The other day somebody posted about listening to sounds, and to the spaces between sounds to reach silence. Well, while poring over one of these brain related books I’ve been reading, one in which the author gives several breathing and meditation exercises for directly affecting one’s brain state, I encountered a technique which may sound … familiar. First the author Tom Kenyon (Brain States by Tom Kenyon), talks a bit about some of the traditions of Buddhism, and then he relates the following exercise:
Tibetan Sound Meditation
1. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
2. Let your breath be slow and calm, taking about six seconds for the inhale and about six seconds for the exhale. Breathe in this way for a minute or so before going on to Step 3.
3. Continuing to breathe in this calm and slow pattern, move your awareness into the sounds around you. But instead of focusing your attention on the sounds themselves, focus on the space or silence around the sound.
4. Get a sense of the spatial orientation of each sound. That is, notice if a particular sound is close or faraway, above you or below you, etc.
5. Try to get a felt sense of the space or silence around each sound you hear and of the greater space that holds all of the sounds including you.
Practice this form for ten to thirty minutes, longer if you wish.
The author goes on to say something the Tibetans would usually deemphasize, that “by practicing this meditation form, you will eventually reach profound states of altered consciousness.”
It’s really funny that I would pick up a book which is largely scientific and encounter yet another “borrowed method.”
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