Dadirri - Deep listening
February 28, 2019
Deep listening is also called dadirri, a word from the Ngan'gikurunggurr and Ngen'giwumirri languages of the Aboriginal people of the Daly River region, 220 kilometres south of Darwin, NT. In the Wiradjuri language the word for meditation, deep listening, knowing and reflecting is Winhangadhurinya
Life can be so busy and finding time to just be in the moment to really feel into the blessings of life can be hard.
For centuries Indigenous cultures around the world have maintained connection and presence in the moment and the greater meaning of life. We can gain so much from their wisdom and bring it into our daily lives to enhance our way of life.
Our first people practice Dadirri
Aboriginal writer and senior elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann describes deep listening as follows:
Dadirri is deep listening.
It's listening to the land.
Listening to the spirit speaking through the land.
Listening to the stillness.
The stillness in the water flowing,
The wind blowing,
The birds singing,
The ground humming.
Everyday we can find time to practice Dadirri.
All it takes is 5 minutes, in the morning or evening. Go outside if you can. Simply sit and look at and listen to the earth and environment that surrounds you.
Focus on something specific, such as a bird, a blade of grass, a clump of soil, cracked earth, a flower, bush or leaf, a cloud in the sky or a body of water, whatever you can see.
You can also let something find you, be it a leaf, the sound of a bird, the feel of the breeze, the light on a tree trunk. There's no need to try, just wait a while.
Be still and silent and listen.
Following this quiet time, there may be, on occasion, value in expressing in some way your experience of this quiet, still listening. You may wish to talk about the experience or journal, write poetry, draw, paint or sing. This needs to be held in balance - the key to dadirri is in simply being, rather than in outcomes and activity.
