Download Buddhist Meditation Music

Is it considered against standard Buddhist doctrine to meditate with music? In particular, "meditation music" - where it's calm, relaxing, peaceful, etc. I'm fairly new to all this; my meditation practice is hardly a year old, although getting stronger and more consistent; I don't have an overwhelming urge to meditate to music, but wondered what light could be shed on the subject from the perspective of the teachings. I am committed to undertaking this path as purely as possible, as it was laid out by the Buddha himself. But I enjoy music and find it draws me into certain mental states that could be useful to cultivate.

What should I do when the inevitable song pops up in my thoughts? This is something I've noted for years (I'm quite musically inclined)...I always seem to have some sort of tune running through my head. Now, when I sit, it becomes much more noticeable than when I'm doing something more secular...say, standing in line at the store, or performing some task at work. I suppose that the tune could become the focus of some mindfulness meditation and help develop concentration. OTOH I can see how it would be considered yet-another-thought, and one that should be avoided dwelling on (unless it happened to be the focus of the meditation). I don't know how useful it would be for insight meditation however. Is there an official stance in the teachings on this?

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The Uposatha (Sanskrit: Upavasatha) is Buddhist day of observance, in existence from the Buddha's time (500 BCE), and still being kept today in Buddhist countries.[1][2] The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy.[3] On this day, lay disciples and monks intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days, the lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or (as the tradition suggests) the Eight Precepts. It is a day for practicing the Buddha's teachings and meditation.

I am aware of some studies that suggest that "noise" can be an aid to concentration - i.e. people who doodle at meetings tend to be more attentive, people who chew gum in class tend to remember more, and people who listen to classical music write more fluently. In preliminary stages of meditation, you might even find it easier to gather your mind when there is an outside stimulus. Guided mediation is just one example of this. That being said, all four of those activities refer to modes of thought that are distinctly different from what you are aiming at in deeper meditation. When sitting in a Buddhist sense (i.e. for jhana meditation, vipassana, koan practice, etc.), you need to work towards developing applied and sustained thought in a way that is as free from distraction as possible i.e. "Quite secluded from sense pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states of mind..." MN 4. This also infers that the influence of the five hinderances needs to be limited. It goes without saying that listening to music is fairly antithetical to that end.

Regarding your experience that you hear music more readily when sitting - that's a fairly common occurrence. You are just becoming aware of another level of your mind that was previously obscured by grosser thought (for what it's worth, I have the same experience when I'm backpacking or doing any other activity that isn't thought-intensive). You do need to get beyond that state, however. As you apply concentration, you will eventually push past that boundary and into deeper, more silent layers of the mind.

But on the other hand, it did serve to get me meditating at all. I found (still do) meditation to be difficult, and it wasn't something I enjoyed doing. Music made it a bit easier and got me on the cushion. However, once I'd built meditation into my routine, I stopped using music. So it served as "training wheels", and was best discarded as soon as possible.

Of those two effects, I think the first is the stronger. And with hindsight, perhaps a better approach for me would have been to join a local sangha, and used simple camaraderie to get me over the initial hump of starting to meditate. Then music wouldn't have been needed at all.

Hence best is to resort to more conservative meditation pratice. Having said tha as an alternative meditation pratice Richard Shankman teachers mindfulness of sound. This is not necessarily all modern "music" but may be something like the sound of a Gong.

In the instructions for mindfulness of breathing we let all other experiences stay in the background of our awareness, not forcing or pushing them away but bringing a gentle sense of allowing them to be in the background while giving some preference or predominance to awareness of our breathing. In the same way, with this practice we allow other experiences to stay in the background and we give preference or predominance to the experience of sound. You may feel a natural draw or pull to awareness of hearing, and this practice can be very calming and settling. Those for whom mindfulness of sound works well commonly report it as an easily accessible and even compelling meditation object. You may be drawn to awareness of the sounds themselves or you may be more naturally aware of the act or the process of listening or hearing.

