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Acid_Tape

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Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:42 pm

Well, I've tried meditating and I don't live in the most quiet house or neighborhood.
So I talked to a friend and she suggested to listen to some soft, maybe classical if I wanted, music to help me concentrate but not to have everything dead silent.
Any Classical music group you suggest?

Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:26 am

im sure psychologists would agree that classical would be your best bet towards calming your mind, it has a reputation of having all sorts of strange benefits to the brain. but i don't think that it would be that crucial that you would need a specific composer or a specific style if you intend to 'drown out' distracting noise just so long as you don't put music on that will distract you even more.

when i began meditating i snagged one of those generic 'sounds of asia' CD's from a nearby target. It worked well, and it was cheap. but honestly all you need is to turn on the radio to a local classical/jazz station, heck i would even turn on a talk radio and just let that play loud enough to drown out the background distractions. But of course not so loud that it disturbs your own focus. in light of that you could just turn the radio on to a fuzzy station, that way if you hear anything you just hear white noise and thats it, nothing to distract you.

but basically meditation takes a lot of practice to get the hang of and overcoming distractions is definitely a part of that practice. Even at my local temple (which is set in a very urban area) the sunday sitting service (meditation service) is disturbed by loud cars, loud music, nearby police and emergency vehicle sirens, and even just plain loud people outside of the building. the walls are thin so even birds chirping can be heard very well. As i have seen, it doesn't disturb the people in the meditation hall, they dont let it distract them, they dont hear it anymore, that is just how good their practice has become. and I, myself, have discovered its best for me to simply focus on my breathing and focus on my focus, and eventually the distractions disappear into the buzz of white noise.

but im not exactly sure what your situation is, but all i can say is, try with what you can pull together, and do your best to overcome distraction and without a doubt your practice will improve with time.

^_^ im sure other people could give you plenty more insight than i can, my practice is actually rather bad >.<

Jungle Boots

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Acid_Tape

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Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:13 pm

The-Vampire-Mikhail

im sure psychologists would agree that classical would be your best bet towards calming your mind, it has a reputation of having all sorts of strange benefits to the brain. but i don't think that it would be that crucial that you would need a specific composer or a specific style if you intend to 'drown out' distracting noise just so long as you don't put music on that will distract you even more.

when i began meditating i snagged one of those generic 'sounds of asia' CD's from a nearby target. It worked well, and it was cheap. but honestly all you need is to turn on the radio to a local classical/jazz station, heck i would even turn on a talk radio and just let that play loud enough to drown out the background distractions. But of course not so loud that it disturbs your own focus. in light of that you could just turn the radio on to a fuzzy station, that way if you hear anything you just hear white noise and thats it, nothing to distract you.

but basically meditation takes a lot of practice to get the hang of and overcoming distractions is definitely a part of that practice. Even at my local temple (which is set in a very urban area) the sunday sitting service (meditation service) is disturbed by loud cars, loud music, nearby police and emergency vehicle sirens, and even just plain loud people outside of the building. the walls are thin so even birds chirping can be heard very well. As i have seen, it doesn't disturb the people in the meditation hall, they dont let it distract them, they dont hear it anymore, that is just how good their practice has become. and I, myself, have discovered its best for me to simply focus on my breathing and focus on my focus, and eventually the distractions disappear into the buzz of white noise.

but im not exactly sure what your situation is, but all i can say is, try with what you can pull together, and do your best to overcome distraction and without a doubt your practice will improve with time.

^_^ im sure other people could give you plenty more insight than i can, my practice is actually rather bad >.<

Yeah, I asked someone else before what to focus on and they said my breathing would be good.
But I get easily distracted.
I guess I just need to gradually get better just like everyone else >,,>.

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 12:31 am

You could try, also a tape or CD of music that is actually meant for meditating. It's usually soft calming things like a babbling brook or a soft bird call.

I've seen them in spiritual stores (the kind of stores that sell tarot cards and the like).

Conan The Barbie Doll

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Jungle Boots

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Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 10:10 am

OH OH OH!!!! i forgot to mention changing! Chanting cannot be a complete replacement of meditation but in my experience it can serve the same kinds of functions, and is certainly better in the face of distraction.

i think its fantastic, its much easier (for me at least) to concentrate on despite loud noises all around.

there is a specific rythem to them that i dont know, but there is always "Om Mani Padme Hum" ("the jewel is in the lotus", ill save from my explaination as to what it means) i have a little recording of it, i think this is a tibetan chant but im not sure, (I dont personally believe it makes a difference if it comes from tibet china or the moon, a chant is a chant) it is a short recording so really i just gave it to you so you would know the rythem, the chants that i have done have lasted about five minutes, but some can last hours. this one can go as long as you want it.

om mani padme hum
Buddhanet.net/audio

this one is simple, try to ignore the echo of voices and just say maaaaaaaa oommmm. at my temple we did this one once, with a more complex rythem but it was still simple enough to jump into. same thing as the one before, you can continue to play this one for five minutes or five hours. its all up to you.

Om
Selfasinstrument.com/chants_mantras

my suggestion is to just jump in, get those feet wet and try it. even if you dont do it perfectly right it cant do any harm. And since it cant entirely replace meditation i suggest using it as a conduit to focusing your mind before you meditate. I think it can help at least with emptying distracting thoughts, and that can help you start meditating without distractions.

another thing i can suggest that is going 180 degrees from everything else i have said. Today our dharma teacher said "everything is silent, the noise is in our head." The noise of a crying baby is no different from the noise of a bird chirping and no different from the noise of one hand clapping. i forgot most of the sermon, but it was realy appropriate for you situation because it was about sound, and about noise, and about silence. sorry i wish i could remember the rest of it. ^_^

hopefully the chanting helps alittle. I always find it fun if anything.

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