Zen Meditation Music – The Art of Listening

Did you know that your ears can filter out sounds they don’t want to hear? Believe it or not, the ear is one of the most sensitive and important organs in the body. Aside from listening to what's going on around you, the ear helps you balance, and even helps you speak. As one of your most important sense organs, the ear can be a useful ally in your quest to successfully practice meditation. How? Through Zen meditation music.

Zen practices are based on achieving full concentration, and many Buddhists believe you must be in a silent atmosphere with a lack of interruptions, to practice successfully. This is true for some, but there's also a large group of Buddhists who believe Zen meditation music can help you achieve “oneness”, through focusing on the tune. After all, if many people can find meditation bells useful during their practice, why not entire pieces of music?
The best way to focus on Zen meditation music is in the same manner that you would focus on a koan. You may have heard of a koan before. It’s somewhat like a question that has no obvious answer, but which will push your brain to think deeply about something specific. It's really a riddle, or brain-teaser that has no immediate or straightforward answer. One of the most famous Zen koans is the question, “If a tree falls in the forest and there’s nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?” For the most part, the koan is a question that makes you concentrate intensely for a while on one specific question, so that you're completely focused on that single thing.

So, why not use Zen meditation music as your koan? Think of music as a meditation koan like this: while listening, ask yourself, how are the instruments being played? Or, if they aren’t being played, how is each sound being produced? If, for instance, you're listening to a symphony, you might like to first focus on a violin. Picture the violinist playing the tune, and try to isolate the sound. Next, clear your mind and try to block out all sounds but the violin. If you're well practiced, you should achieve a sense of oneness simply by isolating that sound.

Sounds are made from energy waves, with each tone or note having a specific wavelength and frequency. The brain also experiences its activity as a series of waves with specific lengths. Scientists have discovered that meditation slows the brain waves down, creating a calming and clarifying effect in the mind of the meditator. Conversely, agitation and fast-paced music or visual material tends to speed the brain waves up. Using calming, low toned music (with a low frequency and longer wave lengths) seems to encourage the brain to slow down and enter a meditative state. Try to choose a type of Zen meditation music that makes you feel calm and focused.

The beauty of using Zen meditation music is that you can enjoy it wherever you may be. Not all meditation has to take place when you’re in a seated meditation posture. You could in fact be walking in the park, or by the sea, while you’re focusing on your music.