Background Music

 Whenever I walk into a Starbucks, there is nearly always some kind of background music playing, likely designed to attract customers, to set a cool trend, or, more pragmatically, to drown out the sounds of people chatting. Starbucks is, after all, just a big meeting place, similar to an auditorium or a conference room, only replete with baristas and the like. And, having worked in music copyright for so many years, I know the value of background music as a supplementary element to an organization's profits. Without music, there is simply a lack of ambiance that is needed to make customers feel at ease.

   In meditation, we are often asked the question, is it ok (or even ideal) if I meditate while listening to music? At the most recent meditation event that we hosted, we used music to help new participants feel at ease and less bored or distracted by the sitting practice. It seems effective in the context of a beginner's practice, but for me, I don't see music as a necessary element to one's meditative practice.

   Thoughts are similar to background music, in the sense that they come out from our unconscious and tend to linger in spite of our best efforts. I tell participants in our beginning classes that we should never treat our thoughts as the enemy, since doing so will only stir up the mind and make it very tense and tired. I sometimes even show a glass snowball to meditation newcomers. Shaking the ball is analogous to trying to suppress one's thoughts or even fight with them. On the other hand, when we simply let the thoughts settle of their own accord and work toward relaxing our tendency to grasp these thoughts, then we are in a better position to see through them.

   One exercise that I think it worthy to try is something like the following: if ever you find it difficult to put down wandering thoughts and distractions, try to imagine that the thoughts are just random flotsam debris, and there is a vast mirrorlike awareness that is supporting all that debris. The awareness can never be disturbed by the random thoughts; it just is in the midst of those thoughts, and it allows them all to co-exist together. What thoughts are you having now? Are you able to simply be there with those thoughts without attaching any particular importance to them individually? Since all thoughts co-exist together in this vast mirrorlike mind--likes, cravings, dislikes, distractions, disturbances, ego bashing and so on--in a sense, these thoughts are simply the chaotic members of a happy family. And mind is simply sitting with them, not pandering to one or the other, and simply knowing "what is is I need to do now?" 

   But mind doesn't attach to what it needs to do now...it simply knows it, and gently steers in the direction of what it needs to do. In this way, there is no need for our thoughts to compete for our attention. These thoughts are all treated equally, and therefore, the mind becomes settled enough to know clearly which thoughts are worthy of being followed and which are not.

   Only when the mind is relaxed can it perform effectively amidst the many chaotic events of the day. And truly, the mind can be comfortable in a situation where there is little control, because the mind does not need to control or subdue any of the arising conditions. These changes are not a threat to the mind, only to the small sense of self that insists on being in control of arising things. 

    If we adopt this approach when we meditate, and simply try to see beyond all thought without trying to subdue thought, then thought becomes like the background music at Starbucks. We are not trying to get rid of it, but it is not of utmost importance to our being. We need to stay with that.