Meditation and music

Many people ask me if it's all right if they meditate "to music" and I consistently recommend against it. Most people mean by this that they want some sort of background music so that they can avoid the silence and this would not be a good plan at all!

However, I have just come across a fascinating article by Evelyn Cash about actually using music as a meditative support (or object).

Here's how it works:

I found myself able to watch my mind as I listened to the music. Certain tracks would bring up certain emotions or thoughts and I could use my meditation as a way to observe this process and watch how my mind reacted to the stimulus. In many ways, this is no different from sitting with slight knee pain or with a dog barking outside. The pain or the barking may irritate you but the point of meditation is to watch that irritation and see that it isn't you and will eventually pass away. I found that music had much the same effect. A track that I recognized would come on and I could watch my reaction to it and note: "recognition," another track might come on that I didn't like and I could just note: "aversion" then watch how my mood or even my body reacted. So the music became less of a distraction and more of a tool and an object of meditation.

I would recommend this only for experienced meditators. But it really is an intriguing notion isn't it?

I also would recommend that you read the entire article quoted above. It's not very long and it gives a focused description of how the author views this exercise.
~~~

How to grow your brain

Okay. I've told you this before but it won't hurt to remind you. Here's part of a little article on the subject I just found:

Meditation helps increase gray matter. A research team from University of California, Los Angeles scanned the brains of people who meditate and found that certain regions in the brains of long-term meditators were larger than in a similar control group.

Meditators showed significantly larger volumes of the hippocampus and areas within the orbito-frontal cortex, the thalamus and the inferior temporal gyrus - all known for regulating emotions.

There are many benefits to consistent meditative practice and a bigger brain is certainly one of them!

Jewish meditation and the labyrinth

Boston College Memorial Labyrinth

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

I just came across a very interesting little article that reports on the growing use of labyrinth meditation by members of the Jewish faith. At least one synagogue has built a labyrinth on its property for practitioners to use:

"There's nothing not Jewish about a labyrinth," said Rabbi Jeffrey Arnowitz, the synagogue's associate rabbi....

"In fact, there's something incredibly Jewish about them, this whole idea of wandering. We spent 40 years in the desert wandering. For the Jews, it was more important to wander and learn what you had to learn wandering than it was to get to the goal. That's ultimately what the labyrinth is all about."

Arnowitz already has used the winding path as a tool during spiritual counseling sessions, and has plans to use the route for services in the future.

Someone who left a comment on the article said the following:

Labyrinths are not Judaic, Christian, Islamic, or other. Labyrinths are universal. They pre-date Old and New Testaments. Labyrinths' architectural designs contains sacred coordinates. Walking the path, following the many twists and turns, yet maintaining some awareness of the center, is a parable for the journey through this life.

Remember, we have a finger labyrinth here at St. John's Center and there are a number of walking labyrinths you can use in Tulsa. For those who live elsewhere, do check out the location of the labyrinth nearest you and try the practice. It can be very, very illuminating.

More about self-acceptance

I have had occassion recently to reflect about the pernicious nature of self-denigration that often plagues people's suffering. I attribute this, among other things, to the so-called "just world" theory so prevalent in this country. The "just world" notion posits that we deserve whatever happens to us - that if we do everything "right" then our life will go smoothly and we will get what we want. Many, many, many people believe this. That philosphy is exposed when a person who is beset by difficulties cries out, "What did I do to deserve this?"

Radical self-acceptance really is the way. Here's part of a little reflection that I found on a Beliefnet blog:

For me, remaining in the moment is probably the most difficult thing in the world. When I try to meditate, it seems that my thoughts are bouncing off the walls.. I think the more I try to remain still, the less success I have.

Now I am working on acceptance. However I feel,.whatever, is happening, I remind myself myself to accept the present moment unconditionally. If am meditating, and not doing a good job of quieting my thoughts, I am learning to accept that. I remind myself many times during the day, to accept myself..

As I become less judgemental, I reduce the level of stress not only on me, but on people around me. In time, I will no longer have to remind myself to be self accepting, it will become natural.

I think the person writing here is just a little bit optimistic in thinking that we will at some point no longer have to remind ourselves to be self-accepting. It is, however, quite realistic to have confidence that, as we practice, we will need to remind ourselves much less often.

One problem with attachment to judgment!

~~~

One important principle of meditation practice is that of "acceptance without judgment". I'm just suggesting that the intersection in the Venn diagram above might well increase a bit the more faithful we are to that principle!! :-)

What letting go really means

I've read a fair amount of Melody Beattie's material over the years. I had never read much about her life, however, until I was looking for a bio for this post. Do click through on her name below. Her personal story is truly an eye-opener:

Letting go doesn't mean we don't care. Letting go doesn't mean we shut down. Letting go means we stop trying to force outcomes and make people behave. It means we give up resistance to the way things are, for the moment. It means we stop trying to do the impossible--controlling that which we cannot--and instead, focus on what is possible--which usually means taking care of ourselves. And we do this in gentleness, kindness, and love, as much as possible.

