Meditation For Beginners - Lesson 8

05:55

Meditation For Beginners - Lesson 8

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Beginners

A dog barks. A truck drives past. Someone starts talking in another room. And suddenly we believe the meditation has been ruined. But meditation does not always require silence. Sound itself can become the practice. In lesson eight of this beginner meditation course, I show you how to meditate with the sounds already present instead of constantly fighting your environment. You will learn how to listen without immediately labeling everything, how to notice the body’s reaction to sudden sounds, and how to recognize the difference between hearing a noise and building a long mental argument around it. A sound may last two seconds. Our resistance to it can continue for ten minutes. Sound meditation teaches us to let experience arrive, remain briefly, and pass without needing to control every part of the environment. Beginner practice: Spend five minutes listening to the closest sound, the farthest sound, and the spaces between sounds. Let everything belong.

Environmental Sound Deep Listening External Sound Meditation Sound Meditation Non Judgmental Awareness Body Awareness Awareness Mindfulness Daily Life Acceptance Silence Awareness Open Awareness Meditation In Daily Life

Meet your Teacher

Kingston, ON, Canada

Meet your Teacher

Kingston, ON, Canada

Transcript

Hey everybody, Jason here. Welcome back. Welcome to this lesson. So I want to talk about meditation and how people believe that meditation actually requires silence. You know, Then they sit down, You know, A dog barks, A truck drives past, Whatever it is. Someone starts talking in another room and the entire meditation seems ruined. I know we've all been there, Right? But sound doesn't have to interrupt meditation at all. Sound itself can become the meditation right this is extremely useful for people who struggle to actually feel the breath clearly or you know those people that become uncomfortable when focusing too much on the body so you know for this one begin by sitting comfortably like we do keep your eyes closed or or even slightly open and then take a few breaths and let the body settle And then, You know, Allow your attention to open to sound. You know, Don't search for a special sound. Just listen to whatever is actually present, Right? Now, Wherever you are, Maybe there's traffic, A fan, Birds, Voices, A refrigerator, Or even your own breathing. Just notice the closest sound, Right? And then. . . Notice the farthest sound that you can hear. You know, Allow the sounds to just arrive on their own. You don't need to reach outward and grab them. Sound appears in awareness. You know, It remains briefly and then it disappears. So try listening without immediately naming everything, Right? Normally a sound appears and then the mind instantly says car, Door, Dog, Person talking, Whatever it is. Then see whether you can experience the raw sound before the label, Right? So you'll identify it as its pitch, Or its volume, Rhythm, Texture, And notice that the sound is constantly changing, Right? Even a steady sound such as a fan, It contains tiny little shifts, And you may hear even layers within it, Layers within layers within layers, And then when a sudden sound appears, Watch the body's reaction. You might tense, You might become irritated, You may immediately even begin thinking about who caused the sound and why they should stop. But the point is, Is to notice all of it. Right? Notice all of that. The sound itself may last for two seconds. The mental argument about the sound can continue for 10 minutes. Now this is an extremely useful lesson. So often the disturbance is not only the experience, It's our resistance to the experience. Now it doesn't mean that we must enjoy every single noise that we hear. What it does is it means that we can notice the difference between hearing a sound and building an entire reaction around it. So try not to divide sounds into spiritual sounds and non-spiritual sounds. Like a singing bowl is not automatically more sacred than a lawnmower right? One may be I guess more pleasant obviously but both sounds are arising and disappearing inside of awareness. So if someone speaks nearby, Listen to the voice as sound rather than following the meaning. Notice the rise and then notice the fall. The rhythm, The pauses, Anything associated. But if you become pulled into the conversation, Just try to return to the actual hearing. Now, You may also notice silence, Right? Silence isn't always the complete absence of sound. There's kind of like small spaces in between. You know, A car passes and then the sound fades. So begin noticing those little spaces. Don't necessarily hold on to them because the next sound will come. And then your process is to simply just let it come. So, I mean, For this practice, You don't need one specific anchor. Awareness can remain open, Right? But if you become totally lost in thought, Choose one sound and stay with it for a few moments. Not hard. And then open again to the entire field. Sound meditation can be practiced, I mean, Almost anywhere, Right? You can do it outside, You can do it on public transit, In waiting rooms, At home even when other people are moving around. So you don't always have to escape life in order to meditate. Sometimes the practice is learning to receive life without fighting every single part of it. So back to this lesson. Spend five minutes simply listening. You know, Don't control the environment. Don't even decide in advance which sounds actually belong. Just let everything arrive and let everything then pants. And then notice that awareness itself, It doesn't need to make noise in order to hear. All right, Guys, Thanks for listening. Namaste.