Using Sound To Cultivate Non-Judgement

In this meditation, we use the sense of hearing to heal us of labeling and judgement. We use the sounds around us as a homebase to improve our focus and our compassion for the world around and inside us.

Transcript

Hello,

Thanks for joining me today.

So we're going to do things a little different in terms of meditation today.

A lot of times when we meditate we try to create a home base,

A focus.

Maybe it's a mantra.

One of the easiest ways to create a home base is to focus on our breathing.

Because it comes naturally.

It goes in and out and we don't have to control it.

It just happens.

But today we're going to focus on another one of our senses and that's hearing.

We're going to use hearing to calm the mind and to ground us for the rest of the day.

Alright,

So first make sure you're in a comfortable seated position.

Don't focus too much on the specific way you're sitting or maybe you're lying down.

The specifics aren't important.

What's important is that you're comfortable and alert.

So let's go ahead and take just three deep breaths to kind of calm and settle the mind and take out some of the clutter from the rest of the day.

Go ahead and inhale with me.

Exhale and let everything settle.

One more inhale.

Feel the body stretching.

And exhale.

And one more inhale.

Deep.

And exhale.

Let everything go.

Alright.

Breathe normally.

And now we're going to start opening the sensations of our hearing.

Think of your ears like a big satellite dish.

They can pull in so much information at once that we tend to subconsciously control them.

So that we can only hear what we want to hear.

So that we're not bombarded by sounds and information at all times.

So today we're going to let them open so that we can hear sounds that we don't normally pay attention to.

So right now I want you to focus on the closest sound that you can hear to your body.

Just take a moment.

Breathe calmly and really try to listen to the sound that seems like it's closest to your body right now.

So maybe that sound is a fan that you can hear pushing wind around or rattling.

Maybe it's an air conditioning humming.

Maybe it's your refrigerator making noise.

Maybe you hear dripping water somewhere.

Maybe the closest thing to it is a dog barking.

Just really focus on the sound itself.

Okay,

Now let's go ahead and open that awareness a little bit more.

See if you can hear things that are a little bit farther away than the sound that you were just listening to.

Maybe they're in another room.

Maybe they're on the other side of the room you're in.

Maybe they're right outside the house or apartment.

Maybe you can hear kids playing outside.

Maybe there's noise in another room from a family member.

People moving around.

The wind blowing outside and leaves.

Just really try to hone in on some sounds that seem like they're a little bit further away.

Now one thing that happens a lot when we try to focus,

Especially when we focus on sounds,

Is we'll inevitably hear a sound that we don't like.

Maybe it's a sound that's distracting us from the one we're trying to listen to.

Maybe it's a sound that we've already labeled and we've conditioned our thinking to see it as a bad sound,

An annoying sound.

A sound that makes us frustrated.

A sound that we want to stop.

Take a moment and ask yourself,

Am I labeling this sound good or bad?

Am I perceiving this sound as a positive thing or a negative thing?

We want to let go of those labels.

Really try to practice listening to the sound without judgment.

Just open awareness.

Alright,

Now we're going to open up a little bit more.

So now see if you can hear things that are a little bit further away than that that you were just listening to.

Maybe they're a lot further away.

Maybe you're an airplane going by.

Or you can hear dogs barking that are miles away.

Maybe you hear cars going by.

Maybe you hear music.

Sounds like it's really far away.

Or birds that are so far away you can't really point out where they're coming from,

But you hear them.

Make sure you're not labeling any of the sounds,

But really try to expand your awareness here.

Our ears are extremely powerful.

See how far you can listen.

What's a really quiet noise?

It sounds like it's so far in the distance.

You can barely make it out.

But the more you focus on it,

The clearer it becomes.

The more defined it becomes.

The louder it becomes in your mind.

Focus on that.

Really listen.

Okay.

Again,

Check in with yourself.

Ask yourself,

Am I labeling sounds?

Am I deciding that a sound is good or bad?

Maybe those kids playing doesn't sound good to you.

Maybe you see it as annoying.

Maybe you hear my voice when you're labeling my voice.

Maybe you hear the sounds of the rain in the background of this recording.

Really do your best not to label sounds.

Just listen.

Okay.

Go ahead and just soften your focus.

You don't have to focus on any sounds now.

Now,

What's amazing about using the sense of hearing as a home base and a focus is that we can take that part of our practice and use it in our daily lives.

A lot of times we subconsciously decide to label things.

Some things are good,

Some things are bad.

I don't like this.

I don't like that.

I do like this.

I do like that.

If we're not aware and we're not conscious,

We can spend our entire day labeling things good and bad,

Judging things,

Judging people,

Judging sounds,

Judging experiences.

So what this practice allows us to do is really experience the sense of sound around us without putting judgment on it.

And that's something we can use more of,

That open awareness.

And you'll notice in the beginning of this meditation,

I didn't tell you to close your eyes.

Now,

Whether you did that or not,

That was a subconscious decision.

The real practice is,

The real hard task is if you can do this with your eyes open.

And so I encourage you to try this meditation again a few times and try it with your eyes open.

See if you can still focus on the sounds and really get deep,

Deeply keyed in on the sounds around you with your eyes open while still activating other senses.

It's difficult,

But really improves your ability to focus.

So,

Go ahead and start coming back to your body,

Start being aware of the ground under you and sensations of your body.

Maybe wiggle your fingers and toes,

Start to wake up a little bit.

And if you did close your eyes,

Go ahead and open them now.

And have a beautiful rest of the day.

Thank you for joining me.

Namaste.

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