Index Meditations

Old Zen saying. Anyone can meditate in the monastery. Try it in the marketplace. This mediation will stretch your abilities. I've taken that to heart and came up with this mediation. Try it and learn how much the world of sounds has to offer.

I have a friend that can talk until my ears fall on the floor. Occasionally I have to tune her out. Here's the technique I use. It takes good concentration for this. If you get caught, you have to repeat the other person's last sentences.

Start by listening to the rhythm and pattern of your friend's talk. Then you decide what instrument your friend is. Next tune into the sounds around you. Pretend you're listening to a rock band or an orchestra. Pretend the person in the corner with the high piping voice is the piccolo. The man with the deep voice on the other side of the room is a bass pipe on the organ.

In a busy place it's fun. How many conversations can you encompass at once? It's like listening to a symphony. How many layers are there in this symphony? How many parts or voices are competing for your attention. Can you listen to your friend and hear the music of the sounds around you?

Maybe you'd rather tune it into a rock concert. What kind of lick is Gerry Garcia playing? Which person is playing that neat bass line? Where is that staccato drum rhythm coming from?

About now my friend pipes in and asks were you just now? I say right here, and repeat her last sentence She's satisfied and I go back to my meditation without losing a beat.

Next I try to hear all of the sounds simultaneously. I've managed to keep this up for ten minutes at a stretch. Then I lose either my concentration or the musical selection slides into random noise.