Zen Meditation Music - Connections Between Music And Meditation

As far back as the 1920's researcher were finding evidence of strong connections between music and imagination and also alertness and mental clarity. Today is it a given that rhythms and sounds make a huge contribution to thought processes and atmosphere.

Music and meditation can be an ideal fit, a marriage long advocated by many practitioners of Zen meditation, known as the ancient practice of zazen which involves the three elements of deep concentration, koan rumination and shikantaza. Shikantaza means just sitting as the Buddha did. The Buddha reached enlightenment while in a seated position

The transformative properties of music are well known to all as an instinctive and instructive truth. A central point here is that while the meditation practitioner must create ideal conditions and atmosphere to meditate, which can take considerable time and effort, music can send the listener into a meditative state immediately. This is accomplished in part by gently but firmly focusing the thoughts on sounds, themes and exposition. Vocal music in particular creates an immediate and more pointed mental focus. In this way the music's content can inspire and drive the meditation process. In an eventual process of cause and effect, the practitioner's association with music can kick-start a meditation session.

Music can be a helpful aid to Zen meditation, since zazen practitioners search for a dissolution of human expectation and a turning away from concepts that block spiritual progress. Music is an ideal accompaniment to this striving for living inside the moment of meditation, but just as important as the accompaniment is the choice of music for the practitioner. This choice is not a simple matter, as meditation music is now more widely available than ever before, both online and in the marketplace.

While composers of meditation music have leaned towards the traditional instruments of tamboura, flute and sitar, many orchestral-music composers have created music either influenced by meditation, a response to meditative practice or a guide to meditation processes. These include Cage, Stockhausen, Messiaen and Schafer. Some even composed music that actually required a meditation process before actually listening to the presented work.

According to ancient Vedic texts, humans are composed of sounds. The variety and nature of vibrations we hear can either bring us into closer alignment with universal vibrations or discourage a blending of universal energy with human charkas, or centres of energy. With this in mind, many composers of meditation music fashion their work to a specific meditative purpose, such as a release from repressed trauma and emotions. This path will gradually lead to forms of music therapy and away from Zen meditation practice, so the practitioner must choose musical accompaniment carefully.

Most often the musical accompaniment to Zen meditation involves the striking of the singing bowl, or a digital music recording of singing bowl music. The antique Tibetan singing bowl emanates a deep and enduring sound containing several opposing and harmonic frequencies, often comprised of several pitch tones of the western musical scale. This is said to resonate strongly with the body's chakras and provide a foundation or jumping-off point for the meditation process.