Meditation – Sound Off

Ahhh meditation, one of my favorite topics.  So many different styles, traditions and preferences:

• Silent Meditation
• Guided Meditation
• Walking Meditation
• Mindfulness Meditation
• Gong Meditation
• Singing Bowl Meditation
• Zen Meditation
• Yogic Meditation
• Vipassana Meditation
• Taoist Meditation
• Transcendental Meditation
• Moving Meditation

I could go on and on, at the risk of sounding like Bubba from Forest Gump.

Recently, I sat with a group of people whom I never met before yet we all knew each other well. We discussed our various daily meditation rituals and got on the  subject of sounds we might listen to while meditating.  Singing bowls, flutes, gongs, echoes of nature.

My input was a bit different, though I enjoy meditating with all of the above sounds.  What I wanted to share was an experience I had within the first few days of my sobriety.  I had suppressed my senses for so long that after a few days of being clean and sober I noticed sound in a manner of which I may have never known.

We lived on a busy street in Northridge, California at the time. The large trucks would loudly vibrate the road, the stray dogs barking after these trucks. Birds chirping, helicopters flying and car doors shutting.  All of this sound, was just so…beautifully…vivid. The vibrations were somehow calming at an exceptionally un-calm time of life.

So while yes I love to listen to the lovely sounds of Deuter and singing bowls, sometimes I just love to find a busy intersection and soak in the hum of everyday noise.

This reminds me of the concept of Wabi-Sabi, which is essentially finding the beauty in imperfection.  I have been practicing this a little lately while looking at a once nice pair of curtains that have now been shredded by our lovely cat Lea.  I  stare at these curtains and watch their tatters blow in the breeze.  It is a nice practice, helping me to save the money I would normally spend replacing anything I consider ruined.

Well, reverberation is the same. Each season, there  are new sounds. Some pleasant (birds singing in the spring), some not so pleasant (loud kids yelling at each other).  All are necessary in this grand home we call Earth.

Today, take a deep breath…take a few. Then close your eyes and listen to hum of noise around you. Soak it all in and enjoy the moment. In this moment, experience…Bliss!

Stay blissful my friends – E