Don't disturb the noise One of the hardest distractions to overcome in meditation is noise,
But it doesn't have to be a problem.
With the right mindset,
Noise can actually help us in meditation.
I heard a Buddhist nun speak about being asked by a monk,
Do you want to know the jet plane to Nibbana?
Side note,
Nibbana is the Pali word for Nirvana,
And it means the ultimate peace.
The monk's answer came back,
Listening to sound.
So he's saying that sound is the most powerful tool we have to reach peace.
The monk is referring to inner sound,
Known in many spiritual traditions,
Most notably the yogic path in Hinduism,
Where it is named OM.
This is a practice I myself have used for 20 years,
It's called Nadi Yoga,
And it means listening to the inner sound.
So knowing how powerful sound can be,
Can we see that the monk is speaking about the power of sound as a positive,
Not a negative thing.
It can be an object of meditation,
Not a distraction from it.
It can also be a support for meditation,
And I'll teach you how.
This is going to be a meditation on external sound and the breath.
We'll switch between the two.
There's going to be reflection also,
So there will be talking,
Talking is sound.
So treat my words as meditation too,
Receive them mindfully,
As a gateway to inner peace.
So come into your meditation posture.
Sit upright but not stiff,
And allow the eyes to close.
Relax the body to the best of your ability,
And open the ear door to sound.
What can you hear?
Listening for sounds off in the distance,
Birdsong,
The rumble of passing traffic,
A notice when you make contact with the sound.
Is it unpleasant or pleasant,
Or is it neutral?
If it's the sweet song of a bird,
It will be pleasant,
And you'll invite it into your practice,
It won't be a problem.
But if it's still a bird,
A crow maybe,
Making a loud racket,
Squawking and screaming,
Notice how that's unpleasant,
How it disturbs the meditation.
Yet they are both birds,
It is what our mind does,
With the sound that creates the problem.
See if you can hear these sounds,
Without attaching labels to them,
Sure,
See if they're pleasant or unpleasant,
But lose the idea of it being a bird,
Or traffic,
Trying to get in touch with the raw sound,
The raw feelings that it provokes in the mind.
You can now come into contact with the breath,
Feeling the breath wherever you usually do.
If you don't have a breathing practice,
Tune into the abdomen,
Feeling the rise and fall of the breath.
You can say in your mind as the breath comes in,
Rising,
And as it leaves,
Falling,
Rising,
Falling,
And really feeling the rise,
All of the physical sensations connected to the breath,
And on the out-breath,
The deflation of the body,
The falling,
The sinking feeling.
If you get caught up in thought,
Notice that,
And say in your mind,
Thinking,
Thinking.
This will unhook you from the thought,
And then place your attention back on the breath.
When you hear a sound,
Say in your mind,
Hearing,
Hearing,
Acknowledging sound,
Not pushing it away.
A Buddhist monk went to his meditation master on a retreat.
His complaint was that the noise was unbearable.
He couldn't meditate.
There was a festival,
And music was playing,
Full blast,
All day and night.
The monk was very surprised.
The cool,
Zen,
Profound answer came back,
Don't disturb the noise.
So we can look at meditation this way,
Not disturbing the noise.
The world isn't going to shut up and be quiet,
Just because you want to meditate.
So accept these noises,
Bring them into the breath,
And notice how we're not disturbed by pleasant noises,
Or so it seems,
But we can easily be pulled off track into heavenly thinking,
Wonderful mind states,
Like the sweet song of a bird,
But we're still being pulled away from the breath.
You can let go of the breath now.
So just rest and listen.
Open up the ear door again to sound,
As being the main object of meditation.
When I was only a few years into practice,
I noticed the sound of a beautiful cricket inside the cupboard in the room I meditated in.
It took me back to my childhood.
My grandma had a cricket in her cupboard,
And we used to listen to it.
She called it Jiminy the Cricket.
And my toddler brain had all sorts of wonderful images about this character.
So a cricket chirping in the room I was meditating in brought up delightful feelings,
Thoughts of my grandmother,
Who I was very,
Very close to,
Great feelings of love.
So it was a very pleasant experience.
Every time I sat,
Chirp,
Chirp,
And it filled me with joy.
My wife asked me weeks after this,
Did you know that the batteries had gone in the pest control alarm?
We had a mouse problem,
And we didn't want to harm them.
So we bought an alarm,
A sonic device to scare them away.
And the batteries had gone.
And the chirp,
Chirp was just the sound of batteries dying.
So it went from a beautiful,
Blissful experience to an extreme annoyance,
From pleasant to unpleasant.
But reflecting back,
I was just as lost in the experience when it was a cricket as when it was an alarm.
Both pulled me away from the breath.
So tuning into sound now,
Around you,
In the room you're in,
Bringing the practice to a close,
Move a little.
And when you're ready,
Slowly open the eye doors and bring in the sense of seeing.
Have a wonderful day.
