Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I just surprise to learn that Ajhan Sumedho has used tinnitus (ringing noise in the year) as a meditation object.
I had tinnitus for many years. I never took that as a nuisance. I used it as my meditation object for many years.
This could be a good news for any tinnitus sufferers!
=========================================
The first of these, “the sound of silence,” is described
in the opening Dhamma talk of the same name in quite
some detail. However, as it is not a meditation method
found in classical Theravàda handbooks, it might be
helpful to provide a little background to the way in
which Ajahn Sumedho came to develop it, and to refer
to some of the other spiritual traditions that use it as
part of a meditation practice.
Page 9
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/intui ... reness.pdf
Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I have it but I don't use it as an object for meditation.
kind regards,
Ben
kind regards,
Ben
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I'm not sure if tinnitus is the same as the sound of silence.
Here is something from Ajahn Amaro http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/web-arch ... lence.html
Here is something from Ajahn Amaro http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/web-arch ... lence.html
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I had a reaction to a ( life saving ) antibiotic which left me with tinnitus in one ear.
Its like a high pitched whistle. Most of the time now I am unaware of it..but sometimes in meditation it becomes intrusive. At that point I shift my attention , lightly, to the sound. Neither wanting to remove it nor prolong it.
I just rest my attention there.
After a while the mind is satisfied and shifts back to the subject...in my case a mantram-like phrase.
Its like a high pitched whistle. Most of the time now I am unaware of it..but sometimes in meditation it becomes intrusive. At that point I shift my attention , lightly, to the sound. Neither wanting to remove it nor prolong it.
I just rest my attention there.
After a while the mind is satisfied and shifts back to the subject...in my case a mantram-like phrase.
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
Hi Peter
I think you explained it better than me. Thanks.
I think you explained it better than me. Thanks.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
Hi Mr. ManMr Man wrote:I'm not sure if tinnitus is the same as the sound of silence.
Here is something from Ajahn Amaro http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/web-arch ... lence.html
May be I got some thing wrong here. I am bit confused now.
I don't understand what the sound of silence is though!
================
So it’s like a radar. The mind is in a very wide,
expansive state of awareness: including open to and
receptive, rather than shut off, closed and controlled.
So notice this and contemplate this experience and
then just concentrate your attention on the sound of
silence. If you think about it, think of it in terms of being
like a blessing, grace, or a lovely kind of feeling, of
being opened, rather than as a buzz in the ear, in
which case you think that its tinnitus or some diseases.
If you start contemplating it as the sound of angels, a
cosmic or primordial sound, blessing every moment
as we open to it, we then feel this sense of being
blessed. So reflecting in this way, in a positive way
toward it, helps us to take an interest in it and get a
good feeling from it.
Page 88
http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/intui ... reness.pdf
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
This "cosmic" sound or whatever you call it can be used as a meditation object provided one doesn't become averse to it. Just like using the breath or body sensations, the idea being to anchor the mind to the present moment.
Tinnitus is a ear condition that can be really annoying. It is louder and often intrudes on your daily activities even without your conscious attention unlike this "sound of silence".
Tinnitus is a ear condition that can be really annoying. It is louder and often intrudes on your daily activities even without your conscious attention unlike this "sound of silence".
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
Surely everyone has heard The Sound Of Silence ?
It goes..' Hello darkness my old friend '........
It goes..' Hello darkness my old friend '........
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
The darker I go,PeterB wrote:Surely everyone has heard The Sound Of Silence ?
It goes..' Hello darkness my old friend '........
The deeper it gets.
-- Darkness by Peter Gabriel
“No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
- Cormac McCarthy, The Road
Learn this from the waters:
in mountain clefts and chasms,
loud gush the streamlets,
but great rivers flow silently.
- Sutta Nipata 3.725
Compassionate Hands Foundation (Buddhist aid in Myanmar) • Buddhist Global Relief • UNHCR
e: [email protected]..
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
Hi SarathWSarathW wrote: Hi Mr. Man
May be I got some thing wrong here. I am bit confused now.
I don't understand what the sound of silence is though!
Although it is perceived as a sound I would describe it as a mental object rather than an object of the ear.
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I have tinnitus...got it after a botched ear surgery. I don't use it as an object of meditation. I use to think I'd never be able to meditate because of my tinnitus...now I just don't pay attention to it and try and focus on my breathing. I guess you can pick anything as your object of meditation. It's just that the breath seems to work so well and when it's calm so is your body.
- reflection
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Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I don't think tinnitus and the sound of silence have to be the same, although you could both use them as a meditation object. I think everybody has a slight beep in their ear when they look for it. I never noticed it before I tried the meditation on it, but then I found it. Ajahn Munindo also uses it a lot if I recall correctly. I've tried it a couple of times and it works ok, not much different to the breath. But the problem I had is, because you stay focussed on sound you will hear all other sounds too and those can be distracting. I live in a city so there are many sounds. When focusing on the breath the entire sound consciousness often disappears and there are no such distractions.
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
@ reflection
Wouldn't it be better to include all sounds in the meditation without getting distracted?
Wouldn't it be better to include all sounds in the meditation without getting distracted?
And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, from divisive speech, from abusive speech, & from idle chatter: This is called right speech.
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
Hello,
I was about to post about how to deal with tinnitus in meditation but I found this thread before
I just wanted to add that according to my doctor, tinnitus may worsen if I pay too much attention to it, as focusing too often on it may reinforce it since it is a purely 'neuronal' phenomenon...
I was about to post about how to deal with tinnitus in meditation but I found this thread before
I just wanted to add that according to my doctor, tinnitus may worsen if I pay too much attention to it, as focusing too often on it may reinforce it since it is a purely 'neuronal' phenomenon...
Re: Can tinnitus be used as a meditation object?
I find that my tinnitus has gotten better over time. Now it feels like it's more in the background. Only really bothers me when I sleep, but I run a fan for white noise, which works fine.lostitude wrote:Hello,
I was about to post about how to deal with tinnitus in meditation but I found this thread before
I just wanted to add that according to my doctor, tinnitus may worsen if I pay too much attention to it, as focusing too often on it may reinforce it since it is a purely 'neuronal' phenomenon...