disturbing noise and anger

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
awakenedmind
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disturbing noise and anger

Post by awakenedmind »

I want to know what one should do when one is unable to change the conditions.
I am talking about noisy conditions at home,
when the other family members are watching tv.
the sound is loud no matter how much I tell them.
the noise does disturb and I want to change this.
I want to accept the noise but I just am unable to do so.
I get irritated and angry due to that noise
and there's a lot of irritating feelings coming up so I am unable to meditate.
hec, even if I am just sitting reading a book
and others are watching tv, I get disturbed.
the noise breaks my concentration
and there's lot of irritation and anger coming up then.

please give me some advice, so I can be at peace even with all that noise.
santa100
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by santa100 »

Maybe more metta meditation. If that still doesn't work, you might want to try those noise-cancelling headphones..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headphones ... _reduction
Babadhari
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by Babadhari »

i used to have the same problem. while i was meditating at night and in the morning , he'd flush the toilet , run up and down the stairs, do the washing up or such things..... normal things,necessities

i found anger stirring but just told myself be aware of the sound, to note it.... hearing, hearing - and i'd pretty much forget about it
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
awakenedmind
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by awakenedmind »

kitztack wrote:i used to have the same problem. while i was meditating at night and in the morning , he'd flush the toilet , run up and down the stairs, do the washing up or such things..... normal things,necessities

i found anger stirring but just told myself be aware of the sound, to note it.... hearing, hearing - and i'd pretty much forget about it
wow. seems so easy for you.
for me It gets hard to concentrate, when there's noise.
my focus goes on the anger then and on why the person is not lowering the volume.

hmm. and I like the meta meditation idea.
have found a guided meta meditation by ajahn brahm and listen and follow it sometimes.
I wish I could do meta meditation whenever I felt like and not only while listening to guided meditations.
Babadhari
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by Babadhari »

it might be one of the reasons i live alone now :shrug:
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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bodom
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by bodom »

“You think that the sound is annoying you, but actually it’s you that is
annoying the sound. The sound is just what it is; it’s just the air vibrating. It’s
up to us whether we start an argument with it.” - Ajahn Chah
http://www.amaravati.org/downloads/pdf/ ... _peace.pdf

:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
awakenedmind
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by awakenedmind »

bodom wrote:
“You think that the sound is annoying you, but actually it’s you that is
annoying the sound. The sound is just what it is; it’s just the air vibrating. It’s
up to us whether we start an argument with it.” - Ajahn Chah
http://www.amaravati.org/downloads/pdf/ ... _peace.pdf

:anjali:
Yeah, I have read this one before.
I am just unable to apply it.
I wish I could.
Babadhari
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by Babadhari »

i spoke to a friend before about not being able to have a silent enviroment to meditate in and she told me not to search outside for silence, but to search for the silence within. it worked eventually with a little patience when i took the pressure off
Aflame with the fire of passion, the fire of aversion, the fire of delusion.
Aflame, with birth, aging & death, with sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs ......

Seeing thus, the disciple of the Noble One grows disenchanted. SN 35.28
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purple planet
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by purple planet »

As long as its not a ear- hurting sound level - sounds during vipasana meditation are a blessing

i have back problem - and i always wonder should i ignore this pain or is it to much - but with sounds that are not health threatening you can work easily

i do the labeling technique - so i note three times "hearing , hearing ,hearing " (why 3 times ? cause its not to long you get attached to the sound - and not to short that you want it to go away - when you truly can "accept" it and not feel you want it to go away or to stay it will disappear and or at least be "reduced" and not your main focus of your mind so it would be easier to get back to focus on the breath ) usually after you practice some time the noise disappears and you should get back to the rising and falling of the stomach while breathing " rising , falling" - this is of course in my way of meditation not sure how it goes in samatha for example

but i love not health troubling distractions like itching and sounds - they are a great way to build equanimity very fast and when you get to real "problems" like back pain you can deal with them better
Last edited by purple planet on Fri Dec 06, 2013 8:13 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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mikenz66
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by mikenz66 »

awakenedmind wrote: Yeah, I have read this one before.
I am just unable to apply it.
I wish I could.
It takes time and persistence. The more you can recognise it as just sound, without proliferating concepts of what is causing it, the less of a problem it gets. (As Purple Planet points out above.) Easier said than done!

:anjali:
Mike
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Mkoll
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by Mkoll »

Dear awakenedmind,

I know what you mean. Here are some tips - please forgive me if some are obvious or you've tried them already.

* Meditate in the early morning when everyone is still asleep.

* Don't meditate at all when noise is present or imminent. Read something and if it's still disturbing your reading, use earplugs (I use earplugs a lot!) and/or use a fan/white noise machine.

* See what you can do about blocking/damping sound into your meditation space. You can block the slit under your door with some soundproofing material. Or if you're at the end of a hallway or similar space, you can use a tension rod and fasten a heavy blanket to it to dampen sound.

* Don't try to develop deep concentration when there is noise or when you know that noise is imminent. When doing vipassana or satipatthana, distractions aren't as bothersome and can simply be looked at through the lens of insight or mindfulness.

* Try experimenting with different meditations when there is noise until you find one that allows you to be at relative peace even with the noise.

* If possible, meditate elsewhere/outside or move to a new residence.

* If you plan on living on your own in the future, remembering that you won't have to bear this particular annoyance forever will make it easier to accept.

Hope that helps!

:anjali:
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
barcsimalsi
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by barcsimalsi »

awakenedmind wrote:please give me some advice, so I can be at peace even with all that noise.
Just like may had suggested, switch to vipassana but if you insist on doing samatha, go to a different room, download and play something like white or pink noise along your meditation practice. The continuous reproduction of identical sound will help mask the sudden distraction to some extent.

Don’t know about others but sometimes i felt i can meditate better during rainy days or by a noisy waterfalls compare to a silent hall that always have some sudden noise popping out.
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Weakfocus
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by Weakfocus »

awakenedmind wrote:please give me some advice, so I can be at peace even with all that noise.
I live in a very noisy part of a very noisy city in a very noisy country. The house is not of good construction and basically all the outside noise comes in. There is a huge interesction and a lot of traffic noise 24 hours a day (Indian traffic and honking goes together), this makes sleeping at nights difficult forget meditation. I am not mature enough to treat noise as just another object of meditation.

So I use reusable earplugs. These can be used multiple times, are relatively affordable and washable. You can buy these type of earplugs online and they last about a year if used delicately. Be careful how you remove them from the ears, and do not use them past expiry date since you do not want the tip to break off in the ear canal (don't ask how I learnt that lesson). I wear reusable earplugs about 18+ hours a day, it has made a dramatic improvement to my quality of life and also made daily meditation possible.
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purple planet
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by purple planet »

Just wanted to say that i wrote all i wrote in case you practice vipasana cause im not sure what you practice - im pretty sure samtha has its own ways to deal with noise maybe by increasing your focus on the breath
awakenedmind
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Re: disturbing noise and anger

Post by awakenedmind »

hmm, really good advice.
I will look for the ear plugs too.
I do samatha meditation mostly.
first trying to calm myself and then work on vipassana.
but these days it's getting really difficult to calm down.
I also try to meditate late at night when everybody has gone to sleep
but am unable to do so in the morning, because I find it difficult to get up in the morning.

The difficult part is that the noise from the tv kind of makes me angry at those people watching tv.
and I can't help thinking more angry thoughts about them.
most other noises dont bother me as much as tv.
seems it's more of my anger at people making the noise than the noise itself.
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