Noise

zenmonkey

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} </style> <![endif]--> Does anyone here use any form of noise canceling items when meditating?
I live in an apartment complex, with then walls and noisy neighbors to three sides and above.

I can clearly hear phones ringing, TV’s, conversations and radios from all sides and above, with noisy ceilings added to the above list of distractions. I can hear the washers, dryers and various bathroom functions of my neighbors.

The windows either face a noisy parking lot and sidewalk (only about 15’ away from window) or face the stair well where the reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists in door slamming practice all day.

I can’t really complain since it is the construction of the building itself that is the problem, and the door slamming is actually how the doors are designed to work, they all do it unless actively prevented, which getting people and children is almost impossible. I talked to some people about noise with limited results.

I sleep with ear plugs, and they help a little but not much.

I was wondering if anyone uses ear plugs or any other device to reduce sound impact for their mediation. I am new to this and while it is somewhat of a challenge to try to focus on the breathe with all the noise going on, it has been a few months and I am not getting any better at it with all the distractions.

Late night or early morning are both as noisy (people either getting ready for bed or work) and I have yet to find a quiet time.

I already know the foam earplugs I use will have limited effect, and was thinking about getting some industrial headphones to use, but feel this will be just as distracting as the noise.

I don’t know if I want ideas, sympathies or just want to vent.

Thanks for reading

Valekhai

Personally, no. I don't meditate enough, but I have done it enough to know that silence wouldn't matter; my mind is active enough on it's own that I would have trouble even without noise distraction.
Also, I know I'm probably never going to live anywhere where quiet will be the norm, so I figure that I might else well learn to get used to it. If I learn mindfulness only in quiet moments, I'm not going to have too many opportunities to apply it anywhere.

Joshu-sDog

Although it's often said that a quiet place is helpful to a beginner in meditation, it's helpful but not neccessary.

The key point to remember is that the distraction doesn't exist outside of your mind, the noise is just noise. Distraction is a state of our mind, a thought like any other.

So when you sit and meditate, and you find your mind wandering, don't get frustrated and don't fight the distraction. Simply notice it.

Where is your mind wandering? What sound is it drifting off to? In meditation we simply watch the mind, where it goes, what it does. So just observe your mind without frustration. You might just find that if you observe your distractions with a calm, detached mind, that the distractions gradually have less hold over you.

Life can certainly be distracting. At my university's meditation society, one year we had a circus skills society next door at the same time as our sessions. It was an unfortunate co-incidence of scheduling - there was music and juggling and chatter... but in time I came to be quite glad of their presence, as they helped me to build my concentration and my awareness of distracted states of mind.


I hope you find peace in your meditations, even if you don't find quiet.

_/|\_

ShiftPlusOne

Don't try to remove the noise. Being able to meditate despite distractions is important.

I was recently reading a study on meditation. They took western meditators and tibetan lamas. One of the things they looked at was how easy it is to bring people out of meditation. They made noises, smashed cymbals, sprayed water, submerged the feet in cold water and so on. Westerners came out of meditation at the slightest distraction, but the lamas stayed in a deep state of meditation despite the chaos around them.

I think that's an important skill that needs to be cultivated rather than avoided.

Cinorjer

I remember my first meditation hall had a noisy air conditioner fan that drove me crazy and the most frustrating thing about it was, the Teacher just shrugged his shoulders and told the students they'd learn to ignore it. I had good and bad days in the ignore department as long as I was there.

With distracting background noise, it might help to give yourself something like chanting or flute music to fill your ears. Nothing with words in it in a language you understand, and nothing with a catchy repeated melody that has you humming along. In other words, nothing that stimulates the part of the brain you're trying to quiet.

I use some old audio copies of monks chanting in Korean or some guy with a flute, and then pretend the background noise is part of the recording. What I hear can then be treated as part of the meditation experience instead of something I don't want. Then by the time the recording ends, I'm in the zone.

You can probably find music or sounds to meditate along with in music shops, or look around the internet. In particular, the Koren monks chant while rapping wooden sticks together to produce the most amazing meditation experience. I suppose monks chanting in Latin would have the same effect.

Hope this helps.

ShiftPlusOne

you could also try a pink noise generator or some sounds of nature thing. I've recently put an Om Mani Padme Hum chant posted by one of the users on this forum over the top of binaural beats generate by Gnaural and that works great, but I avoid using it for the reasons I mentioned before.

Cinorjer

It is true these are helpful things but shouldn't turn into crutches. For instance, I found in my traveling days that airports are great places to practice meditation during the constant waiting for the next flight. Find a corner where you aren't going to be trampled, and let the sounds around you flow in one ear and out the other as you breath.

Of course, that was some years ago. Today, the authorities might give you a cavity search for acting weard at the airport.