and communities to transform conflict and strengthen cultures of peace

ABOUT US

Gene Knudsen Hoffman, international peacemaker and Quaker, developed the concept of Compassionate Listening. She was influenced by her teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, who she worked with in the 1970s. We created the curriculum and teach world-wide. 

GET INVOLVED
JOURNEYS

Join us for profound immersions: Journey to the Heart of Israel and Palestine, Stay tuned for post-Covid dates!

Journey to Alabama, 

stay tuned for post-coved dates!. 

"Deep listening is the kind of listening that can help relieve the suffering of another person. You can call it compassionate listening. You listen with only one purpose: to help him or her to empty his heart...

Because you know that listening like that, you give that person a chance to suffer less. If you want to help him to correct his perception, you wait for another time...You just listen with compassion and help him to suffer less. One hour like that can bring transformation and healing."

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-Thich Nhat Hanh

Upcoming Events

  • Compassionate Listening Practice Group: Saturday, Jan 23
    Sat, Jan 23
    Online Session
    Jan 23, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM PST
    Online Session
    Join with kindred spirits to deepen your skills for connection in these increasingly divisive times.
  • Compassionate Listening Practice Group: Wednesday, Jan 27
    Wed, Jan 27
    Online Session
    Jan 27, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM PST
    Online Session
    Join with kindred spirits to deepen your skills for connection in these increasingly divisive times.
  • Compassionate Listening in Polarizing Times
    Mon, Feb 01
    Online 4-Session Workshop Series
    Feb 01, 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM PST
    Online 4-Session Workshop Series
    Practicing Challenging Political Conversations with our Hearts Open and our Wisdom Intact
  • Compassionate Listening Practice Group: Saturday, Feb 6
    Sat, Feb 06
    Online Session
    Feb 06, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM PST
    Online Session
    Join with kindred spirits to deepen your skills for connection in these increasingly divisive times.
  • Healing Our World from the Inside Out: Intro to Compassionate Listening with Susan Partnow and Gayle Johnson
    Thu, Feb 11
    Online 5-Session Workshop Series
    Feb 11, 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM PST
    Online 5-Session Workshop Series
    Humanity is waking up to our interconnectedness as never before - to one another and to the Earth. We believe that learning to listen with compassion to ourselves and others is a key to this awakening, and that our evolutionary capacity is directly linked to our ability to navigate conflict.
  • Compassionate Listening Practice Group: Saturday, Feb 20
    Sat, Feb 20
    Online Session
    Feb 20, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM PST
    Online Session
    Join with kindred spirits to deepen your skills for connection in these increasingly divisive times.
  • Cultivating A Forgiving Heart with Amalia Phillips
    Mon, Mar 01
    Online 4-Session Workshop Series
    Mar 01, 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM EST
    Online 4-Session Workshop Series
    Join us for a journey on the path of letting go and forgiving.
  • White-Bodied Inner Work: Uncovering Our Racial Conditioning Using Compassionate Listening
    Sun, Mar 14
    Online Workshop Series
    Mar 14, 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM PDT
    Online Workshop Series
    This 6-week online series will co-create a learning space for exploring our racial conditioning in the framework of Compassionate Listening, a heart-centered practice of deep listening and speaking from the heart. We hope that our inner healing will ripple out into the world through our actions.
  • Cultivating Compassion for Ourselves and Our Planet: 4-Day Nature Retreat at Lake Umbagog
    Tue, Aug 24
    Umbagog Lake, New Hampshire
    Aug 24, 2:00 PM EDT
    Umbagog Lake, New Hampshire, Umbagog Lake, United States
    Staying grounded and compassionately connected to ourselves, each other, and this planet we call home is an essential practice of our time.

Introductory Videos

An enemy is one whose story we have not heard. 

~ Gene Knudsen Hoffman