I like music. Actually the highly effective surges of pleasurable vitality that I used to expertise in my physique when listening to music as an adolescent was one of many issues that made me curious to study meditation. These experiences of rapture (the Buddhist technical time period is “priti”) opened my eyes to the very fact that there have been ranges of expertise outdoors of our regular expectations.
“Meditation Music” Is Not a Conventional Idea
The concept that you must take heed to music whereas meditating is quite common. However this most likely goes again to seeing meditation as little greater than a method of leisure.
Historically, the thought of listening to music whereas meditating could be utterly out of the query. In no Buddhist lineage that I do know of is there any type of musical accompaniment to sitting meditation.
The notion of listening to music whereas meditating is a really fashionable one, and possibly comes from the truth that many different well being practitioners play enjoyable music within the background whereas performing their therapeutic arts. This music grew to become often called “meditation music” and the belief grew up that we should always take heed to music whereas meditating.
Historically there would merely be silence or ambient background noise to accompany meditation.
“Meditation Music” Stops Us From Going Deeply Into Meditation
So-called meditation music is supposed to be enjoyable, and naturally meditation does make it easier to to chill out too. However meditation goes past leisure and helps us to be extra alert and centered. It additionally helps us to do issues like domesticate kindly or to deeply query the character of our expertise. Music is prone to get in the way in which of these actions.
In case you’re making an attempt to concentrate one-pointedly to your respiration, then you’ll be able to’t additionally take heed to music. And when you’re making an attempt to take heed to music then you’ll be able to’t totally focus in your respiration.
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Music produces nice emotions, which is why we take heed to it and why music is now virtually ubiquitous, being thrust at us in shops, elevators, and even on the streets. If these nice emotions are being provided by “meditation music” then we gained’t attain deeper into ourselves to search out our personal sources of happiness. So-called meditation music subsequently is a type of crutch that hinders our apply quite than serving to it.
In case you discover silence disquieting or disagreeable, then you definitely’re not capable of be at peace with your self. The best way to get comfy with silence is to apply being with it. On this approach we study to be at peace with ourselves. Listening to music whereas meditation makes that course of unimaginable. You’ll by no means study to be deeply at peace with your self when you’re depending on music.
Actually, as we get deeper into meditation, we cease registering sounds altogether. Our ears are nonetheless functioning, after all. And the alerts they’re producing are nonetheless being despatched to the mind. However once we’re totally engaged with being aware of our internal expertise, we merely cease listening to sounds.
Listening to music whereas meditating stops that depth of mindfulness from occurring.
Music As Meditation
Nevertheless, specializing in music is ok, and I wholeheartedly counsel that you just attempt doing that, however I additionally counsel that you just attempt doing it at a time while you’re not meditating.
I’d go additional and counsel that listening to music, if accomplished correctly, generally is a meditation in itself, simply as strolling or washing the dishes might be. You’ll be able to take many actions and make them richer and extra satisfying by taking extra consciousness into them. Music, as we’ve seen, is only one instance. We’ve included hyperlinks to some wonderful Buddhist music that makes an ideal focus for a “listening meditation.”
Listening to music as a meditation apply generally is a very highly effective apply. As I grew to become extra aware of the expertise of the dhyanas (Pali, jhanas), that are very concentrated, calm, and blissful states of meditation, I noticed that I’d been experiencing these states for years whereas listening to western classical music. And I’ve discovered that I can expertise the entire dhyanas whereas treating music as a meditation object.
In case you’re going to take heed to music as meditation then you must take it significantly as a apply. Attempt to not do the rest on the identical time. Don’t work, or learn, or steadiness your checkbook when you’re listening. Swap off your cellphone. Darken the room. Simply take heed to the music. Be sure you’re in a cushty place that helps alert consideration. Sit or lie down comfortably, and simply take note of the music. You’ll most likely discover that you just get pleasure from it like by no means earlier than.
Nature Sounds As an Accompaniment to Meditation
One auditory accompaniment to meditation that I do suppose is cheap is recordings of pure sounds, equivalent to water, birdsong, and so forth. Within the Buddha’s day the overwhelming majority of meditation would have taken place outdoor. Even when meditation came about indoors, the buildings would have lacked glass home windows and silence would have been extraordinarily uncommon. So you might argue that meditating within the presence of pure sounds (or recordings thereof) is nearer to the unique apply of meditation. Alternatively, simply because silence was uncommon within the Buddha’s day doesn’t imply that folks then wouldn’t have discovered silence helpful as a background for his or her apply.
Moreover, although, many people stay in very city environments the place listening to pure sounds is uncommon. I imagine that contact with the sounds of nature fulfills a deep want for a way of connectedness to the pure world, and that recordings of these sounds may also help fill that want.
Additionally, pure sounds are extra random and fewer “catchy” than music, and the thoughts is much less prone to develop into connected to and distracted by them. Actually, it’s simpler to tune out random pure sounds as we get extra absorbed in our expertise. We’re extra prone to get “caught” listening to music.
So at worst I’d say that pure recordings do no hurt, whereas at greatest they might assist us to fill a necessity for the expertise of pure sound. Music alternatively is prone to be a distraction, or to artificially produce nice emotions, thus stopping us from discovering these nice emotions from inside.
In the end It’s As much as You
I’ll simply add that you just’re utterly free to decide on to take heed to music when you meditate. You’re free to take heed to the information when you meditate, even. However in making these decisions you’re additionally selecting the results that observe on from them — that you just’re taking away a possibility to be deeply at peace with your self. I’d counsel that selecting silence is a extra spiritually useful choice. Even when you initially discover silence intimidating, you’ll get used to it. Tens of millions of meditators have. And in time you’ll discover that silence is extra conducive to peace and tranquillity than music ever may very well be.