Listening to music for entertainment and music in a meditation technique are two different things. Tibetan Buddhists use sounds of gongs a lot to facilitate disciples to enter deeper state. But it cannot be classified as music as it does not build up excitement. Modern music excites therefore it is incompatible with Buddha's path. But many other paths exist which rely on music and dance of certain kind (not modern music) to facilitate meditation. But if you are a disciple of Buddha you can check out through your experience if commonly available meditation music (like sound of gongs,nature etc) helps you or not. But eventually you will come to a point where all such things will become irrelevant. There will be a silence within which is not affected by anything outside.

Traditionally, the idea of listening to music while meditating would be completely out of the question. In no Buddhist lineage that I know of is there any kind of musical accompaniment to sitting meditation.

So-called meditation music is meant to be relaxing, and of course meditation does help you to relax too. But meditation goes beyond relaxation and helps us to be more alert and focused. It also helps us to do things like cultivate kindly or to deeply question the nature of our experience. Music is likely to get in the way of those activities.

I think you could be more accepting of the real positive benefits of music as a basis for meditation. The western tradition has vast amounts of music that was written specifically for the purpose if focussing the mind on what is beautiful and spiritually profound. Those who are attuned to music UN this way may find meditation with music takes them even closer to the heart of things than silebce

In my experience i use music to close out the loud uneaven noices of trafic/construction/trams etc that i have since i live in the city, but i dont listen to the musik if i do a deep meditation session rather use it as a buffer.

I think in my opinion certain types of very calming music ie buddhist type music can be used in a great way to meditate. Its whatever works for yourself and not upon forced pre set ideas and rituals. Otherwise it becomes a swear word called religion.

Buddhist music is music (Sanskrit: vdita, sagt) created for or inspired by Buddhism and includes numerous ritual and non-ritual musical forms.[2] As a Buddhist art form, music has been used by Buddhists since the time of early Buddhism, as attested by artistic depictions in Indian sites like Sanchi. While certain early Buddhist sources contain negative attitudes to music, Mahayana sources tend to be much more positive to music, seeing it as a suitable offering to the Buddhas and as a skillful means to bring sentient beings to Buddhism.[3][4]

Buddhist music retains a prominent place in many Buddhist traditions, and is usually used for ceremonial and devotional purposes.[5] Buddhist music and chanting is often part of Buddhist rituals and festivals in which they may be seen as offerings to the Buddha.[6]

Most Buddhist music includes chanting or singing, accompanied by instruments.[7][2] The chanting is often of traditional texts which include: sutras, mantras, dharani, parittas, or verse compositions (such as gathas, stotras, and caryagitis). Buddhist instrumental music does exist, though it is less commonly heard in temples.[7]

Examples of Buddhist musical traditions include the Newari Buddhist Gunl Bjan, Tibetan Buddhist music, Japanese Buddhist Shmy, modern Indian Buddhist bhajans, and Cambodian Smot chanting. As there are many different traditions of Buddhist music and chanting, the musical instruments used vary widely, from solely relying on the human voice, to many types of classic instruments used in Asian music (such as the ancient Indian veena) as well as modern instruments (keyboards, guitars, etc).

In Buddhism, chanting is a traditional Buddhist devotional practice, as well as a means of enhancing and preparing the mind for silent meditation.[9] It is a common part of formal group practice (in either a lay or monastic context). Some forms of Buddhism also use chanting for ritualistic, apotropaic or other magical purposes.

In Mahayana Buddhism, the offering of music is a traditional part of devotional offerings to the Buddhas (others include water, flowers, and light).[9][10] The offering of music is thus considered to bring good merit. The idea of music as an offering to the Buddhas can be found in various Mahayana sutras. Common instruments included the veena, drums, and flutes (venu).

Furthermore, in some Mahayana sources, Buddhist music is considered to be a skillful means (upaya), a way to guide people to the Buddhist path and to teach them the Buddha's teachings. Some Mahayana sutras also depict the Pure Lands as filled with divine music.[6][9] e24fc04721