Sound meditation.
Noise is not the enemy.
This is going to be a meditation on sound and on the breath.
We'll switch between the two.
It's going to be a reflection also,
So there will be talking.
Talking is sound.
So treat my words as meditation too.
Receive them mindfully.
So come into your meditation posture and sit upright.
Upright but not stiff.
Close your eyes and relax.
Open the ear door,
Opening up to sound.
You can hear my voice.
What else can you hear?
Scan your environment for sounds off in the distance.
That might be traffic rumbling by.
The sweet song of a bird.
It's difficult to do but try to meet the sounds with equanimity.
Not favouring one over the other.
Many people,
When they begin meditation,
And usually for several years,
Get disturbed in meditation by sound.
They say that they can't meditate because the environment is too noisy.
A meditation master was once asked by a student who was listening to a carnival,
A festival,
Happening nearby.
He was on a meditation retreat and he desperately was seeking peace.
But all he could hear was music and celebration.
A cacophony of noise.
The meditation master responded to his request with a single line.
Don't disturb the noise.
So reflect on that.
What does that mean for you?
If we notice the sweet song of a bird,
It lifts our spirits,
Brightens our meditation.
But if that bird is a crow,
Squawking in an ugly noise,
Deafening,
Loud,
Cacophonous,
Raucous,
It becomes unpleasant and something we don't want in our meditation.
So we reject it,
We push it away.
We disturb the noise.
Have you noticed how we don't disturb the noise of a songbird?
They're both birds,
But one is unpleasant to our ears and the other pleasant.
And what if I say to you that there can be just as much distraction in the pleasant as the unpleasant.
The pleasant song of a bird can pull us off away into heavenly realms and we don't mind that.
But we're still not with the meditation object.
We've been pulled away,
Pulled away from the breath.
Tune into your breath now,
Wherever you feel it.
If you're meditating on the breath in the belly,
Feel it rise and fall.
If you're meditating on the feeling of the breath at the nose,
Just feel the air coming in and out and stay with the breath as you usually do,
Trying to be with as many breaths as you can consecutively.
And if you notice sound as you are trying to meditate on the breath,
Watch your reaction.
In mindfulness,
We learn how to accept all things.
So invite the sound into the meditation.
Notice that you can still feel the breath and hear the sound at the same time.
Someone might be banging a hammer next door.
Don't they know I'm trying to meditate,
You might think.
And we can get angry,
Taking everything personal,
As if it's directed to us.
You might be trying to write an email.
But someone in the office is playing loud music,
And you can't concentrate.
And we take that personally too,
As if they're purposely trying to interfere with our concentration.
We can't ask the whole world to be quiet while we meditate.
So invite the noise in,
Don't push it away.
Still tuning into the breath,
But not shutting out the world.
Allowing the world to go on as it will.
It needn't interfere with your meditation.
And see how a barking dog can actually be a mindfulness bell.
It can wake you up,
Out of the dream of thought.
As if the dog's bark,
A word saying,
Come back to the breath.
So don't shut out the world.
In fact,
From time to time,
Seek noisy environments,
And meditate in them.
To build up your resilience.
Your strength to be awake in the world.
And when you're ready,
Let go of the breath.
Just relax.
Opening back up to sound.
What can you hear?
When my practice is really strong.
A rumbling truck going by,
Brings just as much peace as the song of a bird.
Everything welcome.
Everything has an ability to bring you to peace when rightly viewed.
So bringing the practice to a close now.
You can move your body.
Let go of any tension.
And just as you have with the ears.
As you slowly open the eye door,
Letting in sight.
Your senses are not a distraction.
They are gateways into peace.
