meditating with music on?

Gumbercules

Would having music on in the background while meditating be a bad idea? I've meditated only a couple times and usually can't do it for more than 15 minutes before stopping and think that might help, but if it just defeats the purpose I'll learn the old fashioned way. Thanks for any help.

riverflow

I sometimes listen to a little shakuhachi music PRIOR to zazen, but not during.

Cloud

Best idea... try it. If you know how to meditate, you'll know whether it's good for meditation or not when you do it.

Cloud

BTW we have this "Meditation" section for Meditation Q&A, so I've moved the thread there. Feel free to post new threads in the most appropriate section we have that you can find (Buddhism for Beginners gets many threads that could be better-placed).

Gumbercules

Ahhhh ok thanks for that. Missed that category.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, never heard of shakahuchi before and listened while meditating and I really enjoyed it. Thanks again.

Mani

I think that playing some music before hand as a preliminary to meditation is fine to help relax you, but for actual meditation, it is best not to have music playing.

Mani

ThailandTom

I would suggest you could play it if you want to, but not to try and use it as a tool to meditate or to relax. Instead, I use the noises around me such as hammering and drills of a construction site, or birds and dogs making themselves heard as a way to further my practice. You can learn to focus to a point where these noises or distractions do not disract you and appear not to exist, but in fact they actually do.

ajnast4r

in my opinion, you should not listen to music or any noise while meditating... in fact i think its best to meditate with earplugs in until you get to the point where you dont need them. but these are just my opinion.

if you're using anything external to induce relaxation, like music, this could become a crutch... how will you meditate if your music is not available? the goal, imo, should be to be able to induce relaxation at WILL... your will.

its normal in the begging to find it very difficult to sit for longer than 10-15 minutes... this is fine. dont think about, or beat yourself up, over the amount of time you spend sitting... whats important is that the time you spend be productive. once basic concentration is achieved you will easily be able to sit for longer.

Arn

Hmmm, intersting that there is a trend not to listen to music. My best meditation sessions are chanting where I play some mantras and chant along, 108 times. I find concentrating on the sound is a great way to help me still my mind. The really utmost best thing about this is the silence afterwards - its such an amazing depth of stillness that I experience deep realisations, intense awareness almost every session. It also means that I can achieve this with only 10 minutes of meditation/chanting per day.

Citta

I think perhaps we need to define " meditation " ?

Telly03

When I first learned how to meditate, prior to Buddhism application, I used music at the beginning of the meditation to help relax and calm my mind... so yes, it can be a useful tool, but I wouldn't think it would be a good practice to continue.

txbuddhist

I used it in the beginning. It was a way to calm my mind and it also brought up emotions. I have since stopped using it during meditation, but usually listen to a song or two after meditation. But that's just me. Try it without and see the results.