-- Melody Beattie

Monday meditative picture blogging

A field in Switzerland

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

A wonderful wish for yourself and everyone

This is said to be an adaptation of a prayer by St. Teresa:

May there be peace within.

May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.

May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content with yourself just the way you are.

Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

You could consider it a prayer or a meditation or even a metta (lovingkindness) practice.

I found it right here.

How much meditation time?

There's an important principle here:

Half an hour of meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour is needed.

~Saint Francis de Sales

Give it some thought, okay? :-)

Friday cat blogging!

Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Image from Wikimedia Commons

An important awareness

It's time for another saying found on the marquee of the Nazarene Church down on the corner from my house:

The problem with self-deception is that people are so good at it.

In meditation language, this is called both "absence of mindfulness" and the "mind poison of delusion".
~~~

Tuesday meditative picture blogging

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Kindness and Interconnectedness

A fairly new book by Sharon Salzberg has just come to my attention. It is called The Kindness Handbook: A Practical Companion. Here is just one small paragraph that I think is very focused and to the point:

If we look deeply into any kind of behavior, we will see an urge to feel a part of something greater than our own limited sense of self, a desire to feel at home in this body and mind. This urge toward happiness is often made twisted and distorted by ignorance, not knowing where happiness is actually to be found, and so we do damaging things. But we all share the desire to be happy, a vulnerability to change, to loss, and to fragility. Remembering what we share inspires us toward kindness.

There is a distressing level of truly unnecessary unkindness in our interactions with others. Often the perpetrator thinks it is trivial while the recipient may end up deeply hurt. Giving attention to the practicalities of learning to be kind is all to the good.

Labor and interconnectedness

One of the key principles of the meditative tradition is that we are not really separate; we are all connected. When you think about it, this is what the labor movement historically has been all about:

Years ago I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on the earth. I said then and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

-- Eugene Debs

~~~

If the workers took a notion they could stop all speeding trains;

Every ship upon the ocean they can tie with mighty chains.

Every wheel in the creation, every mine and every mill;

Fleets and armies of the nation, will at their command stand still.

-- Joe Hill

~~~

Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in salaries, benefits and working conditions. If you are making a decent salary in a non-union company, you owe that to the unions. One thing that corporations do not do is give out money out of the goodness of their hearts.

-- Molly Ivins

~~~

I would like to recommend that we all make a special effort to devote some time today to Lovingkindness Practice - for the sake of workers who are oppressed and for the sake of all who are engaged in the struggle for basic fairness for the ordinary laborer. For that matter, let us do the practice also for those who stand in opposition to fairness and justice for the working person. They too experience pain and suffering and need the benefit of our kindness. Without it, how will their hearts ever be moved?

Harmony

A simple statement. Profound, too:

Once you realize that at the basic level we are part of a great organic whole, it becomes very difficult for you to harbor the thoughts of hate and violence against anybody. A regular practice of meditation results into a permanent feeling of harmony with the universe.

It's from a blog post I found right here.

Coming to life

Self-definition (and presentation) is a big obsession with a lot of people. I love how Eckhart says we "won't die" if we give this up!!

Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.

- Eckhart Tolle

Deeply sad

Here's where the meditative principles of the Four Reflections (sometimes called the Four Great Contemplations) will come to our rescue. They are, as you'll remember:

1. Precious human birth
2. Law of cause and effect
3. Impermanence and mortality
4. Weariness with "this world"

Spend time reflecting on these. Such a practice will truly help us all to let go of the attachments we may have cultivated concerning success in "the office" and find our purpose and meaning through compassion and insight instead.

Wednesday life form blogging

Photo by Jeannie Dibble

Something about simplicity

I came across a little article today entitled "Secrets Of How To Live A Simple Life". Here's part of what it says:

One secret to how to live a simple life is to look honestly at how we complicate our lives and stop doing those things. It may be different for each of us, but there are some common habits. The first one is taking on responsibilities without fully acknowledging the costs and complexities they add to our lives.

If you bought a new boat, for example, would you think about the time you will spend maintaining it? Would you think about the trip to the insurance office for insurance, the necessity to shop for accessories like life-jackets and fire extinguishers? Would you remind yourself that boats break down, and you'll have to deal with hauling it someplace to have it repaired? Would you consider the trailer-hitch you'll need, the tarp to cover the boat, the tarp to replace that one when it tears, the bearings in the trailer wheels that will someday fail. Finally, would you think about the hours you'll have to work to pay for all this fun?

Nothing is wrong with owning a boat, by the way. If little else is going on in your life, all of the above could easily be a part of "the simple life." No one thing is too much, but when we don't recognize the complexity our choices add to our lives, we tend take on more than we can reasonably handle.

Very thought provoking, don't you think?