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meditation music
I really love listening to music while I'm meditating at home. How about you guys? Who/what do you listen to?
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It's interesting as it's not music like new age or typical instrumental music. There are two cd's. One has a solo bamboo flute on it and the second has two bamboo flutes being played. I've never personally been able to meditate listening to it, but it has a calming influence if I play it while cooking dinner or bathing or doing washing.
- Raven
Ditto. If I do this eventually I will find myself enjoying the soothing music and relaxing rather than meditating
I remember there was a time that I used to do tons of coding and it bugged the crap out of me when I was trying to figure out a problem and I had these morons, that I was sharing an office with, that would not shut the hell up.
So, I used to put on my headphones with a little Nirvana, Reverend Horton Heat, Kanda Bongo Man, Sisters of Mercy, a lil Zeppelin or whatever - CRANKED just to drown out the "off-beat" interruptions. At times, I would get finished with about 2 hours of coding and couldn't remember what the hell I had been listening to because (even though it was very loud) it allowed me to block out all the other distracting noise.
I don't know what's right or wrong. Maybe people that meditate next to a babbling brook are just doing it all wrong. I guess I would say at this point, do what works for you. If you are devoted to your practice - you'll find your way.
-bf
If you are disturbed by lots of random noises, music may help blot them out, or may only replace one disturbance with another.
For me, letting noise arise and fall away without feeling the need to attend to it is part of practice. I was once told of a meditator who was apparently making great progress after years of meditating in a quiet room. One day he sat in the woods and a gunshot shook him up so much he found it very difficult to regain his former composure.
Music works very well in relaxation and even hypnotherapy, but I don't have a place for it in what I do.
I suppose the nearest I get to it is in silently 'chanting' mantras, but this is when I am focusing on them rather than them being a disturbance.
-bf
I mentally think of my meditation seat as a "throne" ... as humble as the rickety chair may be... to have the feeling that I "rule" over the breath and the distractions. It kind of makes me feel powerful. BUT this feeling is just a pre-meditation thing... it dosen't carry over into my meditation.
I just wanted to make sure I wasn't using the wrong mental imagery for your post
-bf
It's so great to see you again!!
Missed you something awful!
Hi again!
I fixed your sentence.
Sincerely,
Something-Awful.
Awww! You're not that bad.
and uh,,, ahh, um, also, music is meditation itself,
my dog just farted, is that music? HAHA YES nasal music. cacophonic... or cacaphonic, but still mjusic.
aversion is diversion.
Since we stopped being absorbed in an activity we start to notice our neurotic thinking.. (I know that that doesn't sound like as much fun as music, but it is helpful)
My suggestion is meditate sitting in silence for awhile. Then walking meditation (a bridge between the normal chaotic world and sitting) try to put on some music.
And be mindful of the sound in your ears and let go of thoughts and storylines about the song.
Beautiful artist if you ever get the chance!
This is really an oldie, but I still love it. Very relaxing, but I also don't recommend doing meditation with music. Either you're meditating or you're relaxing. You can't really do both at the same time.
Palzang
music comes from tathagata's lips but so also does silence
Namaste friends Katie xoxo
Music has never had any place in my meditation practice. However I do use gentle background relaxation music in sessions with hypnotherapy clients, because it appears to help induce trance more rapidly.
.
I see no reason why music can not be an object of concentration. Buddhists throughout the world recite sutta or sutra, sing gathas, and chant dharanis or mantras. These practices are often accompanied by drums and musical instruments.
Most people associate the word meditation with the highly concentrated forms {jhana / dhyana}, in which one wishes to sort of close the sense doors. The broader word is 'citta bhavana;' the cultivation of one's mind and spirituality. That includes Proper Exertion, Proper Absorption, and Proper Mindfulness
I think the objection might be that music is noise going on 'out there' and could cause 'sensory contact;' which prevents one from 'entering' certain kinds of absorbed meditation. It could easily become just entertainment. Or, at best, maybe it could be a sensory relaxation that resembles meditation and might be a door to 'access samadhi.'
I think, on one end; some music can be like a preparation concentration, that one might use to 'calm the mind {samatha},' and then move from 'momentary concentration' into 'access concentration.' Then it would time to turn it off. At a more advanced level, the difference between 'in here' and 'out there' starts to vanish. I think that 'right and proper' music; either listening to and / or singing / playing music {like religious hymns}, could be a sort of concentration meditation; a kind of spiritual cultivation. It can also, perhaps, be a part of mindfulness meditation {satipatthana}.
In general, the arousal of any kind of sense desire is the first hindrance to any kind of authentic meditation. So music which does that is not so good. On the other hand, resistance to the concept, of using music as an aid to concentration, is a kind of enmity; which is the second hindrance.
I like to listen soft music while i am practicing meditation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaural_beats
When I first started meditating I used these, and found them great for shutting out noise of traffic if I meditated in my works van. They did seem to work if I focused on them.
And according to the link, there is medical evidence to show it does 'something' to your brain wave pattern.
Is it pointless for the purpose of Buddhist meditation?
Hammock
Explosions in the Sky
The Album Leaf
Sigur Ros
Those are my favorites. So calming and soothing with great instrumentals. Started off as great study and walking music.. but realized how much I enjoi it meditating.
Yes. Before meditation practice perhaps, to calm you down so-to-speak. Buddhist meditation usually involves reaching a very subtle state of calm abiding leading to further stages of meditation. Music only serves as a distraction on the surface and it can be a distraction in terms of "scenery".
It occurred to me that one of the reasons that music is not traditionally associated with music may be that passive listening is relatively recent. Until the advent of recording mediums (wax cylinder, vinyl, tape, digital) listening to music involved actually being present where people were performing. To ignore the musicians and meditate seems to be a rather rude thing to do.
Gosh now I'm actually going to have to practice for the first time in a week... :rolleyes:
Here are my favorite music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyIIObFyK4I <-- Mantra of Avalokitesvara
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4noQ0MD1_8s <--Omh mani padme Hum
Eventually, much like if you were to sit next to a stream to meditate, you block the music out completely and it just becomes part of your current environment. I see no harm in it as long as you are able to meditate without it too.
Binaural beats require stereo headphones (two channels) to play a different frequency in each ear; this is what induces the change in brain waves. The thought of them changing your brainwaves in a van (without stereo headphones) is only you deceiving yourself.
Some times i hear the ringing but it does not bother me whilst meditating. But some times it realy bothers me when meditating. I know, why does it bother me? Because i want to push it away, i don't want that. Surely not a very budhistic attitude!!
Hey but i know it and i am just a beginner at long meditation sessions. I guess better to medidate with my ambient sounds than to stop meditating.