Listening to music generates demerit

Buddhist ethical conduct including the Five Precepts (Pañcasikkhāpada), and Eightfold Ethical Conduct (Aṭṭhasīla).
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Akashad
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Akashad »

Oddly in my own experience it does generate demerit.Ive paid close attention to when I break a Sila I tend to ,"trace back" the cause and effect and it might seem very innocent but I noticed that when I listen to music my mind tends to wander or it stirs or aggravates whatever stillness I've acquired.And that gives way for other defilements to emerge such as lust,greed,anger,hate,mindlessness.Even the euphoria one feels when listening is strangely aggravating or coarse and I find almost sickening in comparison to stillness from meditation or staying mindful.Its actually very draining to my energy or vitality when I immerse myself in sensual pleasures.its like you get that high then the crash comes in.ive found it quite difficult to keep Sila without practicing sense restraint side by side.Its not like extreme sense restraint just choosing wisely what to and what not to listen to.i mostly choose to listen to nature sounds such as rain,wind,thunder,ocean waves,space ambient.This is my personal experience with music and virtue. :buddha1:
SarathW
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by SarathW »

I do not listen to music now.
However, there are some Buddhist songs and it is OK to listen to them.
They all depend on the level of your practice.
Music may help in the early stages of development.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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Volo
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Volo »

SarathW wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:38 am However, there are some Buddhist songs
:thinking: For example...
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Srilankaputra »

If we are talking about merit and demerit it can go both ways.

Some songs stir up greed, hatred and delusion.

Some songs can stir up faith, energy and even some measure of tranquility. (There are a few sinhala songs like that)

If we are talking about skilful and unskilful it is only unskilful.

IMO.

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SarathW
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by SarathW »

Volo wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 11:15 am
SarathW wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:38 am However, there are some Buddhist songs
:thinking: For example...
There are many in Sinhalease language. Perhaps in other languages in Burma etc.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
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manas
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by manas »

salayatananirodha wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:42 pm Yes, it generates pamāda, which is carelessness. If it's delighted in, a cycle of addiction comes into play. Renouncing it is the only way to ensure that craving for sounds will cease. Nibbāna is the goal of buddhism and it is the destruction of craving.
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.022.than.html wrote:For a person to indulge in sensual pleasures without sensual passion, without sensual perception, without sensual thinking: That isn't possible.
Screen Shot 2018-12-05 at 14.42.02.png
The topic is whether music generates 'demerit', not about whether attachment to it could be an obstacle to final cessation of craving to an individual who aspires to this, which it clearly would be.


Folks often complain about Muslim extremists, Christian fundamentalists and so forth, but while obviously much less harmful in it's potential impact upon unsuspecting newbies, this is to my mind, an unpleasant manifestation of an extreme attitude in Buddhism. Music in and of itself doesn't generate 'demerit', it would depend upon the particular effect some particular music might have, on a particular mind. With regards to violent or sexist lyrics as in some modern music, I might agree, but how about a Mozart string quartet? Or a Beethoven symphony? Don't class all music as the same.
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salayatananirodha
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by salayatananirodha »

at least you recognize that 'this' occurs to your mind, which indicates that it is not an existing reality
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Spaciousness
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Spaciousness »

Depends on the kind of music. There is music design to help concentration and get it down to Alpha wave. I am not too sure if listening to music that promote peace generate demerit, in fact, it helps some busy people calm down be at peace.
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by mrgrtt123 »

It depends on what type of music, I like hearing something that is calming.
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sentinel
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by sentinel »

This is calming , generating merits .




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Laurens
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Laurens »

As a musician I sure would hope not.

I actually find playing music quite a meditative experience. When playing guitar I try to make every single note sound as perfect as I can make it. It's obviously not anything like meditation proper, but it is a good way to absorb yourself and drop the mental chatter for a time.

As with anything I suppose you can approach it in unwholesome ways. But I don't think as a layperson enjoying music is an demeritous act in itself.
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

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Eko Care
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Eko Care »

DEFINITE Akusala.
If the song is Buddhist/calming , then Akusala+Kusala.
No pure songs.
(Reference: 7th precept of 8-precepts, Gitassara sutta, Tālapuṭa Sutta: Talaputa the Actor)
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by binocular »

Volo wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 11:15 am
SarathW wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:38 am However, there are some Buddhist songs
:thinking: For example...
This one, for example, is actually very Buddhist, even if it at first doesn't seem so. But listen to the culmination of the text at the end! A monk's determination.
Hic Rhodus, hic salta!
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Sam Vara
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by Sam Vara »

Volo wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 11:15 am
SarathW wrote: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:38 am However, there are some Buddhist songs
:thinking: For example...
Goenkaji wrote quite a lot. They are played on his Vipassana retreats, and you can find them by Googling them.
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dhammacoustic
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Re: Listening to music generates demerit

Post by dhammacoustic »

Everaldo wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 12:16 pm Listening to music generates demerit (bad deeds, bad kamma)? Listening to music breaks the precepts of virtue? Who listens to music becomes a bad person? Does listening to music generate demerit as much as killing and stealing?
i always listen to instrumental music while reading the suttas, helps me a lot with understanding the buddha. and it was also music that led me to buddhism..
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