Is it ok to meditate while listening to a Mantra?

TheEccentric

I read somewhere that you should not listening to music whilst meditating because it distracts you from your breathing and you can not focus on both.

I normal meditate on Mantras while trying my best to focus on my brerathing and I find it relaxing and easier as well as faster to get into than with out it although I can focus on my breath more if I'm noy.

footiam

The way I understand it, a mantra most probably is for samaddhi meditation; if it is vipassana meditation you are practising, then you ought to look at the rising and falling of your stomach. If the Mantras are being played out like in a cassette player, they are a distraction and you have to note: hearing, hearing. Always go back to the rising and falling of the stomach.

lobster

You can meditate on music (not normally done - have you heard Buddhist temple music - it would frighten away demons - which funnily enough is the intention . . .) Better still is meditating on mantras. If you are doing a vipassana or similar breath focus meditation then to start with having mantras is fine. You can wean yourself off eventually five minutes at a time . . .

You can combine the two, mantra as a form of breath awareness. Doing the mantras both slowly and quietly . . .

You are on the right track. Pretty cool.

caz

TheEccentric said:

I read somewhere that you should not listening to music whilst meditating because it distracts you from your breathing and you can not focus on both.

I normal meditate on Mantras while trying my best to focus on my brerathing and I find it relaxing and easier as well as faster to get into than with out it although I can focus on my breath more if I'm noy.

Mantra's a good way to develop concentration and they have a special power to protect the mind. However @TheEccentric I would recommend if you want something that deeply changes the mind I would start looking at Lamrim the Kadampa tradition has a special presentation of Lamrim which is our spiritual foundation. The New meditation Handbook is a good book for a daily practice of Lamrim. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-New-Meditation-Handbook-Meditations/dp/0948006900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354785248&sr=8-1

Cinorjer

The problem with music is that some types of music capture your attention because of the familiar melody or lyrics. Then you're not meditating, you're listening to music. It's relaxing, but not the same thing. To be effective, the music needs to be non-melodic and simple so you can treat it as background noise (I find flute solos to be the best for me, or old recordings of Korean sutra chanting)

Mantras have an entire esoteric belief system built around them, as mentioned in the above posts, but simple mantras serve the basic purpose of focusing the mind and helping keep the part of the mind that generates words and thoughts occupied, that's all. If you count breaths then the subvocalized "One....Two..." does the same thing.

There's no real right or wrong for meditation by yourself, just experiment a bit and find what works for you. Some people just repeat "Om...." on the intake. Some use the traditional "Om Mane Padme Om..." and some have specialized mantras. Some prefer simple quietness. I love meditating next to running water because the sound seems perfect as background.

RebeccaS

If it helps I don't see why not

Jeffrey

You can do that but don't consider it your main method of sitting meditation. For your main practice I wouldn't take something so unproven with so little information..

It is a hybrid activity. You can actually meditate to sound as opposed to the breath.

I might say a few mantras at the beginning of meditation however and dedicate refuge at the end. That is a very good practice.

Linc

My teacher would say that listening to anything means you're not really meditating.

vinlyn

Listening to music while meditating is equivalent to when you were a teenager and told your parents the best way to focus on calculus and physics was with the headphones on and rock music blaring into your ears.

TheEccentric

@caz thankyou I'll buy that as an eBook after I finish the one by him I am currently reading, I am already Lamrim meditations from the books I have read already.

Jeffrey

@caz, isn't the lojong training preserved via the kadampa?

RebeccaS

vinlyn said:

Listening to music while meditating is equivalent to when you were a teenager and told your parents the best way to focus on calculus and physics was with the headphones on and rock music blaring into your ears.

That's true for me.

I can't do housework without some kind of background noise. I find it helps me concentrate.

caz

TheEccentric said:

@caz thankyou I'll buy that as an eBook after I finish the one by him I am currently reading, I am already Lamrim meditations from the books I have read already.

Modern Buddhism is a good overview of Lamrim, But New Meditation Handbook is set out as a daily practice of it

caz

Jeffrey said:

@caz, isn't the lojong training preserved via the kadampa?

Certainly is

karasti

some people meditate by chanting aloud, or within groups by chanting. We do it sometimes on retreats, it's not really my thing. I use mantras on occassion but rarely aloud. Though sometimes I do enjoy the sound and vibration that comes from a loud group chanting, for me it is very distracting. For others, it seems to work very well. How is it different from music?

Cinorjer

My first Zen meditation classes I attended was in this little UU church that had one tiny window air conditioner. In Florida, in summer. And the fan had a ticking sound that drove me crazy at first. Learning to focus past distractions was a good lesson.

Dakini

TheEccentric said:

I read somewhere that you should not listening to music whilst meditating because it distracts you from your breathing and you can not focus on both..

You can use the mantra as the subject of your focus. It's about developing one-pointedness-of-mind, not necessarily about focussing on the breath. Once you're able to stay focussed on the breath, you can move on to focussing on a mantra, or focussing on an image in your mind (visualization), etc.

Wisdom23

the only person you need to convince is you. If you feel it works and you are happy all the best.

person

footiam said:

The way I understand it, a mantra most probably is for samaddhi meditation; if it is vipassana meditation you are practising, then you ought to look at the rising and falling of your stomach. If the Mantras are being played out like in a cassette player, they are a distraction and you have to note: hearing, hearing. Always go back to the rising and falling of the stomach.

This is good advice, but if you're listening to mantras with a cassette player you have bigger worries, like how to generate 1.21 gigawatts so you can travel from the 80s and back to the present day. :buck:

Sama

Listen to a piece of music. Breathe, light, and even breaths. Follow your breath, be the master of while being aware of the movementand sentiments of the music. Do not get lost in the music. But continue to be master of your breath and yourself.

- Thich Naht Hanh, The miracle of mindfulness.

TheEccentric

Thankyou guys, I have ow decided to use the music just too get into meditation and once I am relaxed I will meditate without it.

Citta

caz said:

Jeffrey said:

@caz, isn't the lojong training preserved via the kadampa?

Certainly is

It is ..but not exclusively. Lojong is also taught in the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma.

caz

Citta said:

caz said:

Jeffrey said:

@caz, isn't the lojong training preserved via the kadampa?

Certainly is

It is ..but not exclusively. Lojong is also taught in the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma.

Of course its shared by many but wouldn't be here without Atisha !

Citta

caz said:

Citta said:

caz said:

Jeffrey said:

@caz, isn't the lojong training preserved via the kadampa?

certainly is

It is ..but not exclusively. Lojong is also taught in the Karma Kagyu and Nyingma.

Of course its shared by many but wouldn't be here without Atisha !

In terms of Lojong that is true. Lojong was Atisha's great contribution.