Let us, if we can, establish right relationship between us. Probably it is a very difficult thing to do, so that you are not learning from me; I’m not teaching you; there is no authority; you’re not following; you’re not listening with a concept or an ideal. You are listening and therefore you are out of the psychological structure of society. To listen also implies that you and I must meet intellectually, verbally, emotionally, at the same level and at the same time. You can’t be behind and I can’t be ahead, or you ahead and me behind. After all, that is love, isn’t it, really? When I say, ‘I love you,’ it means intellectually, physically, with all my being at the same level at the same time – otherwise, it’s just commerce.
From Small Group Discussion 2, London, 22 May 1962